Where Secrets Lie – Chapter 9 – Who Is He?

Link to the 8th chapter : https://www.tellyupdates.com/where-secrets-lie-chapter-8-glimpses-into-his-past/

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Using the details from the video recorded sessions, Riddhima and Seher drove all the way to Vansh’s old residence, where he used to stay with his family during the good old days. Fortunately, it was located only a few kilometers away from the hospital, in the very heart of the city.

When they reached the said location, they found a barren appearing land overlooking them.

“Perhaps the burnt house which turned utterly useless was demolished later,” said Seher.

“Vansh had said that the neighbours had come out to help when the fire broke out,” said Riddhima. “I’m sure if we talk to them, they’ll definitely have something important to tell us.”

Beside the barren land, was a decent looking villa. The girls walked up to it and pressed the doorbell.

Soon, a middle aged woman came out to greet them. She looked unrecognizably between the two unknown faces.

“Yes? How may I help you?”

“Hello Ma’am. I’m Dr. Riddhima,” she introduced herself. “And this is my friend, Seher.”

Seher quickly joined her hands in respect.

Riddhima continued, “We are here to ask you about the Raisinghanias. They were your neighbours, I suppose?”

“Yes. They were…”

“If you don’t mind, can we talk inside?”

The woman in question pondered for a while before finally letting both the girls inside.

“My name is Sarika. I’ve been staying in this neighbourhood for the past twenty years. And I’ve known the Raisinghinas since then. But…” She eyed them skeptically. “What relation did you have with that family? And why are you here?”

Riddhima sucked in a breath as a string of questions were bombarded towards her.

“Actually, I was Vansh’s psychiatrist…”

Seher hurriedly pressed upon her friend’s hand to prevent her from saying anything further. She didn’t want her to blurt out the truth and end up in any trouble because of that.

But Riddhima knew what she was doing. Sarika seemed like a harmless woman, and there was no need for her to lie to her. She had decided that she’d tell her only that part of the truth which would be absolutely necessary.

When Sarika came to know that Vansh had been seeking psychiatric help, she didn’t seem very surprised.

“He really needed that. After he lost his family in that accident, he had become so depressed. So much in contrast to the jolly boy he was earlier…”

“Vansh, a jolly person?” asked Riddhima in amazement.

“Yes! He used to be a cheerful man with full of life earlier. And what a kind fellow he was! Ever ready to come forward and lend his help to anybody. I remember that whenever the fuse of our house used to mess up, I used to call him over and he’d repair it with a lovely smile on…”

Riddhima tightly clutched the end of her dress in order to control the storm of emotions she was feeling right now. Her heart, her soul screamed out with pain as she recalled the distraught face she had seen in those videos.

Vansh was right. Humans were indeed monsters who could turn a lively person into a severely depressed one.

Sarika continued, “After that tragic incident, Vansh stopped talking or interacting with any of us. Soon, he moved out of the neighbourhood to God knows where. And then after a few months I heard that he passed away.”

Riddhima squeezed her eyes, trying to hide the moistness in them. Her Vansh had borne so much pain in his life. If only he was alive…

Seher observed her friend’s face and understood what she was going through. Riddhima wasn’t in a position to speak even so she decided to take the conversation forward instead.

“Did the Raisinghanias have any enemies?”

Sarika pondered for a while. “Enemies…no one I can think of.” Her eyebrows knitted together as she recollected something. “But they had a tiff or two with their landlord I guess.”

Riddhima came out of her trance and sat up straight as soon as she heard this piece of information being spilled in front of her.

“Can you please elaborate?”

“As you must be knowing, the house where the Raisinghanias were living was a rented one. Everything was going on smoothly until few years back, when the landlord started pestering them to vacate the house. But the family was adamant and they refused to leave. Once or twice the matter escalated to such an extent, that the landlord had sent few of his men to barge into the house and force the people away. Luckily, we called up the police and they intervened.”

“Who is that landlord? Do you know how I can meet him?” asked Riddhima who was now sitting at the edge of the chair.

“To be honest, I’ve never seen the landlord in person. He never came here by himself and instead used to send over his minions to trouble the Raisinghanias. In fact come to think of it, I don’t even know his name!”

Riddhima clenched her fists. The landlord had a strong motive to kill the family, and her gut feeling told her it had to be him behind purposely putting the house on fire.

“And what about Vansh’s younger sister, Sia? Do you’ve any news about her?”

Sarika shook her head. “I have no idea. I came across few rumours that perhaps Sia had eloped with a lover. But I don’t believe that a bit. As far as I knew, Sia wasn’t that type of a girl.”

Riddhima was still lost in her thoughts trying to connect all the lost pieces of puzzle. The Raisinghanias were deemed to be a group of simple and peaceful people with no enemies to boast about. The only person whom they ever had any altercations with was their landlord. And Sia was missing too, for more than a year. Where the hell was she? Was she even alive or…already long dead like Vansh?

