Day and Night
Word Count: 5,564
“Sir, he has some weird mannerisms. Yesterday, after having food, he was behaving like his usual miserable self. You know, appearing to be on the verge of crying. The kinds you start feeling sad for”, Constable Khudiram says with a pitied expression. “But, when I went for a round at midnight”, he adds a sense of panic to his tone with dramatic agility, “he was a different per—”
Inspector Sanket interjects without looking at him. “Stop squeezing drama out of cases, Khudi”. He takes a pause. “I need to meet Deputy sir after explaining the case to all the officers. Tell me once he arrives. I’ll take briefing from you in the afternoon”. He moves inside the central hall leaving Khudiram in the corridor.
Inside, a group of officers awaits him. As he enters, they stand up and salute. His hand signals them to quickly settle down. He moves near the projector screen and gestures Sub-Inspector Shinde to start presenting the images.
“I’ll get directly to the point”, he starts in a stern tone. “The fact that Crime Branch is asked to handle this case means that this is high-profile and complicated. There has been a series of robberies in the past 3 months. Last week, Indrasen bank reported an illegitimate transfer of 7 crore rupees from one of their high-profile clients’ accounts to a random bank account in Poland. This is the latest in the series and the banks have lost a total of 25 crores till now. Neither the bank nor the government wants this information to reach public discourse. So, I do not want a single piece of information to leak out of this group”, he pauses to get his point registered.
“The cybercrime department has not been able to track any of the past robberies. But this time, they managed to track the criminal’s location to be a small 2 room-kitchen apartment in Khatri Market. They found the device through which the crime was committed and the guy to which it belongs. Akash Nagoriya!” The face of a young man with sharp features and deep eyebags fills the screen. “We got his custody the day before yesterday and he is in our lockup right now.
“He refuses to accept the charges against him. In fact, he says he doesn’t have any idea about the crime. He claims to have been living alone for the past one year, but when we visited his house, we found every possible living essential for two guys; two sets of clothes, toothbrushes, shoes, undergarments. In fact”, he points at the picture on the screen; Shinde switches the frame, “we found the stuff neatly divided between two rooms; one that belongs to Akash, and the other that belongs to another guy.
“Akash says the room belongs to his brother, Shashank. Police have confirmed the validity of this information. Shashank is a charge-sheeted criminal. Police sources suggest that he has earned lakhs out of online frauds. He was arrested a year ago for another cybercrime involving fraud of 25 lacs. He was sent to prison for 6 months. Akash says, he hasn’t come back since then. When we checked with the prison authorities, they informed us that he was released on the designated day and is out for more than 6 months now.
“Akash is himself an ethical hacker and holds a clean record. He has helped the cybercrime department in the past. His laptop has two user profiles. One on his name and the other on Shashank’s. Akash says when they were running short on money, they used to access the same laptop. He unlocked his profile; it's clean and legal. And he claims that he doesn’t even know the password of Shashank’s profile and it has not been used for a year now. The tech team says that the profile has been accessed almost every day during the last six months. They predict that the details of the crime are still available on his laptop, but for complete information and recovery, they need him to spit some particulars out. The laptop is highly encrypted and the tech team suspects that any misstep can cost us the whole data. We have enough conclusive evidence to prove that the crime is committed through his laptop, but nothing direct to prove charges on him. The government wants his laptop’s details, a trace of all his online actions, and hard evidence to put him behind the bar.
“That’s what we know till now. What do you guys think?”, he asks and pulls a chair to sit.
“Sir, either he has committed the crime or he’s trying to defend his brother”, Pradeep adds.
“Or both are involved, and they’re trying to fool us with distraction. I’m sure they could’ve afforded individual laptops”, says Aarti.
“If we assume that they are responsible for all the robberies, how did they leave trace this time?”, Shikhar adds.
“Whoever has done it, I think the key lies with his brother. We need to find him”, concludes Prakash.
