Missing

by Mian Mohsin Zia

  Z nods.

  “Before I could finish talking with you, the man barged into the phone booth and disconnected the call. He seized the receiver, slapped me hard on the face, and then bashed my head several times with it until I fell onto my knees. It felt like my head was splitting — the pain was terrible. I thought I was dying and must have completely blacked out,” she reaches up to gently touch her bandaged head. Z looks ashen-faced and then, along with everyone else, breathes out.

  “Miss Lena’s right. With such an assault, anyone would’ve felt like that,” Dr. Asif attests, as he looks around at all their ashen, stony faces.

  Surprisingly, in the next moment, Dr. Asif takes them all aback by smiling at Z and everyone else. “Well, gentlemen,” he announces, “I’m very pleased indeed that Miss Lena has spoken at last! This is a real milestone in the course of her progress,” and he beams at them all.

  “Since she gained consciousness last week, she’s been insistent that she would only talk to her Bhai. We’ve been trying to call you Mr. Z, but your number was switched off, and Miss Lena left several voice messages for you as well. I’m very pleased we’ve finally connected,” Dr. Asif says, coming closer to touch Z on the shoulder.

  “Before I brief you about Miss Lena’s medical condition or let her speak again, I think this is the right moment to show how she ended up here,” Dr. Asif says.

  “Sure, doc, please go ahead,” Z says with a sinking heart, as he guesses it will involve more suffering for Lena.

  “I haven’t even told you this, Miss Lena, because you didn’t want to talk to anyone before you could speak with your Bhai. Now, I can understand why you’ve been so reticent — and rightly so,” Dr. Asif says, looking at her. He starts walking back and forth slowly.

  “It was around 2:30 am when I arrived home on March 1. I live in Faisal Town B Block in the street facing the Kotha Pind Graveyard. My house is directly over the road from the graveyard entrance on that side. When I got there, I found Jacky, my pet dog, barking, which was very unusual. I’d returned late that night and didn’t want my family to be disturbed, so I got out of the car, opened the main gate, and went to Jacky to quieten him,” Dr. Asif stops still for a moment, as if he recalls the scene, and then resumes his slow pacing.

  “I could see Jacky was barking at something outside, but initially just focused on him. Later, when I realized that Jacky was barking at a car parked right outside the graveyard entrance, I unchained him, and we went out. The car didn’t belong to any of my neighbors. Jacky led me to the graveyard. As I passed it, I noticed the window behind the front passenger seat on the left was broken.” He touches some fingers to his forehead but doesn’t stop pacing this time.

  “I realized then that Jacky must have seen something, and that’s why he wouldn’t calm down. It’s very unusual for someone to be in the graveyard in the dark, and especially at that time of night. Using the flashlight on my cell phone, I followed Jacky. A man started running with a shovel in his hand — I guess he saw my flashlight — which further corroborated that something was wrong. Jacky chased the man and bit him, but the man hit him with the shovel and escaped,” Dr. Asif says while walking a little faster.

  “Jacky returned to me and scooted off to where the man had started running, and I followed. We found Miss Lena lying on the ground. He must have been there to bury her as a little area had already been dug up next to her,” he says somberly, his eyebrows knitted in a frown.

  “As a doctor, my first response was to check if she was dead, but she wasn’t… so I immediately brought her here. My wife, Saadia, is the owner of the Jaguar Health Care Private Hospital and one of the country’s top-notch neurosurgeons. Naturally, as medical practitioners, our prime objective was to save her, not to investigate what had happened.” Dr. Asif looks around at everyone to emphasize his point.

  “Our examination revealed that Miss Lena had been struck on the head and had a few cuts on her legs, but there had been no sexual assault. As far as her head injuries were concerned, we all heard just a few minutes ago that she was hit hard with a phone receiver. It knocked her unconscious and made her appear dead. However, she wasn’t dead. She’d gone into a coma. I assume the man thought Miss Lena was dead — just like any layman would have — and as a result, he tried to get rid of her by burying her.” Dr. Asif looks around at everyone as he outlines this grim situation, while Lena seems horrified.