Seher nudged her friend, signalling her that it was time to go.

“Thank you for your cooperation,” she shook the host’s hand.

Both the girls politely took their leave. On the way to their car, Seher noticed Riddhima’s tensed expression and enquired as to what she was thinking about this whole ordeal.

“It must be the landlord!” Riddhima muttered angrily.

Seher looked confused. “B-but why? I know that he didn’t get along with the family, but would as simple a reason as that be enough for him to burn down the whole house? Not to forget, he owned that damn house, so if anything, he’d have been the one to incur all the losses.”

“Most of the landlords over here already safeguard their houses with an insurance scheme. So it could be possible that by sabotaging the house, he killed two birds with one stone. First, is to get the Raisinghanias off his property, and second, to get all the money from the insurance.”

Seher pursed her lips. “Well that seems like a likely theory. But we have no proof to back it up.”

“I know, I know!” Riddhima raised her hands in exasperation. “That is why we need to confront the landlord on a one-to-one basis. But before that, we need to find out who the hell he is!”

“I think we can find that out from the registree office,” said Seher.

“Then let’s go there right now!”

Seher caught hold of a desperate Riddhima’s hand, pulling her back.

“I understand that you want to ensure justice for Vansh and his family, but please do not overexert yourself like this. You really need to give your mind a break.
Don’t worry. I’ll ask Jeh to get all the details of this landlord from the registree office. You on the other hand should sit back and get some well deserved rest.”

“But…”

Seher shushed her up sternly. “It’s an order Riddhima. And you’ve got to abide by it at any cost.”

“Alright, alright. I will take take some rest. But first, I need to visit the police station to dig out Vansh’s old files. It is imperative that we know about the cause of his death and the manner in which he died.”

Seher looked up at her resignedly. Whenever they’d have an argument, it always had to be Riddhima who’d have the last word. And today was no different.
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The police officer beckoned the girls to take a seat with a cheeky grin that could make even the most sassy woman a little uncomfortable.

“Water, tea or juice? What do I get you?”

Riddhima showed him her palm. “I only want to check up on some files from one year back. Vansh Raisinghania is the name.”

The police officer turned startled at the mere mention of the name. But soon he composed himself.

“You want a file from one year back? We don’t even have time to sort out the files from one month ago!” He laughed at his own joke as if it was the funniest thing ever.

“You don’t understand, this is very important for me,” Riddhima insisted.

The police officer leaned forward with a sinister look on his face.
“And you don’t know, Miss, but we have a hell other important tasks to do other than giving into your useless demands. We aren’t jobless you see.”

This was the final straw. Riddhima wasn’t that kind of woman who’d take any sort of crap from any person.

“You cannot deny me the permission, okay? According to the Right to Information Act passed by the Indian Government, I can demand for access to any files that I want. And nobody can refuse to that or else…” She banged the table, threatening him with her blazing eyes. “You may even end up getting sued.”

He gulped down the lump that had been formed in his throat. He wondered how the hell did she know so much about the law though. Instructing one of the constables to give her what she wanted, he disappeared from the sight not wanting to face any more insults from her.

The constable who himself was feeling afraid, hurried with the said files.

Riddhima snatched it from his hands and began flipping the pages harshly. She was so desperate to get to the truth, that she she had even forgotten all her etiquettes and manners in the process.

She stared in disbelief at what was written in the file. According to it, Vansh’s body was found by two woodcutters in a deep valley of the jungle on 2nd September 2020. The cause of death was claimed to be an attack by a wild animal, since there were numerous cuts and stabs on his body which matched with the claws of a beast.

“Vansh was killed by an animal? This sounds ridiculous! He lived in the jungle for many months and was sure of what he was doing. He knew all the methods to protect himself from the wild creatures…”

“You never know, Riddhima. Jungles can get really unpredictable at times. Besides, why would the autopsy report lie?”

Riddhima was still not convinced. Something in her told her that not everything was right.

Her glance fell upon the bottom right of the file. The contact addresses of the two woodcutters who had found Vansh’s body in the valley caught her attention. She quickly noted it down in her phone with an intention of personally meeting them.

She was a doctor and wouldn’t be fooled so easily by any damned file or report without further investigation.
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The two woodcutters lived in a village close to the jungle. They were quite taken aback to see the two girls from the city come to interrogate them.

“Aye, we found the body in the valley. Tall, muscular man he was, with a handsome beard. He was severely wounded and his clothes had changed their colour because of soaking up so much of his blood. Not a single part of his body was left without injuries…”

Riddhima had an intense urge to stop the two men from speaking anymore. Her ears ached with every detail they enunciated upon. There was no greater pain in this world than to know about your loved one’s sufferings. And there was no greater guilt in this world than to know that you could do nothing to save your loved one.

