WE are in A PICKLE

As we all settled down, Alex stood up and said in a clear voice," Since everyone is here now, I would like to introduce you all with the case you are dealing with. Latterly, many murder cases are reported and the number is increasing rapidly. To crack down this case, the British government joined their hands with the Indian government. For this, a team of 6 members was sent here but sadly two of them went missing, one is reported dead. The left one is currently hospitalized, he was found by local police, badly injured and has still not gained consciousness. Our task is to crack this unsolved case and find out the whereabouts of the rest of the two officers. "

After finishing speaking he handed over a total of 5 printed reports. These reports had the details about the officers.

Danial stood up and left the room first.

As soon as he left, a man dressed up in an Indian outfit entered the room. He was tall and the type of clothes he wore, he looked royal. He was handsome and had the facial features of an Indian. His long hairs which reached till his shoulder and brown eyes made him look the most handsome man present in the room. Seeing him, Kevin jumped up happily and said in a joyful voice," Young master, dressing up like this, WOW, do you really want to steal away all the young women's hearts? You are too bad.. leave a few for us too." "Oh, my bad, Anika, meet young master from the Sinha family, he is part of our guild... "

"U can call me Omkar or MR. Sinha, nice meeting u Miss. Anika."

"Mr. Sinha, nice meeting u too."

Allow me to escort u till Kaushik mansion Miss. Dubey."

"U R mistaken Mr. Sinha... my surname is Jaiswal." listening to this he just looked at me without speaking. Why was everyone this weird today? As he was escorting me back and I was too exhausted, I already started looking pale and weary. So, not considering any other thing I walked out of the room. The ride back was peaceful and filled with silence.

Within 15 min, we were standing in front of Kaushik Mansion. Mr. Sinha and I walked into the mansion together. This mansion was double the size of our embassy. It had a beautiful garden and a fountain giving it a rich European Villa vibe. This mansion exterior was a perfect example of the mixture of art and architecture of Mughals and Rajput. As we reached the main entrance, I noticed an Old couple standing there, definitely waiting for someone...oh, for us. They were dressed in simple Indian outfits. Near them,young girl, in her early 20's was standing, holding a plate which has diya, tikka and a bit of rice in it. This is how traditionally, Indian people welcome their guests.

We entered the mansion altogether. The mansion exterior and interior, both were mesmerizing but both gave off different vibes. The exterior gave a royal vibe whereas the interior was designed and decorated in bengali taste. It was simple and comfortable with luxurious vibes.

It was already late when we reached the mansion. Shortly, the food was served. The simple food was seriously the most delicious food I had this whole year. Surprisingly, after being there for a few minutes, it made me forget all my worries and sadness, It honestly felt as if I was home again after a long journey.

Mr. Sinha and Mr. Kaushik went to the study room to chat about something important after having dinner. Till then, Mrs. Kaushik gave me a house tour. This mansion simply had everything in it. There was a big library, a separate servant quarter, and beautiful balconies attached to every room. This mansion was way too beautiful.

After finishing the house tour we returned back to the living room where Mr. Kaushik and Mr. Sinha, both were waiting. As Mr. Sinha helped me a lot, I wanted to thank him so i followed him out. I was about to speak when Mr. Sinha warned me, "No one here is yours, so be careful and don't trust anyone".

Saying this, he left without giving me a chance to say anything. I stood there rooted to the ground being unable to move or to ask him what he meant by his warning.

With the conflict in my heart, I returned to the room in which Mrs. Kaushik arranged for me. His words clearly had a hidden meaning. Was he warning me to not trust anyone who I am gonna meet? Or was he warning me to not trust people I am surrounded with? Anyways even if I try, I can't find out what he actually meant... The only thing I can do is to be careful.

Putting all my thoughts aside, I opened the report that Alex gave me and began to read it. But, unknowingly, I again began to think about Mr. Sinha. This time it wasn't due to his words but because of how I felt about him. The first time i saw him, I felt my heart beat increasing. I don't know what exactly attracted me the most about him, might be his thoughtfulness and upright behaviour?

