The Blue Bar (Blue Mumbai #1)(75)

Tara. Tara had locked herself in the bathroom after she finished with the kitchen chores. She’d not emerged for more than an hour.

“Sir, are you OK? Is there anything I can help with?”

He’d called Naik to ask for help, and her concern seemed genuine, but he had trusted before and lost. He struggled to get the words out—Pia, kidnapping, Tara. From downstairs the voice of a dozen karate students floated up, united in an exhale during a routine. Maybe he needed a few more minutes.

“Yes, fine,” Arnav said. “Any updates on the other investigations?”

“In the Versova case, we found several men’s DNA in the black Maruti van. A set matches the suspect our constable identified as the man who dumped Neha Chaubey’s body. He has a previous record for drug peddling.”

“What does he say? Is he connected to the shooter? ”

“We haven’t been able to make the man talk so far, sir, but a number he’s called is listed to Kittu Virani.”

“Are you sure?”

Kittu Virani. The name kept popping up. Was she the one behind all of this—hiding a dead body to protect her fiancé or even getting them for him? The marriage would mean a huge gain for her. Shinde’s pictures showed she knew Vijayan, and Vijayan might be using Shetty to procure girls for reclusive clients. His men might have nabbed Pia.

“Yes, sir. We think she might have scored drugs from this man because she throws big Bollywood parties. We also have the app on his phone that shows a few locations as favorites, and one of them is her main residence.”

Arnav paced the room. “I see. Give me a minute to think this through.”

He heard a rustle behind him and turned, only to see the paper covering his board fall off, revealing the pictures he’d tacked up. As he bent to retrieve the paper, he saw Naik stiffen, her gaze riveted on the board and the pictures. Under the unforgiving glare of the white tube-light, the details stood out.

The Viranis. Joshi. Shinde. Taneja. Mhatre. Namit Gokhale. Vijayan. An intriguing set of characters.

“Sir?”

That single word asked many questions. Arnav was relieved to have the decision taken out of his hands. If Naik was to help find Pia, he had to share all he knew. Anyone on his team would face as much danger as he was in.

“Sit down, Naik. This will take a while.”

Arnav filled Naik in about Shinde and Neha Chaubey. Shinde’s diary with the details of hafta. The photographs. His own conjectures about who the mystery client could be—the cap of the senior police officer Tara had spotted. And Pia.

Naik’s face blanched. He let her process it all while he updated the board. When he turned to Naik, she was still absorbed, her gaze trained on the names and photographs.

“Now you know the entire picture, do you still wish to get involved? I called you here to request your assistance, but I’d understand if you refuse. I know your situation at home.”

“Yes, sir. This was why I joined the force.”

Not for the first time, Arnav sent up a thought of gratitude for this assistant.

“Thank you very much, Naik. We’re not filing a missing persons report on Pia, so that part of the investigation will be unofficial.”

“Understood, sir. How do we proceed? Should we arrest Shetty?”

“Tail him for now.”

“After the attack at the station,” Naik paused to clear her throat, “Joshi sir has combined the investigations. We’re now investigating Neha Chaubey’s murder, as well as the attack on our station. He says you may have stepped too close to the culprit, and the cases are connected.”

Arnav sensed Joshi behind the scenes, already at work. Was he the jackal, or Mhatre?

“And Mhatre sir? Has he showed up?”

Mhatre was the unknown quantity. Malwani Police Station was under his jurisdiction. If he was involved, both Arnav and Naik might be in a world of danger.

“He’s still on leave, sir. Personal reasons.”

“We’ll analyze everything. All of Shinde’s information.”

He remembered another item in his possession and pulled from his backpack the paper bag the sensei had given him. “And this. These are Rehaan Virani’s. Get them checked for DNA, and match the findings against the forensic evidence detected in the van.” Arnav sat down on his chair. “If Kittu Virani’s name has come up, we must eliminate all possibilities.”

Naik gaped at him, with the same expression as Shinde had when Arnav contrived to promote a pawn into a queen. In normal times, he would have cracked a joke at Naik’s expression.

“I’m training him in karate,” he said. “He left them here.”

A memory prickled at the edge of his consciousness. It would come to him after he slept, but sleep proved elusive. He’d closed his eyes a few times. Shinde appeared, gasping, slick with blood.

“Sure, sir.” Naik rose to leave.

“Thanks,” Arnav said. “And Naik?”

“Yes, sir?”

“Watch your back at all times.”

Arnav turned away from the neat figure of his assistant walking down the dark corridor, and hoped he’d done the right thing.

The sensei walked into the room a while later. “Call for you,” he said. “Send the phone down once you’re done.”

Arnav had given Naik and Nandini the sensei’s number and asked them to use different phones when calling him.