Sinner's Game: Karma will chase!

by Sandeep Sharma

  Vyom followed them to the bar and positioned himself in a convenient location to observe them. From a distance, while he could not listen to their conversation, he could easily observe their body language. Everything looked normal and Vyom found it rather boring. He regretted his decision to travel to Mumbai but it was a sunk cost. He sat there and quickly grabbed a drink to justify his presence in the bar.

  As the evening progressed however, he saw Tanuja’s expressions change. She was blushing. Their conversation had taken a turn towards the flirtatious, going by her smiles and their body language. Akshay held Tanuja’s hands in sometime. Soon Akshay settled the bill and after few minutes, both of them left the bar, holding hands.

  Vyom now wanted to follow them to their floor and check the room number they were going to. But he could not enter the lift on time. While holding hands in a hotel meant something, getting into the same room after drinks was definitely material information for his investigation.

  By the time, he got to their floor, Akshay and Tanuja had disappeared. Vyom however was not too sure about whether Tanuja had gone into Akshay’s room.

  Holding hands was not a big deal but for Garima this would mean a lot. This sequence of events was sufficient for him to meet Garima again and brief her on these recent developments. He also wanted her alignment on his next steps related to the investigation.

  Vyom finally felt a sense of accomplishment in the saddest way possible.

  Tanuja was now spending more time with Akshay and getting more comfortable in his company. She still had so much to learn from him about the global expansion of Hailthy. This global expansion experience was unique and she did not want to miss it at any cost.

  . With frequent interactions with Akshay during the Mumbai trips, she had started feeling little possessive about him. She wanted his attention and wanted to control him. Akshay on the other hand was clear that he wanted to keep everything under the carpet.

  Tanuja had just returned from Mumbai and was spending her weekend with Reema. After a heavy lunch both of them had decided to watch TV for some time. Reema was sitting next to her on a couch. For some reasons Tanuja was still distracted as she thought about her growing fondness for Akshay.

  Reema looked at her and said, ‘Do you want watch something else?’

  ‘What?’

  Tanuja was smiling when Reema spoke to her. Reema caught her off-guard this time. ‘You have been in Hailthy long enough but I have never seen you smiling while thinking something. What is it?

  Tanuja became defensive, ‘Nothing exciting as such. I was thinking about my good old days.’

  Reema said, ‘Darling, take your time but I will make sure that you share whatever is going on with me. I am your childhood friend and I know you well so give me some credit. You have been staying so long with me now but I have never seen you like this.’

  ‘Like what?’

  ‘Happily lost!’

  ‘Hmm you are acting like a shrink now!’

  ‘Do you need one?’

  Tanuja smiled to cut Reema off but she could not disconnect with her feelings. She had everything that she ever wanted from a corporate job. She was part of the core management committee now. With her knowledge about the health sector, she was very close to realizing her own dream of becoming an entrepreneur. Along with being part of the Global expansion project, she also had to understand Intellectual Property related aspects of the business. Something that Akshay had not discussed this with her so far.

  However, her recent feelings for Akshay were different and she felt bad that she could not share any of this with Reema.

  The Fear

  Meanwhile, Vibhor was unhappy with his interaction with Himanshu. Himanshu had not shown any interest in the investigation regarding Priya’s death. Vibhor was desperate to find someone else with whom he could discuss the mystery behind Priya’s death. He did not want to involve his mother in the discussion. He then remembered Akshay and decided to meet him. Priya had mentioned about Akshay’s professionalism and helpful nature.

  Akshay was at his office in his weekly review meeting when he received a call from the reception informing him that he had a visitor.

  ‘Sir Mr. Vibhor has come to meet you. Monika is not in office today so I called you.’

  ‘That is alright. Does he have any appointment? Where is he from?’

  ‘He is Priya’s brother. The employee who recently…’

  Akshay understood the situation and decided to meet him immediately.

  ‘Please send him to my cabin.’

