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THE DREAM
CHAPTER 3
I couldn’t sleep that night. I had Mr. X right in front of my eyes, not once but twice in the same day and I let him escape. I felt like a complete idiot. Now I really wanted to solve the clues and get to the truth as soon as possible. Since I had decoded the first clue, I figured I should probably look at the second instruction from the letter I got.
I started searching for the envelope. I thought how my life had changed in the past week. First, the dreams, then the envelope and all that Mr. X situation. I was cursing my luck, just when I found the envelope. I opened the envelope and started reading the next clue.
It read-’Congratulations! I knew you could easily figure out the first clue. I know you have a lot of questions and those will be answered eventually. Right now, the next part of your clue is 190.157.1.1.
It wasn’t very hard to find out that it was an IP address. I ran it through the CSI terminal. But the issue was that it was a masked VPN address as it was bouncing off of various terminals.
So why has Mr. X sent me this IP address? I can’t even narrow it down to a proper address. Well, I can’t, but I knew a person who definitely can. I called her immediately and she picked up the call on the first ring, and there it was, the familiar melodious voice.
“Hey babe, what’s up?”
“Nothing much hon. What are you doing right now? Can we talk?”
“Well not really. You see, I am trying to decrypt an algorithm for one of our clients. Well what do you wanna talk about? Is it urgent?”
“It’s about the Mr. X case. Can you maybe meet me at lunch then? I’ll fill you in with the details then”
“Sounds good. Meet you at lunch. How about The Jitters? ”
“Yup Sure. I’ll be there. Thanks a lot babe! Bye”
She hung up the phone with a sweet kiss and here I was all red like a ripe tomato.
The clock struck 1 and I got ready to leave for lunch. The Jitters was just a few blocks away from my office. I reached the place and there she was. Sarah was already there waiting for me, dressed in a royal blue peplum pencil dress. She paired them with the perfect royal blue peep toes. Yes, there was no competition to Sarah’s dress sense, be it a date or an office look she just aced it.
I went up to her, and gave her a peck on the cheek and grabbed a table.
“Sorry, I got caught up in some work.”
“No babe, that’s absolutely fine. I can understand. How are you now? Yesterday you left quickly after the dinner and were very disappointed.Are you alright?”
I was completely bowled over by that man yesterday. This whole encounter with Mr. X had ruined our date.
“Yeah babe, I am totally fine now. In fact, I have called you here regarding one of the clues itself. See this”
I showed her the IP address and told her that it was bouncing off from different locations. I asked her if she could somehow hack into the VPN and get me an accurate address so I could further carry on my investigation.
“Sure babe. I still have that encryption protocol to crack, but I’ll get to it as soon as possible. I can definitely give you the location by evening, tops. Would that be okay?”
“Yeah sure! Thanks a lot! You are simply the best!”
All this work had made both of us hungry. So we ordered our lunch. Before we could talk anything else, we noticed the clock; the lunch time was over.
We got up to leave. Just then, I felt a tug on my shirt. By the time I understood what it was, I was already being pulled by Sarah. She totally caught me off guard and the next moment I could feel her lips against mine.
“Bye Richie, See ya later!” , She chuckled and left.
And I was still standing there blushing, frozen to ice ; until I received a call from Jack to report back to office.
I did leave Jitters, but with a very fond memory.
I reached office only to know that the case I had been working on has been solved, and so I could take rest of the day off if I wished to, as there were no new cases for forensics.
Now, since I had time on my hands I decided to work on the Mr. X case.
I decided to stop by The Sunshine Plaza to check on the manager, to see if he found something about the waiter. I had left the office this early for the first time. Usually I am the one to wait up till 6 PM, watch the doors of the office close behind me. Even if I would get half a day off I would hang around to help my colleagues, but now this Mr. X case and finding out the truth is more important to me.
I reached the restaurant, and to my surprise the manager had a look on his face which told me that he was actually waiting for me to come back.
“Excuse me, I am here to talk about the waiter from yesterday. Did you get any information about him, or was there any note left for me by any chance?“- I asked
“Yes sir, I was waiting for you to come by. There was an anonymous note left on our front desk in the morning. At first, I couldn’t understand but then I realized that maybe this was for you.”
I was completely puzzled at this point. How would Mr. X know that I will come by again? How was he so sure?
Never mind that. I took the note and I was shocked to see what was written in there. There was just one line –‘Hey there! I am watching you!!’
CHAPTER 4
‘I am watching you!’
What could Mr. X possibly mean by that?
Does this imply that, no matter what I do he will always stay ahead of me?
Does this mean I will never be able to reveal his identity?
I threw that chit on the ground in anger. Just then I noticed something written on the back. I turned over that piece of paper. There was one more statement which seemed like a reminder.
‘........and remember Pizzas from Sicily is waiting for you.’ My frustration grew further reading that same statement again.
As soon as I said this, the expressions on the manager’s face changed.
