Sashi woke up, not remembering when he fell asleep during his haunted night of scaring dreams. He was late for work.
Mitra was pacing in the basement when Sashi dropped by to leave her with her breakfast and lunch. He didn't speak a word and neither did she. Sashi knew she was bursting with curiosity about the murder incident. Yet, he felt like playing hard to irritate her more.
What amused him was she knew of only one murder and one kidnapping incident. What would she do if she got to know of every vicious act that had happened around her?
"We'll talk in the evening," he intimated her with a half-smile and left.
True to his words, he returned in the evening, his camera in hand.
Mitra had been having a much troubled time thinking over and over about the hints Sashi gave regarding Lekha's murder. If he was going to reveal the circumstances of the whole crime, she didn't want it to be done in the public; especially the part where she had left Lekha heartlessly. It would damage her reputation beyond repair and discredit everything she had spoken during the investigation of the crime. Not to mention the shame she would feel if her secret was to lay bare before the whole world.
She needed to stop it.
If not, if she really had to speak out the truth, then at least she needed to divert the attention of the public from her.
"You are going to film it again?" she asked coldly.
"Landmark moments need to be on record," he answered, busy setting up the camera on a tripod.
Mitra gulped nervously. She sat straight in her chair with an icy stare and an indifferent emotion on display.
Sashi stood studying her pretence of aloofness for a moment and then settled into his longue chair.
"So, how are you today?" he asked softly.
"Skip the act. What is the theme for today's show?" Mitra sounded frosty.
"You know what it is."
"Hardly. You seem to be following your own plans."
Sashi stretched himself in his chair sighing. "Fine. Today's topic is your epic secret. You know, I was baffled at first about why no one ever punished you for what you did that night. Then, I got to know the statement you gave the police. You had glossed over a major fact of your involvement in that girl's murder."
If Mitra's heart pounded, if her eyes quivered and lips trembled, she controlled them to her best ability. She maintained her facade of nonchalance.
"What do you know about what actually happened that night?" she used her interrogative tone.
"Every little detail," he answered.
"Which means you were there at the scene of the crime. Are you a witness or the culprit?" she asked, controlling her breath through her anxiety.
"Both. Neither. Could be any of that." He was clearly playing it.
Mitra tilted her head in perception. "You are defrauding me, aren't you?" she observed. "Clearly you don't know anything but are trying to fool me into saying something inappropriate. Cornering strategy is barely gonna work with me."
Sashi laughed. "You come out so strong always." He adjusted himself into a more comfortable posture in his chair and spoke leisurely, "I am not trying to corner you or defraud you. I am speaking the truth. I won't lie to you Mitra."
"Then say it at a shot, instead of fooling around," Mitra spat fiercely.
"Fine, as you wish. You remember how when you were walking home after school, two girls came and intercepted your path. They took you to a different street where Lekha was waiting for you."
"I do. And so does everyone who has read the case records," Mitra scoffed.
"Well, listen me out. I was there when she attacked you. I even know the number of times she hit you. You fell down on the road, she threatened you and left with her gang of friends." He leaned forward, his eyes burning, and spoke hoarsely, "Can you imagine how I felt watching her hit you?"
Mitra felt a shiver down her spine. The look in his eyes was turning dark.
"I felt like choking her, then and there. No one messes with something that I like," Sashi answered.
Mitra couldn't digest it.
"You felt that way not because she was doing something wrong, but because she was doing that to me?" she asked with an edge of offense.
Sashi's lips twitched. "You want to play with the boundaries of right and wrong? I don't care about all that. There's no absolute right in this world. I only care about what is mine."
"Well, guess what, I am not yours. I am not an object," Mitra said with conviction.
Sashi laughed again. "I told you I don't care about definitions. I like you. So, no one can touch you."
Mitra knew it was of no use to argue with someone so stubborn to understand the nuances of possessing people as if they were objects.
Sashi shook his head and continued with his tale, "Anyways, I saw you were hurt and got angry. That girl left you on the road bleeding. You went away after a few minutes, and I set out to get my vengeance. I followed her till she was left alone, walking towards her home quite joyfully. And then, I caught her."
"You what?" Mitra was dumbstruck.
"I attacked her from behind. She didn't see me coming, and I made sure she couldn't make any noise. I just wanted to kill her." Sashi was saying it all as if it were nothing.
Mitra's eyes widened as something inside her came down crashing.
Sashi was the culprit; the man Mitra had witnessed choking Lekha to death. She felt herself unable to breathe.
"You... you killed her?" she whispered in shock.
Sashi seemed like he was contemplating his answer. "In a way," he replied.