  He interrupted his ongoing meeting. ’Guys, something urgent has come up. I need a small break.’

  After a few minutes, Vibhor entered his cabin. ‘Akshay Sir, I am Vibhor, Priya’s brother. I wanted to discuss something related to my sister’s accident.’

  While Akshay felt uncomfortable in this situation he tried to stay calm.

  ‘Vibhor, we are all deeply saddened by the shocking, untimely death of Priya. I understand your loss. Pradeep from Sushant Lok police station is the IO for this case. He recently came to our office to speak to a few employees.

  ‘I know Sir. You may not know that he has already closed the case.’

  ‘I wasn’t aware about this Vibhor. Tell me what is bothering you.’

  ‘There is something unusual about Priya’s death. I hope you have got some time.’

  ‘Sure, Vibhor go ahead. I am listening.’

  ‘The police recently handed me Priya’s phone. I was going through her messages after that. I found some weird messages in one of her WhatsApp groups.’

  ‘What kind of messages?’

  ‘It seems that Priya was part of a WhatsApp group called ‘The Final Destination’ and some of the messages can be easily linked to her death. You must see this yourself sir.’

  He took out Priya’s phone from his pocket, unlocked it and handed it over to Akshay.

  Akshay could immediately recall his frustration with this unwanted WhatsApp group in which someone added him few weeks before the party. He started reading the messages and reached the last few messages. The last message caught his attention. The message was loud and clear. It did sound like the final intimation of her death.

  He looked at Vibhor in shock.

  Vibhor was quite eager and spoke immediately, ‘Akshay sir do you also see something fishy? I spoke to Himanshu on the same and he brushed this aside as a frivolous coincidence. Can this help us in nailing culprit behind Priya’s death?’

  Akshay was definitely worried but did not know how to handle the situation. He said, ‘Yes, Vibhor I agree that this is not a mere coincidence and there is more to it. At the same time, we are not the right people to explore this any further.’

  ‘So what are you suggesting?’

  ‘As Priya’s brother, you must reach out to the police and explain this to them. I am sure they will hand it over to the Cybercrime cell. You can leave this phone with me. I have few friends who can probe this in parallel.’

  ‘Sure sir; please do find out the source of these messages. I will take the phone back later from you.’

  Vibhor was happy that Akshay agreed to his hypothesis but didn’t agree with his suggestion. He had tried it once so he was not hopeful of any cooperation from police.

  ‘Sir, can you please help me with this? If the company supports me in this investigation, then police will take it seriously. Otherwise, I have no chance with this, based on my experience with Pradeep.

  Akshay agreed to his request. He said, ‘Talk to Neeraj and he will help you with this. If needed feel free to call me or meet me. We will do everything to support this investigation.’

  ‘Thank you sir! I will meet Mr. Neeraj right now.’

  ‘Take care!’

  By the time Vibhor left, Akshay was extremely tense. He thought about the WhatsApp messages. This freaked him out and was unable to focus on his work. He took out his phone and started reading his own messages. He realized that he could be few messages away
from receiving the final message. His mind started racing towards other possibilities. He wished that whatever Himanshu had said to Vibhor were right. However, he knew that something was surely wrong.

  Tanuja knocked gently and entered Akshay’s cabin. Akshay was so lost in his thoughts that he did not even notice Tanuja. She knocked again. This time it was harder. Akshay finally got her attention and looked at her..

  ‘Hi Tanuja! Have a seat.’

  ‘Something wrong?’ asked Tanuja.

  ‘Why do you ask?’

  ‘It is written on your face dear. I know you that much by now.’

  Akshay got up from his seat and closed the door of his cabin before returning to his seat. Tanuja understood that something important had come up. She pulled up her chair and asked, ‘So I was right! Now tell me. What is bothering you?’