“Yes. That’s where we step in. We need to hunt him. Get in touch with all your sources, run inquiries, make arrests if you must, but get this guy. As I told you, the case is high profile. So, stay low. Meanwhile, I’ll get the confirmation to handle him my way”, Sanket hands over the file to each of them.
Khudiram knocks and enters the hall. “Deputy sir has arrived and is asking for you”, he says.
“Tell him I’ll be there in a few minutes”, he instructs and turns to the group of officers. “Get started! Let’s settle this quick. Aarti, you’ll keep me posted on the progress. Meanwhile, I’m coordinating with the Thana In-charge to check the CCTV footage of that area. Luckily, his house is in mid of a big market. So, we have numerous eyes watching him. His house is on the first floor and has only one entry point: the main door connected via the balcony. We’ve acquired the footage for it. I’ll keep you all updated on the findings”.
He gets up and moves out of the hall. In the corridor, Khudiram approaches him again.
He starts, “Sir, this guy isn’t a usual…", but stops mid-sentence when Sanket gives him an annoyed look. “I’ll meet you after the meeting, sir!”, he adds as Sanket knocks at the cabin door. The nameplate on the door mentions ‘Deputy Commissioner B. L. Chauhan’ in bold.
“Get in!”, Chauhan says. Sanket enters and salutes, and at Chauhan’s gesture, pulls a chair and sits down.
“We’ve got the hearing in two days and we need some solid evidence to have a strong case”, Chauhan says.
“Sir, Akash is in complete denial. I know he is lying. I need your permission to get him in the special cell. I assure you I’ll get the evidence out in an hour”, Sanket states.
“There is no way I’m permitting you for that. Thana In-charge mailed me the history sheet of these brothers. Lower middle-class background. Bad childhood”, he wears his glasses and turns to the computer screen. “Father was a carpenter; mother a housewife; violent relationship. Apparently, the mother had some mental issues because of which she used to suddenly turn violent and beat these kids; the father had anger management issues and used to beat her. One day, she injured the younger one so badly that he had to be hospitalized. Their father battered her to death and was sent to prison to serve a lifetime term. They were only 6 and 8 years old then. Their maternal uncle—a widower—adopted them. Later, their father got into a brawl and died in the prison. Their uncle did everything that a parent should do. He got them enrolled in a school, took care of all the finances. But… he sexually molested them, especially the older one.
“They were 14 and 16 when the housemaid reported that they have attempted their uncle’s murder. That’s when the Police got these details logged in their records. Later, the uncle died, and they were sent to the Juvenile Care Center. After 2 and a half years, some Iftaar Mohammad took their custody. The only information available after that is when Shashank got jailed last year”.
He puts his glasses down and turns back to Sanket.
“I want you to handle this case-sensitively. It’s been only a month since you’re back from suspension. Beating a fellow officer is no small offense. I had to move mountains to get you back. I want no bloodshed in this case”.
“Sir, he conspired with a murderer to get the evidence off record. If I wouldn’t have beaten him up, we would’ve lost that case. I did the right thing”, Sanket objects.
“Do you have any evidence to prove that? No! For the court, you obstructed the progress of a case. And anyway, that wasn’t the only incident of you losing temper, right?”
Sanket goes silent. He knows since the last 4 years his anger has been getting the best of him. His career has been a series of great victories followed by a series of suspensions. With his recent temperament, the number of suspensions received by him is soon going surpass his number of accolades.
“Mehrotra is the appointed judge for this case. He was the one who had suspended you for six months. I’m sure you don’t want to get into any trouble again. For some Goddamn reason, he has a soft spot for these troubled kids. His rulings have mostly been unfavorable for us in such cases. Akash has a clean record. He is pursuing studies along with work and has been of help to the department. He is on some medication also. With his backstory, he’ll anyhow get all the sympathy. If he uttered any instance of violence, it will unnecessarily damage our case and your career. Let’s keep the special cell as the last resort. For now, apply all other possible ways. Find his brother. I’ll give you a free hand with him. He’ll be our prime target in the court. We have two days. Tomorrow morning, I need a report, and I expect substantial evidence”, he says conclusively.