“He was attacked by an animal, isn’t it?” Seher asked them.

At this, the two men exchanged mysterious glances with one another.

“What are you talking about, Madam? There wasn’t any animal involved.”

“But the multiple wounds on his body…”

“They weren’t from any claws of any animal. The sharp, incised wounds on his body came from some sharp knife, we are sure of it.”

“What?!” Riddhima and Seher both gaped in horror.

“Yes, we saw the body with our own eyes. We keep coming to the jungles almost regularly, won’t we know the difference between a wound inflicted by an animal and a weapon? We might be illiterate villagers, but we aren’t dumb.

“What must have happened is that one of the noble man’s enemies would have stabbed him mercilessly. And then when he passed off, his body was thrown from the cliff that straight away landed into the deep valley below.”

Riddhima felt a jolt pass through her when she heard the mention of the cliff.
She remembered the vision that she had seen few days ago – a severely injured and bleeding Vansh falling from the cliff. Was it Vansh’s ghost trying to recreate his death scene in front of her, or was it just her pure imagination, she didn’t really know. But one thing she was sure of that her vision definitely had a connection with the actual incident.

“Everyone is sold, literally everyone is!” Riddhima said furiously. “Whatever was written in Vansh’s autopsy report was nothing but a blatant lie!”

“That means whoever is behind all this fiasco, is a very powerful person who could easily bribe the police officials too, with his money,” Seher concluded. She had a grim expression on. “This is actually appearing scary. The deeper we dig into this matter, the more sinister it is getting gradually.”

Riddhima was burning with rage and revenge. “This person whoever it is, not only killed Vansh’s family by burning down the house while they were still inside, but also brutally murdered my Vansh. I won’t leave them, I won’t leave them!”
______________________________________

“What? How is this possible? How on earth did Riddhima reach there?” Ajay Sareen screamed on the phone. “And how dumb of you to hand over the police records in her hands like that?”

After listening to the rant coming from the other end, Ajay angrily threw his phone away.

“These stupid, good-for-nothing police officers! What is the use of paying them so much…”

Yash kept a hand on his shoulder. “Uncle, relax. Don’t stress yourself…”

Ajay angrily jerked his hand off. “Don’t take stress, my foot! You are no less, Yash. I had given you one task of keeping an eye on Riddhima, you couldn’t even do that properly.”

“I’m sorry Uncle. Since Seher was giving her company, I thought…”

Ajay roared into a huge laughter. “You thought? Seriously? With that dumb brain of yours?” He turned around and glared at Neeti. “And you, what are you doing there by simply seeing our faces, huh? Call Riddhima and find out how much she knows and what is her next possible step.”

“You know right, she won’t tell me anything,” Neeti replied softly.

“You call yourself her friend, and you can’t even extract a little information from her? Shame on you!” He snarled at her. “Call her right now!”

Neeti bit her lip, trying to control her anger. She hated this man, from the depth of her heart. The only reason she was listening to his nonsensical talks was because of Riddhima.

“She isn’t picking my call,” she said staring at the screen of her phone. “And neither is Seher.”

Ajay let out a frustrated growl. “My own daughter isn’t under my control anymore. She is just like her mother, difficult and stubborn.”

“It’s high time we tell her the truth,” said Neeti slowly. “Before she finds it out from somewhere else.”

Ajay looked at her as if she were an alien.
“Have you lost it?”

Neeti explained, “We tried to keep everything under wraps for a whole one year. But look at what is happening now? Riddhima is only few steps away from learning the truth. Who knows, even her memory might come back, too. And once that happens, Riddhima won’t ever forgive us.”

Ajay lashed out her. “Keep your rubbish suggestions to yourself. I won’t let Riddhima reach the truth ever! Now, get lost from here this very second!”

“I will leave if you want. But mark my words, you will regret all this.” Saying this, Neeti banged the door shut behind her.

“No, no! Before the inevitable happens, we must do something. Or else, all my hardwork will go in vain,” said Ajay frantically pacing about the room. “This is no time to take things forward slowly and gradually. This is the time to take drastic and huge actions.”

Tilting his head towards Yash, he said, “Call him up right now. Tell him to get ready to begin the next game as soon as possible.”

Yash’s face turned into a furious one. “I don’t think we should take his help after what he did last time. I can’t trust him anymore. I don’t want Riddhima to get hurt again…”

“Just shut up! I am Riddhima’s father and no one can love and care for her more than I do,” said Ajay. “Do you think I enjoy hurting her? But it is my sheer helplessness that I’m forced to take such a step. Besides, it’s only a matter of few months. After that when everything will get sorted, I myself will get you married to Riddhima.”