  Akshay told her about Vibhor’s recent visit to the office and details related to Priya’s death. When his narration reached point related to WhatsApp messages, Akshay took out his phone and showed the messages in his WhatsApp group. Then he took Priya’s phone out and showed her messages to Tanuja.

  Tanuja looked at Akshay’s messages and looked scared. ‘I hope you are not joking. Let me show you something. This is really creepy.’ She pulled out her own phone. She was also a part of ‘The Final Destination’ group. Tanuja showed the messages she received to him. Both of them were silent for a few minutes.

  Tanuja had started receiving these messages a few months back but had ignored them completely. She had been too busy in her office work and had no time to respond to something that looked like a prank to begin with.

  ‘Tanuja you never told me anything about this.’

  ‘And you?’

  ‘Clearly both of us ignored it. This still looks like a prank to me.’

  ‘Akshay I have been receiving these messages for quite some time now. Actually this was just after our last funding related trip to US.’

  ‘This looks serious now. I am also freaking out.

  ‘I don’t know, Akshay. Frankly, I am out of words. ’

  ‘There is something to it, Tanuja. I have been ignoring this for a while but now this requires attention. We need to support Vibhor in the police investigation but we cannot afford to join this investigation. We cannot show our messages to the police for obvious reasons.’

  ‘I thought someone is just trying a prank on me and I had muted this group after some time. If we can’t go to the police then what.’

  ‘Tanuja lower down you voice, we are in office right now. Look I do not understand technology so well but it seems that someone is surely hacking into our phones. I do not understand what is common between Priya and us.

  ‘What are you planning to do?’

  ‘Let me talk to a friend of mine, Vineet. He is an IT wizard and should be able to help us.’

  ‘Akshay can you trust him? I am involved too so you need to be careful.’

  ‘Relax Tanuja, I will just offer my phone to him first and then we will see if there is any connection. Maybe we are all infected by some virus and Priya’s death was just a coincidence.’

  Tanuja wanted to believe that all this is a just bad coincidence. She said, ‘Akshay please do this fast and keep me posted. Where is your friend Vineet now?’

  ‘He stays nearby only. I will call him immediately and meet him.’

  ‘Can you call him now?’

  ‘Sure I will call right away. You can leave now.’

  After some time, Akshay called up Vineet but did not reveal much over the phone. He decided to meet Vineet near his office at a bar.

  ‘Hi Akshay! Good to see you! I thought that you are a big guy now. ’

  ‘Oh c’mon, shut up Vineet! How are you?’

  ‘I am fine. How is Hailthy doing? Just heard about your recent funding round. Congratulations!’

  ‘Thanks Vineet! The company is doing well but life will always find a balance.’

  ‘Any problem? You sounded a bit worried on the phone.’

  Akshay told him about the sequence of events. Vineet listened and said, ‘Dude, I haven’t seen anything like this so far! I hope this is just a poor joke or just a coincidence.’

  ‘Do you think that her phone was hacked?’

  ‘Let me think about it. I will scan Priya’s phone first and if needed, I will scan your phone too.’

  ‘Ok, here is Priya’s phone’

  Vineet thought for a while and then smiled. ‘I am sending a link to her phone now so just click on it and follow all steps. Normally I use this for ethical hacking only but let’s see what is hidden in this phone.’

  Akshay quickly unlocked Priya’s phone and clicked on the link sent by Vineet. The link took him to a website where he followed all instructions as mentioned by Vineet. Vineet took out his laptop during this time and started typing at a fast pace.

  Akshay waited patiently for a while but could not resist for too long. He asked desperately, ‘Did you find anything? How much more time do you need?’

  ‘I need some time to review; it is not straightforward.’ After a few minutes Vineet said, ‘Someone has surely tried to play with the operating system of this phone but I don’t think anyone can create a WhatsApp group in this manner. I am unable to understand this logic and it completely baffles me. I can’t even block this group for some reasons.’

  ‘Yes this is freaking me out. Vineet, what is your plan then?’