  “My wife carried out a couple of surgical procedures, hoping against hope that Miss Lena would come out of the coma soon — for patients in a coma, you can’t ever guarantee anything. In the end, it took her seven weeks to first regain consciousness. Finally, last week she showed further progress by talking. However, she wouldn’t say a single word except for mentioning you, Mr. Z, so we tried contacting you. Eventually, today, in your presence, she’s broken her silence!” Dr. Asif says as he stops pacing and beams at Z.

  “Why didn’t you contact the police, when you found Miss Lena?” the police officer who’s taking the notes asks.

  “Miss Lena’s not a native. Anyone would identify her as a foreigner here in Pakistan. Keeping this in mind, plus the fact that you and I are well aware of the increase in foreigners, especially women from different countries working at spas, massage centers, and other places. We know what kind of work they do, so I don’t have to explain. You understand the situation well.” Everyone nods in agreement.

  “These women are either illegal entrants, or they are a part of a network that nobody would want to be a part of. At first glance, my wife and I understood that Miss Lena might have had that background. Witnessing that someone didn’t want her to be alive solidified our conjecture.” Everyone nods in agreement again.

  “First, we wanted to rescue her; second, keep her alive; and finally tell the police and everyone what had happened — whether she survived or not.” Everyone stood a little straighter, bar Lena and Z, who smiled at each other.

  “If there’d been someone who’d truly lost Miss Lena, they would have filed a missing report,” Dr. Asif points out, and there are murmurs of agreement.

  “If she’d been reported missing by the media or by the police, knowing someone was genuinely seeking her, we would’ve happily informed them that she was in a coma. As that didn’t happen, we decided not to inform the police, because of the risk to her life. In any case, they had to wait for her to recover to tell her story too.

  “In both cases, the police would have been informed. Either she would’ve told them what had happened to her — when she recovered — or we would have told them — if she hadn’t survived,” he summarizes.

  “We live in a society where we come across women who regularly visit doctors for abortions and other treatments that we don’t recommend, women who find their lives under severe threat,” Dr. Asif explains sorrowfully.

  “You’re right. What you’ve said stands to reason, Doctor,” the police officer says, while he notes down the doctor’s statement.

  “By the way, where is your wife?” the other police officer asks.

  “She’ll be joining us soon. She’s in the operating theater at present for an emergency procedure,” Dr. Asif replies with a smile.

  The Governor looks at Z who’s been gently holding his shoulder. He remembers what Z had gone through on the train. “Z, your gunshot wounds should probably be checked too. Dr. Asif, is that possible?”

  “Yes, of course,” Dr. Asif replies. “I can do that once we’re finished here today.” Z looks relieved as his shoulder, in particular, is still very painful.

  The Governor then steps closer to Lena to speak to her. “Young lady, I hope you get well soon. I feel deeply sorry for all the trouble you’ve gone through in our country. The government will, of course, take care of all your medical expenses for your stay here in the hospital, so please don’t be concerned about them.”

  “That’s so appreciated, Governor. I’d been wondering about that side of things, so I’m very relieved to hear this. Thank you most
sincerely,” she says, smiling at him, while he continues.

  “You’re very welcome, Miss Lena… and you can be certain too, that we will bring every single person involved in this to justice,” he says, bowing slightly and then turning to address the police officers.

  “Officers, please put your best team to work and find every single person involved in this. There are to be no excuses, and I want it done as a priority,” he impresses upon them.

  “Yes, sir!” they react enthusiastically.

  “I formally request that you personally keep track of this matter, Governor,” Charles Warner adds gravely while stepping closer to the Governor.

  Lena’s voice is heard next. “Bhai, how and when did you come to Pakistan?”

  Before Z can answer, the door opens, and a woman of about forty-five, of average height and fair complexion, enters the room. “Gentlemen, this is my wife, Dr. Saadia,” Dr. Asif says proudly to introduce his wife.