“Two days?”, Sanket protests. “We’ve just taken over the investigation, sir. We will need—"
Chauhan interjects, “The court doesn’t care about that. Try your best”. “Okay, sir”, he exasperates and gets up to leave. His body language depicts a defeated heaviness. He adds, “You said he’s on some medication. I would need that doctor’s contact”.
“I’m sending the details”, Chauhan says. “Sanket, to do the right thing, you need to be in the system. And the right thing comes with its consequences. The world isn’t changing in a day. So, better learn to turn smaller wheels to move the bigger cart. Else, the world will keep reminding you of the consequences. You are one of our bests. I don’t want you to be wasted. Not all cases need to be solved with violence. This one needs investigation. I need you in the office”, he adds and picks his glasses again.
Sanket takes a few moments to absorb what Chauhan said. “Thank you, sir”, he says and comes out of the cabin. He finds the Thana In-charge Saxena waiting for him in the corridor.
“Saxena, I was about to call you”, Sanket shakes his hand. “Found anything from the footage?”
“No, sir”, Saxena starts in a dismaying tone. “My team has checked it for the day of the crime and a week before and after that. They’re still checking. But we found no one except Akash entering the house on all days. But,” turning hopeful, “there is one more way of escaping the house. All the windows are tightly covered with grilles, except a transom window that opens at the balcony of the adjoining building. A person can easily slip through it. I’ve got the footage for that too”.
“Okay. Check that on priority. Remember, we cannot afford any discrepancy here. Get me the report by evening”.
“Okay, sir”, Saxena nods. “Sir, we already have his laptop… Isn’t that enough to prove him guilty?”
“It’s certainly not enough. In court, his lawyer can come up with any story… like his laptop being stolen and placed back in his house. You know how easy it is to generate fake evidence. We need to find his brother and get his laptop open”, Sanket adds.
“Got it, sir”.
Sanket signals him to carry on.
He pulls his phone out and notices that Chauhan has messaged him doctor’s details. “Saxena!”, he shouts and gestures him to come back. Saxena swiftly jogs back. “Akash used to visit one doctor. I’m forwarding you his details. Don’t call; directly visit him. Conduct an inquiry and get me all the details”.
“Okay, sir”, Saxena says and continues back.
Sanket puts the phone back in the pocket. He strolls in the corridor for a while. As the primary CCTV footage had failed him, he makes calculations about the remaining possibilities. He tries to build a correlation between his calculations and boys’ history. The case is more complicated than he had thought of it to be. On top of it, he has a timeline to abide by. His fidgety gestures and unsettling expression signify the anxiousness of being pushed to the wall. He moves towards his cabin and finds Khudiram waiting for him outside.
He asks him to enter the cabin and sits miffed at his chair. “Tell me, Khudiram. What isn’t letting you keep calm?”
Khudiram begins, “Sir, that guy has some problem. I notice him every day. After dinner, he behaves as his usual miserable self. You know, pleading that he hasn’t committed any crime. He appears to be one of the mistaken cases. After a while, he goes to sleep. But, when I go for a round at midnight, he turns violent. He screams and keeps asking why he’s kept inside. He threatens me with facing consequences if I don’t let him go out. He talks like a… you know… seasoned criminal. I ignore and leave him alone. In the morning, he returns to his usual self”.
“I don’t have time for stories, Khudi. Get to the point”, Sanket asks.
“This is the point, sir. His behavior is strange. Something happens to him at the midnight. God knows if he’s possessed by some bad spirit or—”
“What rubbish? We are in the business of operating on evidence, not Panchatantra stories. And anyway, do I look like a psychiatrist? Our job is to investigate and send these guys to prison. Their behavior is none of our concern. If this duty isn’t suiting you, Khudi, I can get you on something else. Stop wasting my time with such gossip”, Sanket says, vexed.