  ‘I have now installed a listening app in this phone so that I can trace WhatsApp messages and find IP source from which these messages are coming. This will take some time but we will able to find the source. You should not worry; this looks like a prank to me.’

  ‘I really hope that this is a prank.’

  ‘Akshay, it happens to all of us. Stay away from dangerous sites! If you know what I mean. I will send you a link too. We need to be safe.’

  Akshay felt relieved after speaking to Vineet. He had nothing to worry and he was confident of getting the right guidance from Vineet. He had never used WhatsApp to contact Tanuja. In any case with Garima around, he could not afford to keep anything on his phone.

  ‘Thanks Vineet! I will wait to hear from you. Don’t snoop into my phone beyond what is needed!’

  ‘Too late for that, buddy; you are my victim now! I will share my findings shortly with you.’

  ‘Once I send you details of person tracking you, what is your plan?’ asked Vineet.

  Akshay was not sure of his plan of action since he wanted to discuss with Tanuja first. He responded, ‘We will nail the bastard and make him pay! Just keep me posted and I will handle the rest, but dude, thanks for your help; you have always rescued me in such situations.’

  Vineet smiled and hugged Akshay. They both left the bar after some time.

  The Pattern

  Things changed for Himanshu after his meeting with Vibhor. Himanshu was now more worried about his own life. He could not take Priya out of his mind and he remembered his last interaction with her. Mere thoughts of his interaction with her in the party made him emotional.

  It was a Saturday and Aditi was out with their son for a birthday party. Himanshu wanted to watch a movie on Netflix but constant noise from outside kept disturbing him. Himanshu lived in a multi-storied apartment and recently the society had started refurbishing of building’s exteriors. He wanted to go out and vent his frustration but decided to wait for some more time. To distract himself, he started thinking about his own WhatsApp messages. The pattern of his messages was very similar to Priya’s messages. He picked up his phone to check ‘The Final Destination’ WhatsApp group and scrolled through the messages again. It looked as if someone was trying to warn him. Because of sheer negligence, he had not paid any attention to the messages in the group. For the first time he wrote, ‘Who are you and what do you want from me?’ After typing the message, Himanshu thought about Vibhor once again. Vibhor came to him seeking for help and he did nothing for him. He had his own reasons; he could not risk his own frag
ile relationship. He was not sure how much Vibhor knew about his affair with Priya. Himanshu now felt guilty of not helping Vibhor in the investigation of Priya’s death.

  He wanted to meet Vibhor again and discuss his own situation. He dialed Vibhor’s number but got no response. He tried again but even after his multiple attempts, Vibhor did not pick up his call. He texted Vibhor instead. He typed, ‘Vibhor, I am sorry I did not take you seriously regarding Priya’s death but I want to urgently meet you. I am getting similar messages from the same group. Please call back. Honestly, I am feeling scared.’

  Himanshu got up to drink water and headed towards the kitchen. He had briefly forgotten about the noise coming from outside. There was too much noise coming from outside even during the afternoon. Despite clear construction related guidelines issued from the maintenance office, someone was surely flouting all the rules of his society. It was 3 pm and the noise still continued. He decided to meet the society’s manager to fix this problem. However, the mere thought of tackling stupid manager irritated him and so put this interaction off.

  To change his mood, he thought of going for a drive. He picked up his car keys and drove out of the society. Despite the rush of driving and fresh air on his face, his mind was preoccupied with thoughts of Priya. He suddenly craved for a smoke even though he had quit smoking many years back. But at this time nothing mattered to him. He wanted to enjoy the rush of Nicotine at any cost. After all, it was a matter of life and death.

  The market was not too far and he quickly reached there. He got down for buying cigarettes, from his favorite shop. The shopkeeper had known Himanshu for years. He smiled and asked Himanshu, ‘Sir I hope you have not come for cigarette! Though I would be glad to have you back as my customer!’