  Dr. Saadia greets everyone, approaches Lena in the bed to inquire about her health with a gentle smile and tells everyone about Lena’s progress.

  After a short discussion and other formalities, everyone leaves the room except for Z. Until Dr. Asif returns to check his wounds, he’s now free to answer Lena’s questions about how her scarf was found, and how and when he came to be in Pakistan.

  CHAPTER 18

  “I’m very pleased with your progress since Z arrived, Miss Lena. You’re recuperating much faster than I expected. At this rate, you’ll be discharged in a few days,” Dr. Saadia says happily, as she checks Lena along with her husband, Dr. Asif.

  “Z, I’m also pleased with how your wounds are healing,” Dr. Asif says, as he smiles at Z. “You’ll be ready to leave when Miss Lena is.”

  Z had been staying at the hospital since arriving there ten days previously to be united with Lena. He was chatting with her when both doctors came in for their daily visit.

  “Thank you, Doctor,” Lena says with a smile, no longer wearing the protective mask on her face.

  “You’re most welcome,” Dr. Saadia replies warmly.

  Z thanks Dr. Asif, too, with a smile.

  At this moment, there’s knocking on the door to Lena’s room. It opens, as the Governor and both police officers enter.

  After some discussion, the Governor asks after Lena’s health and then addresses both her and Z.

  “Miss Lena and Mr. Z, you’ll both be pleased to know that we’ve found Samad, and not only him! We’ve cracked open the whole network. Our police and law enforcement agencies have been working non-stop for the last ten days on this matter. With the help of your information, Miss Lena, and the information we got from Faisal in the lockup, we identified their guesthouses and contacts as well.”

  “What! Already! This is wonderful news, Sir— ” Z exclaims, and is interrupted by Lena saying, “Yes, it’s the very best news. I’m so glad to hear this.”

  “You’ll both be pleased as well to know that we’ve been able to save many young women and boys as well from their slavery. I believe that your suffering, Miss Lena, and your persistence in finding her, Mr. Z, have served as blessings in disguise. Many others have been suffering for a long time while waiting for help. And that’s not to mention the many others the network would have targeted in the future! I strongly believe the Almighty ALLAH has also guided us in this pursuit of justice.”

  The Governor indicates one of the police officers with his hand. He was the one who’d been there when they first met Lena at the hospital, along with the other officer who’d been taking notes that day. “Mr. Tariq, the Inspector General of Punjab, will brief you. He’s been keeping me posted with the day-to-day progress. But before that, I’d like to ask both of you, Miss Lena and Mr. Z, if your stay and care here at the hospital have been well taken care of.”

  “Yes, very well taken care of, thank you!” Lena and Z acknowledge together.

  “And have your belongings been returned to you, Mr. Z? The ones, the police recovered, that you left in the hotel room before you were shot in the train?” the Governor asks.

  “Yes, those too. Last week I was asked to identify them, and they were given to me — Lena’s scarf included,” Z affirms.

  “That’s good to hear,” the Governor acknowledges and then indicates to IG Tariq that it’s time for him to take over.

  “Thank you, Sir,” he says to the Governor, and then faces Z and Lena to address them.

  “I have news about Samad and his car for you,” he announces and smiles at them, before becoming more thoughtful.

  “At times in investigations, we’re sometimes out of luck and just can’t figure out how on earth someone or something can go missing. That was the case with Samad, but this time it was even worse than usual. It wasn’t only him that had gone missing, but his car as well. In such scenarios, we can only back our skills and work hard but also rely on the Almighty who never lets us down — and who helped this time as well.

  “Initially, we monitored the CCTV cameras for the route from the graveyard toward Valencia Town but couldn’t find a single clue about Samad and his vehicle.

  “After we located the guesthouse in Misri Shah, as well as the guesthouse in Valencia Town, we monitored the CCTV cameras for the route between them, and still didn’t find anything about his return trip,” he says shaking his head and pursing his lips.

  “We found the exact location where Miss Lena broke the window and got out of the car near Akbar Chowk, but there’s no CCTV camera footage to validate that.