“Sir, I’ve done several duties in all these decades. When I see something strange, I take it as a responsibility to inform the officers. Fine. I’ll go back”, he salutes and moves out.
Sanket sighs relief on his exit. He pulls his drawer out to get the little bottle with pills. Along with the bottle, his locket slips into his hand. He looks at it for a few moments, then opens the bottle, takes a pill, throws the bottle back inside the drawer, and shoves it close. He slips further on his chair and looks up at the ceiling. He tries to free his mind from the various threads puzzling him. He knows he has a long day ahead and he cannot afford to lose patience. His thoughts slowly drift around the details Khudiram narrated. It reminds him of the passing of days and nights. Always in transition, forming one unit together, but starkly different from each other, both in form and function. He has never seen Akash angry. He visualizes him screaming and battering. Then he imagines himself in a violent tussle with him. Inadvertently, he closes his eyes to relax for a while.
A knock on the door wakes him up. He hastily sits up straight on his chair and says, “Come in!”, and checks the time. He had spent an hour sleeping. He reprimands himself for losing that much time. Aarti enters and he signals her to take the seat.
“Sir, from the information we’ve gathered, it appears that no one has seen Shashank in the past one year. He had borrowed money from a few in the market; even they are actively searching for him. We are still checking with guards of nearby buildings who perform night duties, but I don’t think even they’ll have any idea about him”, Aarti concludes.
“Hmm… See if you can find someone whom Shashank used to hang out with. Also, keep a record of those whom he had borrowed money from. Keep checking. On-field information might be our only hope. The CCTV footage of the main door shows no presence of Shashank in the week before or after the crime”.
“Sir, what if Akash has murdered his brother and is committing crimes in his name?”, Aarti asks.
Sanket gets reminded of Khudiram’s information about Akash suddenly turning violent. Multiple possibilities involving the window and CCTV footage cross his mind.
He says, “We don’t have any information that hints to that. But there is no harm in running a check. Send Shashank’s details to all the police stations, hospitals, cremation centers, and morgues. See if they have any matching record”.
“Sir, can’t we apply other ways to get Akash to spill this information?”
Sanket gets reminded of his conversation with Chauhan. His irritation finds its way back. For him, a normal citizen deserves all the respect, but anyone who has made his way to the lockup is a potential criminal and cannot be treated the same way. Especially if he doesn’t cooperate with the investigation and acts suspicious. He feels the need to go on a rant but controls himself.
“No. Our hands are tied; we cannot touch him. Keep me posted”, he says. Aarti nods, gets up, and leaves.
Sanket pulls out his phone and opens the unread messages. Saxena informs that his team found nothing with the transom window’s footage. He dials up and his number and starts as soon as Saxena attends the call.
“Saxena, are you sure you’ve checked well?”, he asks aggressively.
“I’m confident, sir. I have my boys here continuously hunting for any evidence. But we’ve found nothing”, Saxena replies.
“Okay. Then take some men and visit his house again. Check each wall and corner. See if there is any other way of escaping”.
“We’ve already checked, sir. In the preliminary visits, we made note of everything. There is—”
“So, where did that guy move out from?” Sanket snarls. “I won’t let these pity criminals fool me. Visit once more and check everything. Knock each wall, scratch the floor, climb the roof, but do not leave an inch unchecked”.
“Okay, sir”.
“Also, ask your boys to recheck the footage and see if Akash has ever moved out with any large bag. Keep them on it. I want everything checked”.
“We’re on it, sir”.
“What did the doctor say?”, Sanket asks.
“I…”, Saxena hesitates, “I haven’t checked with him yet”.
