CRIMES AT CORNERS – SEASON 3

  • 26 Oct - 01 Nov, 2019
  • Salaar Laghari
  • Fiction

Rehan said with amazement,

“Oh my God, Mr Kevin! How on earth did you get here?”

Kevin smiled and walked towards him. Rehan asked,

“Did you come all the way for me?”

“Yes, of course.”

“Really? But why? I mean I’m really glad and all, but why did you go through all the trouble.”

“Don’t worry about that.”

They shook hands. Kevin continued,

“Boy, my eyes are delighted to see you.”

“I’m sure but Rehan I’ve come here to take you back.”

“Take me back?” Rehan got a little surprised. “But why?”

“You have no idea what danger you are putting yourself into.”

“Danger? Well I’ve been told about that before, but how did you get all this information? Have you been to the studio of Crimes at Corners?”

“I won’t answer that but yes, one thing is for sure and that is if you’ll stay here any longer, you’ll be risking your life.”

“Come on, tell me at least. What do you know? What information do you have?”

“Rehan, whoever has investigated this case has not survived. You ought to listen to me.”

“Okay,” Rehan said. “Let’s talk. Why don’t you come and sit for a while?”

Rehan walked and said,

“Come with me, I’ll get us some tea.”

“Not the tea. I need water please,” Kevin said.

“Sure, whatever you’ll ask for.”

Both of them walked towards a nearby cafe.

Minutes later, they were seated inside the cafe. There was no electricity. They were feeling really hot. Rehan began the conversation,

“So, tell me what’s going on in your life?”

“Everything is good, I’m alone but I’m fine.”

“I see. Surprisingly I am also alone.”

“You? How come? I mean what about Maria? Aren’t the two of you still married?”

“We are still married but the circumstances are not the same anymore.”

“Not the same? What do you mean?” Kevin got confused.

“I mean to say that something happened a year ago that led us to this.”

“Are you going to tell me now or just going to keep building up the suspense?”

Rehan chuckled and then began saying,

“Well, I was doing my accountant’s job as usual. Maria told me one day that she was expecting a baby. We were so happy. That was our first happiness since our marriage. It was something we had been praying for since the very beginning… Anyways, one day I found that our happiness was not going to last forever.”

“Why?”

“I don’t know whom to blame but whenever I think deeply, I blame myself.”

“Hold on,” Kevin stopped him. “I’m feeling really hot. Can we please go somewhere else, where there would be electricity?”

“Electricity may not be anywhere in this city. Wait, how about I get a cold glass of water for you?”

Rehan stood up when Kevin asked him to,

“Where will you find cold water when there’s no electricity?”

“Don’t worry, I’ll get it for you.”

Rehan left and walked towards the counter desk. No one was standing there but he found an empty glass of water. He picked up the glass and walked towards a water cooler nearby. He felt some paper under the glass. He held it and looked at it. He read the statement written on it in capital letters,

Stop whatever you’re doing, or you’ll be in danger.

Rehan stopped and thought for a while that what if it was written for him. But he avoided the thought and threw the paper away.

A minute later, he came towards Kevin and handed over the glass of water. Kevin commented,

“So, you arranged it, well.”

“No problem,” Rehan said as he sat on the chair. “Anyways let me continue now.”

“Yeah sure, please.”

“So, I was telling you that one day we lost our happiness forever. My firm had to reduce the employees. Downsizing had begun. So, some of us were in danger. I was also one of them. But I had gotten out of the danger zone and only two were left. One of those two was Kashif. He was jealous of me. I mean he believed that he was way better than me… So, one day he started blackmailing me through phone calls and text messages.”

“Blackmailing? Regarding what?”

“He wanted me to quit the job. Because that is how he could secure his job.”

“I see. So, what did you do?”

“I did not pay much attention to his texts initially.”

“Did you complain?”

“I couldn’t. I mean he was using different numbers every time.”

“So?”

“If I were to complain, I had to have better evidence.”

“But you could’ve said that someone from the firm was constantly bothering you.”

Rehan answered with disappointment,

“Yes, I could have but I don’t know why I didn’t.”

“I see. Anyways, so what happened after that?”

“Well, I kept on lying to Maria. In fact, to this day, she doesn’t know the truth.”

“Truth about?”

“I’m coming to that. One day, Kashif came to me and he blackmailed me openly. We were outside the office building. Money was not that really mattered to him. It was his pride. It was his ego that compelled him to stay in the company as getting fired was insulting for him.”

“Oh, so what happened then?” Kevin asked.

“One day he really scared me. He had sources, multiple sources. He told me that he knew about my wife and if I wouldn’t give up my job then he might do something disastrous.”

“Oh my God, really?”

“Yes, that’s true. Anyways, what happened afterwards was quite unexpected. Maria was feeling some pain. It was nothing severe. She was admitted to the hospital, however. I went to work when I received a phone call from Kashif. He told me that he was aware of what was going on in my personal life. He knew that Maria was admitted to a hospital. And he also knew which hospital.”

