By the time the train crossed the Krishna River, the evening sky had turned golden.
Lakshmi Rajyam quietly looked through the window.
The familiar landscape of Vijayawada slowly came into view.
It was the city where she had built her political career.
The city that had celebrated her victories.
And now...
the city that believed she no longer existed.
Neither of them spoke for several minutes.
The train rolled into Vijayawada Junction.
Passengers hurried toward the exits with luggage and conversations.
For Sathyamoorthy, it was another railway station.
For Lakshmi...
it felt like returning to her own funeral.
She adjusted the stage makeup one last time.
The wig remained perfectly in place.
The saree, makeup and costume made her resemble a Kuchipudi stage performer returning after a cultural event.
No one gave her a second glance.
They walked out of the station calmly.
Outside, autos, buses and taxis moved as usual.
But something immediately caught Sathyamoorthy's attention.
Every digital billboard displayed Lakshmi Rajyam's photograph.
Black ribbons surrounded her portrait.
Large banners read:
A Leader Who Lived for the People.
Government buildings had lowered their flags.
Shops displayed condolence posters.
People gathered around temporary memorials with flowers and candles.
Lakshmi stood still.
She watched elderly women placing flowers beneath her photograph.
College students lit candles.
Auto drivers stood in silence.
Street vendors paused their work for a minute of respect.
She whispered,
They truly believe I am gone.
Sathyamoorthy looked at her.
You changed their lives.
That is why they came.
Lakshmi lowered her head.
I wish I could tell them I am standing only a few metres away.
Instead of going to a hotel, Sathyamoorthy chose a small lodge on the outskirts of the city under his own identity.
Keeping Lakshmi away from crowded public places was still important.
Once inside the room, he spread a city map across the table.
We need facts.
Not assumptions.
Lakshmi nodded.
Agreed.
He picked up a pen.
Let's list everything we know.
Lakshmi began.
The doctor approached me confidentially.
He claimed there was evidence of a dangerous product being pushed without proper independent safety review.
He died before submitting the complete evidence.
Yes.
After that...
my security team suddenly changed.
Some officers I had trusted for years were transferred without explanation.
New personnel replaced them.
Sathyamoorthy immediately underlined the sentence.
Who approved the transfer?
I never signed that order.
Someone above the administrative chain processed it using emergency authority.
Another clue.
She continued.
A week before the attack...
my convoy route was changed at the last minute.
Only a handful of people knew about that revised route.
He wrote another note.
Limited access.
Internal information.
Lakshmi nodded.
Exactly.
The attackers knew where I would be.
That information could not have come from outside.
The room became silent.
Sathyamoorthy looked at his notebook.
Every clue pointed toward the same conclusion.
The conspiracy wasn't outside the government.
It had grown inside it.
Lakshmi folded the city map carefully.
Tomorrow...
we begin with the doctor's last known movements.
If he left any records...
any diary...
any trusted colleague...
that will be our first real lead.
Sathyamoorthy smiled slightly.
For the first time since meeting you on that highway...
we're not running.
We're investigating.
Lakshmi looked out of the lodge window toward the lights of Vijayawada.
Somewhere in the same city, thousands of people still mourned a leader they believed was dead.
Yet that very leader was preparing to uncover the truth that had stolen her identity.
The game had changed.
The escape was over.
The investigation had begun.
End of Chapter 35