“Saxena, are you understanding…” He begins in a fit of anger, but shifts to a threatening tone, “We don’t have much time at hand. The usual pace won’t work with the Special Branch. I’m giving you one hour”.
“The report will be with you within—" Saxena begins, but Sanket disconnects the call without letting him finish.
He gets up from his chair and starts moving around in his cabin. He calls Khudiram and asks him to get a tea. He then places a white sheet on his table and starts writing down all the possibilities―no matter how impossible they may appear. One after the other, he takes a possibility and runs all the available information in perspective to it. He scratches the marker around the words, letting his confusion flow out as ink. In a few minutes, Khudiram joins him with tea. He includes Khudiram in the investigation. Sanket was harsh with him this afternoon, but he’s well aware of his experience on and off the field. They discuss and one by one discard each possibility, only to reach a point of no conclusion.
After an hour of brainstorming, they reach full circle to where they’d begun from. They conclude that to form an opinion, knowing Shashank’s whereabouts is of utmost priority. A sense of dejectedness replaces his anger as the realization of being dependent on Aarti and Saxena to move any further dawns upon him. He takes out his phone to check if they dropped any updates. He finds nothing.
Khudiram asks why he isn’t taking Akash to the Special cell. In response, Sanket narrates the highlights of his meeting with Chauhan. Upon hearing, Khudiram suggests, “He hasn’t stopped you from asking questions in the interrogation room. I can help you keep your anger in check, and you can…”, “CCTV?”, Sanket asks.
“Power cuts, device malfunction, lost recordings, they are common problems, sir…” Khudiram smiles slyly.
Sanket nods at his suggestion and they both move out of the cabin.
Sanket asks Khudiram to get Akash to the interrogation room, while he goes to fetch Akash’s laptop from the vault. The interrogation room is designed in two halves. One half—Block-A—looks like a usual meeting room, while the other one—Block-B—is a space with a table and two chairs kept for interrogation. They are divided by a wall that sports a reciprocal mirror 1 at the center and are installed with cameras and microphones for recording.
Sanket enters Block-B and sits in front of Akash while Khudiram watches from Block-A. He puts the laptop at the table and starts, “You aren’t as good a planner you think you are”.
“Sir, there is no plan”, Akash pleads, “I seriously don’t know—”
“Shut up!” Sanket shouts and thumps his fist on the table. "We know you’ve murdered your brother and committed crimes in his name. After all, you are the good guy and he’s the charge sheeter. You should’ve stuck with your pity pickpocketing. By looting a bank, you’ve got yourself in huge trouble. You’ll go in for a lifetime term”.
“I love my brother, sir. How can I murder him?”
“I have seen enough loving brothers killing for money. Anyhow, we’ve got his dead body”, Sanket continues with his bluff.
“Dead body!”, Akash’s face goes pale. “You mean, he’s…”
“Don’t act surprised! We have enough evidence to frame you”.
“He cannot die! He cannot die!”, Akash screams. “I’ve not done anything. I’ve not committed any crime”, Akash breaks down starts to weep. Sanket looks at him menacingly and allows him to cry.
“Okay, stop crying. I’ll give you one more chance”, he takes a pause and opens the laptop’s lid. “Enter the credentials for Shashank’s profile. You give us the information we need, and I’ll make sure you get an easy term”.
Akash doesn’t reply.
Sanket thumps again on the table, “Aye! Enter the password—"
“Sir, I don’t know the password. My brother—”
“Stop lying!”, Sanket shouts.
“I swear on my mother, sir. I don’t know—”
“Shut up!”, Sanket gets up from his chair. “I’ve handled dozens of donkeys like you. I can very well speak the language you understand”.
“Sir… I don’t know, I don’t know”, Akash starts to snivel.
Sanket goes around his chair, “Either you’ll enter the password, or…” and topples it with one kick. He bends down and grabs him by the collar. He starts dragging him across the room towards one of the corners.