Ah..... I screamed. 'Focus- focus! Anika. U gotta do lots of stuff. ' saying this to myself, I dropped off.

It was already 9 till the time I woke up. The sun was already shining brightly, there was a lingering smell of jasmine in the air, WOW, a pleasant and bright day.

After getting ready I walked downstairs. Greeting Mrs. Kaushik, I walked out and started walking towards the embassy. Remembering correctly, today we will investigate the hotel where all the officers were staying.

As today was the first day of my work and was in my native land... I felt like dressing up in a saree. The Saree which I wore was whitish-green in colour and had flowers drawn on its border. It made me look classy and elegant.

The street was packed tightly. Everyone was rushing to do their jobs. Every shop beside the street was filled with people...especially tea shops. Ah... Common scene from India.

I reached the embassy, I saw all my teammates standing in front of the embassy. I don't know why they all were standing out under the sun... I mean, it was sunny today and waiting for me outside,under the sun...it doesn't sound good... Did I really force them to wait a lot for me? As I approached them...William turned to me slowly and said in a low voice, "Anika, we have bad news, the last officer was reported dead." I frowned after hearing this. I turned my face up to look at William and sadly with his bitter expression it was confirmed that I heard him right.

All my teammates were sad, even me too. When suddenly a thought crossed my mind," Even the one who managed to free himself from those kidnappers was killed so brutally, what must have happened to those two left officers? Were they still alive? Were they also tortured like this? Thinking about this even made me feel afraid.

The officer was still murdered inside the hospital, in spite of all those security guards and police officers guarding the ward room. This made me realize how unsafe we all were.

This bad news was enough for me today, I don't have the heart to continue thinking, it was too disturbing for me.

While thinking about all this, I saw my colleagues getting into the car, keeping all my thoughts aside, I tried my best to keep my cool. quickly following them, I also sat down into it. The ride was silent. Nobody said anything, we didn't even feel like sharing our thoughts. This news made all of us realize, that now, not even a single minute can be wasted.

As we reached the hospital, we saw the ward room surrounded by police officers. They all were whispering among themselves. There in one corner I saw Mr. Sinha standing, he didn't have any expression on his face, the same as the first day I saw him. Sometimes,due to this cold and calm nature of his, I felt scared,it made me realize how in spite of being so close, we were still so distant. Thinking this made me feel a little uncomfortable. Yeah, he and I were still strangers to each other, but he acted as a guide for the officer as well. They were familiar with each other. At least, he should have a little expression on his face.

I followed my teammates inside the ward room. There, the officer's body was laying on his bed. Bella and I walked forward and started examining the body. The body was as cold as ice. He was murdered a long time ago!!! I turned towards my Alex and asked him loudly, " When exactly did u all receive the news of the officer's death? "..."Almost an hour ago" He replied after thinking for a few seconds.

What?!!!!! But why??? Shouldn't we be informed about it a little more earlier? He was clearly dead for more than ten hours for now. Exact time will be confirmed after the forensic report.

I wasn't in the mood to continue asking, so I asked the police officer standing nearby to kindly call the nurses responsible for the check-up of the officer. Hearing me, almost all understood that something was wrong to the extent that it can't be tolerated.

Till then Bella spoke up, " His nails have a bit of skin in it and there is a knife mark on his neck. I don't think it's hard to guess the cause of his death, and the blueish mark on his chest proves that he was also poisoned. Someone injected him the poison.The killer simply doesn't want to leave any chance for the officer to survive. "

"If u say so, then he must have at least struggled. I don't think anyone will allow anyone to kill them. " Kevin said frowning.

"Exactly, that's the problem is, the room is so clean, it looks like it was cleaned a few hours back" Bella said

"But the sad thing is that the officer is dead for more than ten hours. It's impossible that no one noticed that he was dead because the room must have been a mess before the cleaning. " Anika said.

"His clothes, his bedsheets... Everything was changed" Bella said.

Hearing this no one inside the room looked good. It proves that someone inside the hospital was the killer's follower.

***Download NovelToon to enjoy a better reading experience!***