As he left the apartment, he saw head constable Vignesh come running to him with his phone outstretched in his hands.
“Sir for you sir”
“Who is it?”, the inspector took the phone without waiting for a reply.
“Inspector Madhav speaking.”, there was a short pause as Madhav waited, listening to the speaker on the other side of the phone. Then he assumed an alert air as he acted as if recognizing the voice on the other line.
“Hmm……Sir, I’m in another case… No sir, but…”, Madhav looked at Vignesh in a dejected manner. Then he walked away from him and after a safe distance, continued to speak on the phone. Vignesh strained to hear what was being spoken without being caught, but the conversation was quite audible from here.
“Yes sir it’s about my brother, I haven’t seen him since yesterday and I’m not able to contact him....... But sir that case isn’t even supposed to be in our jurisdiction….Sir I really am requesting you to assign this case to someone else, I really have to find him.”, he continued to listen for a while, before losing his patience and cutting the call. He turned to the surprised constable and walked past him. Vignesh mutely followed the inspector.
“Wait, Vignesh, I need you to be here, check out the other cameras in the area, question the neighbours’ again. This time you only listen and report to me, understood?”, Vignesh gave a nod but as he saw the inspector leave he sensed a marked change in his behaviour. He appeared slightly anxious and a little too scared than normal. He watched as the inspector pushed the gear with all his might and began to leave. But after moving a bit , the car stopped and the inspector gestured him to come closer. Vignesh went near the driver seat window and waited.
The inspector was holding the steering wheel with both his hands tightly, his head lowered and he looked up at Vignesh, all worried. Then he asked, his voice faltering,
“Vignesh tell me the truth, do you know what happened to my brother?”, Vignesh didn’t reply, he looked down and around.
“Tell me, Vignesh. Don’t try to fool me”.
“Sir, I don’t know sir. Your brother was anyway a criminal or involved in those activities, so it’s not a surprise that he meets an end like this”, and that was when Vignesh realized he’d spoken a bit too much. But thankfully the inspector didn’t notice. The inspector stiffened hearing this. He remained silent for a while. Then he spoke.
“I’m going to go away for a while. I don’t want to be followed. No one should contact me. I’ve got to……got to clear my head.”
“Sir, I’m telling you.. drop this.. this will be the end of you sir, it’ll destroy you, sir, please listen to me, sir—", but the inspector had already driven away. The constable cursed and took out his phone and dialled one of his juniors. The call was answered.
“Hello? Who is this?”
“Your father! Didn’t you save my number yet, fool?”
“Sir, sir.. Sorry sir! I didn’t recognize—"
“Shut up! Come to where I am with a police vehicle and bring another constable with you, ok?”
“Yes sir. Sure sir.”
“Ok take down the address, write 4—", but the call was cut before he could proceed, Vignesh stared at the phone’s screen dumbly, before yelling out loud,
“That idiot cut the call? What fools are joining the force nowadays!”.