1 Chapter 1

If I were to explain how I got involved with a crime case so heinous, then I would have to go back, six months ago.

I still remember the day when I first got the news. It was from the blaring TV news channel with a headline - 'Missing children found dead, cut to pieces.' This brought shock and anger to millions and as usual, Indian news channels also brought deafening debates. But what made me remember this particular case from all was the very fact that the found bodies were from a slum area near my university and all were girls.

This brought the student council a little too big of a problem to solve and I being part of the student council as the head of the photography club, were questioned relentlessly by journalists. For what joy, theories and conspiracies suggested our med school had a hand in it.

And I can, even now, put my post online and say it wasn't our university students at all.

But things were turning a bit complicated and we decided to just let the journalists do their job as long as they don't barge into the university. After all, unfortunately, such news like these soon die or fade into the shadows like what happened with the infamous Lucknow case. It's not that I wished for it but that is the harsh reality of such cases, especially when there is so much more happening across the country.

And to my greatest disappointment, it did happen. By the end of the month, everyone was at square one, for the children, now, were missing from a place where it didn't make sense if it was the university students who were doing it or anybody in that area. It was now from the ghat side of the city and it was proven impossible by the public that a bunch of eighteen to twenty-two-year-olds would travel to the mountainous western ghat part of the city to allegedly kidnap children and cut them into pieces.

The most interesting part of the news reports was that nowhere did they mention the forensic report. It was as if it was purposefully hidden from the public. The public, however, didn't care about it.

Since the journalists stopped parading themselves at the front gate, I decided to take my club to Khandoba Hills for trekking and some photography experiment. By the end of July, i.e. 20th of July, I finally managed to bring all the members of the club and interested students to the foothills of Khandoba Hills.

I would be lying if I was not tired at the end of the trek but the view was simply perfect for experimenting and teaching nature photography within Pune. Meena, short for Meenakshi, our club's vice head and in charge of such activities, made us stop near a small temple with a large green ground.

With a PA system, she said, "Ok, everyone, let's stop here. The temple you see, 20 meters away, is our landmark. Boys make groups of three in each tent over here, and girls, same but a little further - ah, not there, not there, a little front, yeah, over there. Alright. Everyone quickly set up the tents. Boys, stop fighting for the tents, there are plenty - " she turned to me, who stood beside her checking out the barbecue stand for the night, "-Ananda, can you quickly finish the scouting part, then I can start the activities." The crowd gave a loud wave of relief that they no longer had to walk and had a dependable landmark.

"Sure, what do you want the radius as?" I asked.

She switched the PA system and said "Hmm, not much. Whatever you feel is best for the group. We are hardly sixteen of us here. In addition, we will be in groups. So, whatever you feel like."

"Fine," I replied.

I went out for scouting. This was a very important task to do as one often gets lost in such treks and marks that lead back to the camp base are the only hope to get back safely, especially for beginners. Like the legend of Theseus, I tied a red nylon rope on a sturdy tree near the camp and asked everyone not to touch it. I also carried a local zoomed map, a few chalks, water, and my phone just in case anything happened.

I started marking crosses in the tree to indicate the route. I even marked areas that we should cover during the session on the map. The quietness of the mountain was so relaxing and healing that I forgot that I even had a campfire evening that day!

But that still silent atmosphere felt more colder. My intuition screamed that something was off about this place that was once my favorite picnic spot in my subconscious mind which now has turned into my biggest nightmare. What I found was so sinister that hit the headlines for months.

I saw a middle-aged man with a girl of age around ten in a shanty, a mile away. I fell to the ground in horror. I quickly collected my wits and recorded the scene with my phone. I zoomed in to record the guy's face and clicked pictures of his face in the video.

I quickly left the area and reached the base camp.

When I returned, my best friend and also my childhood friend, Aditya was handing out the tags to each group with a local map. He return in a hurry and quickly gave the rest of the job to Sumedha, who was clumsily trying to take care of the essentials, to catch up with me.

"Anandatara." He called my name out.

I didn't dare to turn back to show the horror-stricken face of mine. I didn't want others to miss such an amazing opportunity by canceling the event but at the same time, I wanted the camp to be canceled right away.

"Anandatara, How's the site? Does it seem interesting enough for the session?" He asked earnestly. His excited voice numbed my tongue that nearly leaked what I saw.

"It is a good place but I think I am in a soup now," I said without turning my back.

"Why? What happened?" He came close to me and asked.

"Not much but a little headache. Maybe it's because it is windy and I couldn't sleep properly last night." I said.

"I told you not to finish the series last night, didn't I? Look what you have done to yourself. Anyways, I'll tell Meena and go to sleep. Wait. I'll give you my sleeping bag. It gets really warm inside. Yours isn't that good. Wait." And he ran to his tent to fetch.

Tears started to fall silently. It tasted so salty. After witnessing something so gruesome like that firsthand, a genuine kindness felt could melt even the coldest stones in the world.

"Anandatara." He called out again as soon he reached and realized I was crying.

"What happened, why are you crying? Is everything alright?" He asked worriedly.

"I am not crying. It is because of the headache. Don't overreact. Go help, Meena. She has to handle a lot after my absence." And I handed my marked map with the chalks.

Aditya didn't say anything and took the map and the chalk from my hand and gave me his sleeping bag. I entered my tent and quickly unwrapped his sleeping bag. His sleeping bag was wide enough for two people to sleep together. Just when I was about to zip the tent, Aditya came in and sat beside me with the first aid box.

"What do you think you are doing, Aditya? Go help, Meena." I sternly said.

"No way. You know Meena and I don't mix well. Like hell no." He smirked.

"Then who will help? Sumedha? Do you think she will?" I said.

"She will if she still wants to score brownie points for Meena's good sides," Aditya said.

"Right," I said, recalling that Sumedha confessed and Meena gave her a grace period of a month.

"Smart," I said and gave a slight smile. "So, why are you here? To accompany me?"

"Yep and ditch the session. This is already the third time I am on this hill, so got nothing to see." He said.

"Adi…" I said and stopped.

"Yeah, Ananda?" He replied.

"What if we were wrong coming here? What if this was a wrong disposition? What if I was just imagining?" I said, staring at the roof.

"Why, what's going on? What imagination?" He asked, playing with my hair.

"I think… I saw a murder." I said quietly.