Alarmed by the sudden turn to violence, Khudiram enters the room just when Sanket lifts his hand to hit him. “Sir!” he shouts, “Deputy sir has called you for a meeting”, he adds to calm Sanket down.
Sanket pauses in his place and slowly gets his hand down.
“I’m giving you one hour. Decide for your life”, he warns and moves out of Block-B.
Khudiram hands him the water bottle. He takes it and lands on the chair.
“These criminals think of us as a joke. You saw how quickly he shifted from crying about his brother to defending himself? I know he is lying… But I’ve been asked to behave sensitively”.
They stay silent for a minute while Akash’s whimpering fills the space. With half a bottle of water, he gulps his anger down. He hands the bottle back, “Thanks, Khudi”.
Khudiram nods. “Sir, what if he actually doesn’t know the password? You know…”, he asks.
“He has to know. That’s our only chance. There is no trace of Shashank, tech can’t open his system, legal sympathy is on his side. If he enters the password, that’s enough evidence to frame him in the case. We can then borrow time to search for the brother. Else, he’ll have to make one statement against our conduct and his case will be forwarded for further inquiry”, Sanket says.
Khudiram nods, “Okay, sir. Let’s keep trying”. He adds, “I need to go for the rounds”.
“Go ahead, Khudi. I won’t lose it again. I’ll restart only when you’re back”.
“I’ll be back in half an hour”, Khudiram says and exits.
Sanket looks at Akash through the mirror. His feeble demeanor adds fuel to his pent-up anger. He has spent years handling cases where notorious criminals perform a pseudo-identity to save themselves from harsh behavior. Some of them speak after one hit and some after days of torture, but they all do. The more he looks at Akash the more cheated and helpless he feels. He wishes to go inside and thrash him like a punching bag. He imagines the moment in which he’ll admit his crime and will enter the password. All his pent-up rage slowly starts to seep out. Sweat drips off his head and nerves pull themselves to the limits of bursting. He clenches his fist and breathes heavily. Everything else zooms out, becomes out of context. He forgets he has a case to resolve, a career to save, and a commitment to fulfill. Akash and his crime occupy the center-stage. Finally, his restlessness and imagination take the best of him. He bumps his fist hard on the table. The water bottle topples by the impact of it. He gets up with the motive to beat Akash to the pulp. His muscles gather all the strength they have. Just as he approaches the joining door, his phone buzzes at a rapid pace.
He stops in his tracks and takes his time to assess. He feels as if he’s being pulled out of a spell. A sudden realization takes him over and he gets back to sit on his chair. He turns to the other side to avoid looking at Akash. He reminds himself of all the theories of self-control and anger management he has read. He picks the bottle from the floor and gulps the remaining half of its content. Once done, he puts the bottle carefully back on the table.
He pulls out his phone and looks at the shallow reflection of his face. ‘I become someone else when anger takes me over’, he thinks to himself. He unlocks the phone and recalls that it’s been an hour since he asked Saxena and Aarti for reports. He opens the unread messages and reads text from Aarti. As he reads, his jaw drops, and his eyes go wide. After being stunned for a minute, the message hits him as if someone dropped a bombshell. He reads it with absolute shock. And before he could recover from what he read, Saxena’s message gets him rooted to the spot. He reads the message several times. This detail is a bolt from the blue. He turns and looks at Akash with absolute disbelief.
Khudiram enters Block-A and finds Sanket staring at Akash with the brooding focus of a carnivore observing his prey. He senses the unusual energy of the room. The kind that stays long after passing of a chaotic disagreement. Sanket’s focus remains unperturbed by his presence.
“Sir, everything alright?”, he asks cautiously. Sanket doesn’t reply.
He looks through the mirror at Akash, who has his head bent down on the table and appears to be sleeping. He notices that Sanket has brought the laptop out.
“Sir!”, he says loudly, “Are you waiting for anyone?”
“I’m waiting for him to fall asleep”, Sanket replies.