Yash hesitated, “But…”

“There’s no scope for any ‘but’s’ or ‘if’s’, son. Just remember that we both are in this together. If I fall, I’ll ensure that you fall along with me too,” said Ajay with a wicked gleam in his eyes.

Yash swallowed hard. He had no option other than blindly following Ajay’s commands. He had already done the unimaginable, and now there was no backing away, no matter how wrong it all seemed. He was trapped.
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Riddhima got a call from the hospital. Apparently, the Chairperson of the hospital, Dr. Sharma, wanted to meet her urgently. She rushed her way through the reception and made a dash for his cabin on the first floor.

Even though logically speaking she was on sickness leave, but still the Chairperson’s request to see her felt more like a stringent order. And she didn’t want to get into his bad books by not obeying him.

“May I come in Sir?” she knocked upon the door.

When no reply came from inside on knocking for the second time, she gave a slight push and the door opened widely. The cabin was empty and she decided it would be best if she waited for him there itself.

She sat on the couch, feeling a little nervous. Also, all the findings related to Vansh’s case were creating a sort of rampage in her mind.

All of a sudden, she felt some drops falling on her face. Thinking of it to be a leaking ceiling, she wiped off the moistness with the back of her hand. But what she saw shocked her to the core.

There was blood smudged upon her hand!

She shuddered in fright and found some more blood on her face. Raising her head to look towards the ceiling, she shrieked out loudly as she could. There was literal blood dripping from the ceiling!

In her terror, she stumbled backward, causing the large vase behind her to come down with a crash.

Hearing all the commotion, a few people entered the cabin, one of which included Dr. Sharma himself. He saw his the shattered pieces of vase on the floor and then his eyes ran up to a messy, frenzied looking Riddhima.

“What happened? Are you okay?” he asked worriedly.

She pointed a shaking finger towards the ceiling. “It has blood dripping from there…”

Dr. Sharma followed her finger. “But there’s nothing over there.”

Riddhima looked up and saw that he was right. There was no blood there whatsoever.

“But I saw it with my own eyes….It even fell on my face…” She checked her hands and her face, but there was nothing.

“I am not lying. I saw it for real!” she kept reiterating it over and over again.

Dr. Sharma eyed her sympathetically. “Riddhima, this was why I had called you here. I got to know from the other staff that you aren’t keeping well since a few days. I wanted to see for myself about what was wrong with you. And now…” He took a deep breath. “I’m sorry, but I can’t let you work here anymore.”

Riddhima stared at him in astonishment and confusion. “What do you mean by that, Sir? I’m perfectly alright. There is nothing wrong with me…”

“Every psychiatric patient says the same thing. I understand that it is difficult for a person to accept that he’s losing his mental balance…”

“I AM NOT INSANE!” Riddhima shouted at the Chairperson, who didn’t seem pleased with her misconduct at all.

“Dr. Riddhima, you are not in a position to treat psychiatric patients anymore. In fact, you yourself need a good psychiatrist right now,” he replied sternly. “You have done a good job for all these years, but from now onwards, we don’t require your services. You may leave, with due respect.”

Riddhima couldn’t understand what was happening to her. She was sure she had seen the bright red coloured blood, how could she be wrong about it? And how did it vanish all of a sudden in an instant?

Her head hanging down in dejection, she walked out of the cabin. Within a few days, her whole life had been turned upside down. She had discovered how she had been suffering from amnesia, how her father and her friends had been lying to her all this while. On top of that, she was still reeling from the pain of Vansh’s death and was trying her best to find out more about him. And all of a sudden, she was sacked from her job with the excuse that she was losing her mental balance.

Was she really turning mad? Was her mind really playing tricks on her?

Riddhima got into her car and began driving back home. Saddened and equally muddled by the sudden turn of events in her life, she began pressing her foot down upon the accelerator continuously.

Yes, let me meet with an accident. Let everything come to an end. Let me die! Her inner self cried out.

Letting go off the steering, she closed her eyes to embrace death.

Just then, Vansh’s face flashed in her mind and she opened her eyes with a startle.

No! What the hell was she doing? She cannot give up so soon. Not until she got Vansh’s culprits punished.

Mentally thanking Vansh for giving her a reality check and saving her life, she pressed down on the brake. But to her utmost horror, the brakes had stopped working.

She tried everything within her capacity to stop the car, but nothing seemed to work at all.

Panicking wildly, she grabbed the steering wheel, trying her best to dodge her way out of other vehicles’ way. But it was getting too difficult for her to handle the driving and the car was beginning to get out of her control little by little…

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Hello everyone! This chapter was getting too long, so I’m going to add the remaining part in the next chapter. So I think there will be 2-3 more chapters until this story comes to an end.

Do comment.

Peace out!