  “This floored us — how on earth could a man disappear along with his car without leaving a clue behind? When Samad left the graveyard, his phone was already off, but where did he go?” he asks, raising both shoulders and opening his arms and hands to emphasize their dilemma.

  “According to the cell phone records, the last location where Samad’s phone was active was Kalma Chowk, Garden Town, but that was before they’d reached Akbar Chowk… and everything that Miss Lena told us. We assume his phone was switched off because its battery was flat. After all, we can’t see why else he would’ve turned it off. The Kalma Chowk location also gave us a clue about another route he could have used to drive toward Valencia Town.

  “This brings me to the canal,” he says soberly.

  “You’ve probably seen the canal that stretches from one end of the city to the other. In summer like now, when it’s starting to get hot, poor kids and people go to the canal to dive in, swim for pleasure and to cool down. Unfortunately, we can’t stop them. The canal is so long that a protective wall can’t be built around it. Additionally, it has highways on either side that are major road corridors for the city,” IG Tariq says, pausing in thought for a moment, as he approaches the core of his analysis.

  “We then examined all the new alternative destinations and routes for Samad we could think of. The first option: if he was going to Valencia Town after he’d left the graveyard, he didn’t have to opt for any canal route — and there was no CCTV footage of him. The second option: if he was returning to the Misri Shah guesthouse, he was more likely to use the same route he’d used previously via Kalma Chowk — but there was no CCTV footage of that. The third option: if he was returning to the Misri Shah guesthouse and had opted to go via the canal route, his car would have been going in that direction and would have appeared in some CCTV footage — but it didn’t. The fourth option: if he was going to his residence at Peco Road near Township, he wouldn’t have needed the canal route, as he was already at the graveyard and the CCTV cameras on that route would have had footage of him — but they didn’t. All the possible destinations we could think of were nullified, as we could find nothing in the CCTV camera footage for them. We were stumped,” he admits finally.

  “A couple of days ago, a few youngsters went to the canal and dived in. Two of them drowned, and the Rescue Team was called. Unfortunately, such cases are common, and even though warnings are issued regularly, people don’t stop, and drownings occur every year in large
numbers.

  “Anyways, when the Rescue Team arrived, they found a car wreck at the very bottom of the canal along with the bodies of the two boys. The police were informed, and the car was identified as Samad’s. No other body was found,” he says, looking momentarily glum at the memory, but then brightens.

  “As they say: ‘One man’s loss is another man’s gain.’ The Rescue Team went for the two boys, but they also found the last piece in our puzzle. We got our divers to search the entire canal, and finally, Samad’s phone and a partially decomposed body were found. A forensic report certified with the help of other data we’d gathered, that it was Samad,” IG Tariq stays silent for a while so the others can digest this fact.

  “Faisal verified that at the Misri Shah guesthouse, he’d asked Samad to deliver Miss Lena to the Valencia Town guesthouse. Their cell phone data records confirm that they were together there and that it was February 28.

  “Eventually, after Samad’s car was located at the side of the canal route leading to Johar Town, it was seen in the footage from one of the CCTV cameras as well. It seems that in his panic, Samad must have decided to inform Faisal about everything that had happened, as he was the head pimp. Most importantly, Samad would have wanted to ask Faisal for a favor when Madame got to know about it. However, as his phone had no power, he had no other way to reach out to Faisal, except go to Faisal’s place in Judicial Colony, Johar Town that night.

  “Faisal’s statement provided further support of this hypothesis. Every time Samad, or anyone else, delivered a parcel, he was supposed to inform Faisal about its successful delivery, or if there’d been any deviation,” IG Tariq explains.

  “After thoroughly inspecting Samad’s car, we concluded that while he was driving one of his tires must have blown. The car went out of control, mounted the footpath, and plunged into the canal. Because it was already around 3 — very late in the night — his accident wasn’t seen by anyone. Neither was it caught on CCTV footage because those cameras are only located at particular key spots and don’t cover every nook and cranny,” he says, and as he can see that they are happy with his explanation so far, he goes on.