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C.I.F. – Crimes of Mumbai
Chapter Two: The Vanishing Bride
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Juhu Beachside Hotel, Mumbai – 11:23 PM
The wedding had just wrapped up. A luxurious, moonlit ceremony held at The Imperial Palace, a 5-star beachfront hotel, draped in white orchids and gold silks. A love story for the tabloids — high-profile businessman's son marrying a fashion designer.
But now, chaos replaced celebration.
The bride, Rhea Mehta, 26 years old, had vanished.
She was last seen entering her bridal suite just after the final rituals. Twenty minutes later, her husband went to check on her.
The room was locked from the inside.
When hotel staff unlocked the door — she was gone.
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Crime Scene — Hotel Room, 12:07 AM
ACP Sikandar Singh stood silently, scanning the room with razor-sharp eyes. Anwar Ali paced like a predator while Vijay calmly sifted through the tech.
"Locked from inside. No signs of struggle. No balcony. No escape route. Security footage shows no one entering or exiting," Vijay summarized.
"Maybe she ran," suggested a nervous hotel manager.
Anwar turned, eyes cold. "And phased through walls while she was at it?"
Sikandar knelt beside the bridal lehenga, still draped over the couch. Her phone was missing. The washroom mirror had a faint handprint. Damp.
"She didn't leave willingly," Sikandar muttered. "And whoever took her… knew how to erase themselves."
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C.I.F. HQ – 2:30 AM
The team reviewed footage from the past 3 hours. Nothing. Rhea never exited the room. No one entered.
Vijay slowed down the hallway cam at 10x zoom.
"Wait… that shadow. At 11:04 PM. No one passed, but the shadow shifts for a second. Something tall."
He enhanced the frame — it looked like a man cloaked in black, holding a thermal jamming device.
Anwar whistled. "They ghosted the cameras. Military-level stuff."
Sikandar leaned back. "This isn't about love or family drama. This is planned. Professional."
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The Husband — Aditya Sharma's Interrogation
Polished, shaken, but hiding something.
"She was happy," he said, eyes avoiding contact. "No enemies."
"Then why did she secretly transfer ₹40 lakhs to an unknown account two days ago?" Vijay asked.
Aditya stammered.
"Look," he finally cracked. "Rhea was being blackmailed. Someone had a video. From before we met. She didn't tell me much."
"Did she ever name the person?" Sikandar asked.
He shook his head. "Just said if the video leaked… her career, her life, everything was over."
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Breakthrough – Blackmailer Identified
An old burner phone of Rhea's was retrieved from her parents' house. Vijay cracked into it. One deleted voice message remained:
"You have until your wedding night. No pay — video goes viral. No one marries a scandal."
Voice recognition flagged the number — matched with Arjun Kale, a photographer recently fired from a wedding agency for stalking.
The team raided his location — only to find Arjun dead, wrists slashed. A fake suicide note beside him.
But Vijay found a second SIM hidden in a speaker.
It had GPS logs — Imperial Palace Hotel. 11:05 PM.
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Climax – Underground Room Beneath the Hotel
Blueprints revealed a hidden chamber below the hotel — a legacy of British-era bunkers. It had been illegally converted into a soundproof storage zone.
CIF stormed in — and found Rhea, chained to a pillar, sedated but alive.
Her kidnapper? Siddharth Mehra — her ex-boyfriend, thought to be dead in an accident 3 years ago. He was using a fake identity.
"I gave her everything," he spat as Anwar handcuffed him. "She left me to climb ladders. So I faked my death. Waited. Watched. And broke her… on the day she thought she'd be happiest."
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Last Scene — Morning
Rhea was recovering. Aditya held her hand. No charges filed — the video never existed. Just a manipulated bluff.
Sikandar lit a cigarette, watching the waves crash outside the hotel lobby.
"Justice isn't always about law," he said quietly. "Sometimes, it's about stopping monsters before they become ghosts."
Anwar cracked his knuckles. "And sending them to hell."
Vijay smiled faintly. "On to the next crime, sir?"
Sikandar turned. "Always."
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End of Chapter Two
Chapter 3: Blood on the Bridge