“Hold on, stop here,” Kevin stopped him and asked. “Tell me was this guy really powerful. What were his sources that you were so helpless in front of him?”

“He had political support.”

“And he was working at the same firm?”

“Yes, the thing is that he wasn’t that much educated or even qualified for his position.”

“Were you really afraid of him?”

“No, I was afraid of his power. I was afraid of losing Maria.”

“Oh.”

“Yeah, so anyways, I decided to quit and I went to the office to resign. But the next thing I knew, I was told through a text that he was literally about to harm my wife.”

“I texted Maria and asked her to leave the hospital whatsoever. She didn’t read it probably, and the next thing we know… Our child had passed away in a miscarriage.”

“Oh my God!” Kevin was shocked. “Was it really his doing?”

“Yes, and he said that if I would inform the police about it then there would be more trouble for us.”

“Where is this guy right now?”

“He’s in Karachi. He hasn’t bothered us since then but the tragic part is that I lost my job and our child as well.”

“I understand, that is tragic.”

“I had no job. I took this job because we needed money to survive.”

“So, you won’t quit this job, no matter what?”

“I can’t, I have no other source of income.”

“Yes, that’s understandable. Do you think they are honest enough to give you salary?”

“Yes, in fact they have given me an advance on my salary.”

“Well in that case, you can work but on your own risk, because I’ve been told…”

“…I’ve been told the same thing.” Rehan interrupted. “I just have to continue this. There’s a chance, I might survive.”

“Yeah, well. That’s up to you.”

There was a moment of awkward silence for several seconds.

Afterwards, Kevin said,

“Okay, I guess I better leave now.”

“Aren’t you interested in solving this case with me?”

“I am, but I value my life.”

Rehan smiled while looking down.

“See you.” Kevin said as he stood up.

Kevin walked out of the place. Rehan was left all alone.

*****************

That evening, Maria was sitting in the TV lounge. The show she had been waiting for finally started. She increased the volume of the TV. It was entitled,

“Crimes at Corners: Season 3.”

As Rehan appeared on the screen, she smiled and raised her eyebrows.

Rehan was walking inside the mobile market and was interviewing some shopkeeper. She uttered,

Oh my God, I can’t believe it. I am so proud of him.

She picked up her phone and thought of making a phone call to her husband. But she kept it back on the sofa.

Meanwhile at the village, Rehan was walking towards his hotel room. As he held the doorknob, he saw some small paper attached on it. He grabbed the note and read it,

Rehan I mean it. Stop whatever you’re doing or you’ll be dead.

Rehan got a bit shaken and realised that something was suspicious. He turned around and looked left and right. He then looked back at the note and remembered the note he saw today.

He opened the door and went inside the room. He wanted to make sure that no one was inside the room. And to his satisfaction, nobody was. He wondered,

Where is my camera guy?

He then sat on his bed and said,

My life is in danger. It’s clear. I don’t know if I’ll live long enough to see my wife again, but I do know that I’ll resolve Mujhtaba’s case.

He lied backwards and closed his eyes. That very moment he heard his phone ringing. He answered SHO Lashari’s call,

“Hello?”

“Hello Rehan? You were supposed to call me. Why didn’t you?”

“Yes, I’m sorry I forgot.”

“Alright, now listen to me. Tomorrow morning I’ll be there. I’ll come in a train.”

“Oh, okay. That’s great.”

“I’ll be there. What’s the progress by the way?”

“I have discovered plenty about Mujhtaba. Secondly, I also feel that I am in danger.”

“In danger? What do you mean?”

“I’m getting blackmailed.”

“Oh, maybe that’s because your show aired today.”

“Oh my God,” Rehan said astonishingly. “Really?”

“Yes, you didn’t know about it?”

“I wasn’t told about it. Anyways thanks, I will watch it on YouTube.”

“Okay, I’ll see you tomorrow. You better satisfy me.”

“Yeah, sure I will.”

The call got disconnected. Rehan felt a bit uncomfortable. He thought of watching the episode on YouTube.

The very moment, electricity went off.

Oh no.

He anyways picked up his phone and accessed to YouTube.

*****************

Next morning, Rehan woke up and saw his camera guy sleeping on the floor. He felt a bit relieved as he saw him and said:

Thank God, he’s safe.

He sat up and then remembered that SHO Lashari was about to arrive and he had to receive him. He jumped out of the bed and walked towards the bathroom to get ready.

Half an hour later, while he was outside the building, he received a call from some unknown number. He guessed before answering the call,

It must be Mr Lashari’s call.

“Hello?” he answered the call.

There was no response from the other side. He answered the call again,

“Hello? Who is it?”

There was still no reply. He disconnected the call. The very next moment someone put a small sack of cloth on his head from behind and tied it. Rehan got kicked by the same guy and fell on the ground.

to be continued...

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