“Why?”
“I think he is now. Stay silent”. Sanket gets up, picks the laptop, and opens the connecting door with caution. He enters Block-B with the vigilance of a hunting eagle and places the laptop on the table. He then moves out of Block-B and closes the door.
He pounds the door a couple of times with increasing intensity.
The sound of it wakes Akash from his sleep. He gets up and notices the laptop in front of him. He looks around and screams, “What is this place? Where am I? Is anyone here?”, he moves and starts thumping the mirror on the wall.
Sanket looks at him with mystifying curiosity. He notices Akash transforming into a different personality. His body language shifting, his intensity increasing. Khudiram looks at him for a command, but he asks him to stay silent. Akash keeps thumping the mirror, then moves to beat the door and the walls for the next few minutes. Finally, he goes back and sits on his chair. He looks intently at the laptop. And after some hesitation, he opens the lid.
Khudiram and Sanket move closer to the corner of the mirror, attempting to get a glance at the laptop screen. They manage to find a spot from where they could see the screen. Akash switches the laptop on. It boots and gets him to the sign-in screen. Their jaws drop in wonder when he selects Shashank’s profile and enters the password for it. They look at each other with disbelief. Sanket’s eyes shine with the victory of solving an impossible puzzle.
“Let’s go in and snatch the laptop from him”, he says. They move inside Block-B. Akash gets up from his place in protest. Before he could make a move, Sanket grabs both his hands and applies a body lock on him.
“Take it!” he shouts and Khudiram moves with the laptop to Black-A. Sanket pushes him to a corner, quickly moves out of the room, and locks the door. Akash starts yelling and banging the door again. They both smile victoriously.
“See, sir. This is how he behaves every night”, Khudiram exclaims. “So, he was lying all this while. You know… the recording of this will definitely get him to jail”, he adds.
“He’s not lying, Khudi. And he’ll not go to jail”.
Khudiram looks at him with puzzled expressions.
“You were right. This guy does have a problem. I’d asked Aarti to check if there is any record of his brother’s death. His brother had died just after he got out of jail, six months ago. The reason remains unknown, but his body was found in a drain by municipal workers and later cremated”, Sanket explains.
“That means he is the one committing the crime?”
“Yes, and no. Saxena met his doctor and discovered him to be a psychiatrist whom Akash was meeting for the past few years. He was going through chronic depression but had a strong will to live. After Shashank’s death, he visited his clinic only thrice. He was diagnosed with mild amnesia, chronic sleep deprivation, and multiple personality disorder. His other personality is Shashank. He did commit the crime, but not as himself. The person you see now is Shashank. Once he’ll go to sleep, the person who’ll wake up will be Akash. He’s been this way for the past 6 months; without any sleep or rest. On the night of the crime, his body got so exhausted that it gave up, and he got caught”.
Khudiram sits down at the chair and takes a minute to come to terms with the information.
“But how can sleep switch his personality? And how does he behave exactly the way Shashank does?”
“We don’t know. The psychiatrist says that this could be by accident or someone might have hypnotized him”.
“Hypnotized him to handle Shashank’s jobs?”
“Maybe!”
Khudiram gets up, “This leaves us with further questions. About his brother’s death, his treatment, other robberies…”, he adds.
“Yes. We’ve merely opened Pandora’s box. And I had thought I’ll solve this case”. Sanket chuckles.
“You opened the box, sir. That isn’t any less, you know”.
Both exchange congratulatory smiles and look at Akash through the mirror as he settles on the chair.
“Let’s go and do the paperwork, Khudi. We have a lot to explain”.
“Yes, sir. And a lot to understand, you know”.
Special Mention: I wrote this story after reading another short story: 'The bird that watched'. It was originally written in Tamil by Jeyamohan and later translated in English by Vishvesh Obla. Please do consider reading it.
Notes by Author:
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A mirror that appears reflective on one side and transparent at the other↩