Ruin In Royals (Royal #1: Book 2) | ✔

47

-• let's go camping •-

It was a prompt decision, and I admit I didn't really think it through, so there was no planning or preparations done in advance. But this is the only chance I've at convincing Mr. Khan. There's no way we could have gone to and fro everyday until he either lets us in or calls the cops on us. I don't care. I'm going to give it my all. And it will also allow me some space from the seven breathing disasters. Fine, let's make it five since Ayush and Agastya are not really at fault.

"Why do you think this case has a potential of reinvestigation?" Mrs. Deshmukh queries.

Atharva and I glance at each other. We're in front of the class, concluding our five minutes presentation, and I feel, if not students, but the professor sure has several questions for us.

"It has many loopholes." Atharva replies.

"Like?" She prods.

This time I step forward. "Like the case file we submitted. Except for the post mortem report that states death caused by brain hameoreage, nothing much is clear. Did they match her handwriting with the suicide note? No, they didn't." I shake my head. "Alibis of her friends, classmates, roomates? None. Was cybersecurity even involved in this? I bet they didn't even know she had a phone and a laptop that she won through a hackathon competition." I explain. "We didn't need to dig in any deeper or bribe someone for this information, we got it just by sitting in the library and using our mediums to explore any possible leads that this case will allow. And turns out, we've many."

Mrs. Deshmukh nods. "So, is this the limit of your research or are you not stopping until you get to the end of it?"

"We're not stopping until we get to the end of it." I say with conviction.

"And how are you going to do that? How are you going to convince the authorities to reopen this case? Because I assume, that's your end goal?"

Atharva and I nod.

"So help me understand this," she leans forward curiously.

"Well," I begin, only to be stop by her.

"Not you," she holds up a hand, then points her finger at Atharva. "You answer me."

He nods confidently. "For privacy reasons, we're keeping the identities of our sources unknown, but we're in touch with someone who was directly linked with this case."

"So, you're constantly in contact with them?"

Atharva looks at me to take the charge realising he fucked up.

"We're not in touch with them per se, but we're trying to convince them." I correct.

"Oh, that changes the whole point. Choose your words wisely, Mr. Saxena. You're a reporter in the making." She smiles at Atharva.

"Yes, ma'am," he nods obediently.

She looks back at me. "How long until you convince them?"

"Three days."

"Are they a reliable source?"

"A hundred percent." I state.

She nods, jotting down something in her file. "Who made this presentation?" She points the tip of her pen at the screen.

"We both did. I made the first six slides, he made the rest of them."

She hums, writes something more. "What if you're unable to convince them?" She looks up at me, then glances towards Atharva.

"We'll convince them." I say firmly.

"That's overconfidence." She counters, dwindling me slightly. "I need to know if you've a back-up plan."