“Did you mention Pizzas from Sicily?“- He exclaimed
“Yes I did, What’s the matter?”
“You see sir, Pizzas from Sicily is our sister company. The owner of both these restaurants is the same person.”
This can’t be a mere co-incidence, I thought. For a moment there, I felt like maybe this is why Mr. X lead me here.
“Can you give me the address of that place? I would like to go and check that place too.”
“Sure sir. It’s just a few blocks past the 21st street subway station. Here sir; Take this business card with you.”
I thanked the manager for all the help and left the restaurant. I had deciphered a part of my next clue.
I took the subway, got down at 21st street, I started searching for the restaurant but flashes from yesterday started coming to me. It was around this place, that I had my first encounter with Mr. X. How my life had changed in these 24 Hrs? Will I ever get a closure to these events?
I reached the restaurant. I saw a huge hoarding- ‘Pizzas from Sicily- Authentic Italian pizzas here in New Orleans’ and I knew I was in the right place. I went right in to see what I could find.
The manager of The Sunshine Plaza had already informed the restaurant manager that I would be visiting. The manager agreed to give me a tour of the restaurant, so I can look around for any clue.
He even introduced all the staff there, to check if someone among them knows something about Mr. X but yet again I failed to get answers.
I looked around to my heart’s content. Later I just sunk into one of those couches in the restaurant; partially due to frustration partially due to dejection.
Just then my phone started buzzing, but I didn’t notice it. An old woman who was sitting on the other couch nudged me, told me to pick up the phone, saying- “If I were you, I wouldn’t miss a call from my partner”
I came to my senses. I picked up the call.
“Hey! What’s up? Any luck regarding the IP address?”
“Oh yeah! I traced it to three towers and triangulated the signal to find the accurate location”
“Oh! .....and ? What did you find out?”
“Well, the address was of a private terminal from inside The New Orleans Auction House”
“Alright! Any other useful information?”
“Yeah! According to its website, there is an exhibition tomorrow followed by an auction. You might wanna check it out”
“Great! Thanks for the info babe. Bye”
“Bye hon. See you later”
As soon as I hung up the call I saw a change in expression on the face of the woman beside me.
She got up to leave. But while leaving she glared at me and said “Hmm.... So you are going to the auction house after all. Interesting”
This sent chills down my spine. She uttered these words as if she knew me. She said that line with conviction like she already knew I would go to the auction. There was something off about that woman. I didn’t know who she was but something about her made me think
‘This, definitely wasn’t going to be our last meeting’
I couldn’t sleep that night. I had Mr. X right in front of my eyes, not once but twice in the same day and I let him escape. I felt like a complete idiot. Now I really wanted to solve the clues and get to the truth as soon as possible. Since I had decoded the first clue, I figured I should probably look at the second instruction from the letter I got.
I started searching for the envelope. I thought how my life had changed in the past week. First, the dreams, then the envelope and all that Mr. X situation. I was cursing my luck, just when I found the envelope. I opened the envelope and started reading the next clue.
It read-’Congratulations! I knew you could easily figure out the first clue. I know you have a lot of questions and those will be answered eventually. Right now, the next part of your clue is 190.157.1.1.
It wasn’t very hard to find out that it was an IP address. I ran it through the CSI terminal. But the issue was that it was a masked VPN address as it was bouncing off of various terminals.
So why has Mr. X sent me this IP address? I can’t even narrow it down to a proper address. Well, I can’t, but I knew a person who definitely can. I called her immediately and she picked up the call on the first ring, and there it was, the familiar melodious voice.
“Hey babe, what’s up?”
“Nothing much hon. What are you doing right now? Can we talk?”
“Well not really. You see, I am trying to decrypt an algorithm for one of our clients. Well what do you wanna talk about? Is it urgent?”
“It’s about the Mr. X case. Can you maybe meet me at lunch then? I’ll fill you in with the details then”
“Sounds good. Meet you at lunch. How about The Jitters? ”
“Yup Sure. I’ll be there. Thanks a lot babe! Bye”
She hung up the phone with a sweet kiss and here I was all red like a ripe tomato.
The clock struck 1 and I got ready to leave for lunch. The Jitters was just a few blocks away from my office. I reached the place and there she was. Sarah was already there waiting for me, dressed in a royal blue peplum pencil dress. She paired them with the perfect royal blue peep toes. Yes, there was no competition to Sarah’s dress sense, be it a date or an office look she just aced it.
I went up to her, and gave her a peck on the cheek and grabbed a table.
“Sorry, I got caught up in some work.”
“No babe, that’s absolutely fine. I can understand. How are you now? Yesterday you left quickly after the dinner and were very disappointed.Are you alright?”
I was completely bowled over by that man yesterday. This whole encounter with Mr. X had ruined our date.
“Yeah babe, I am totally fine now. In fact, I have called you here regarding one of the clues itself. See this”
I showed her the IP address and told her that it was bouncing off from different locations. I asked her if she could somehow hack into the VPN and get me an accurate address so I could further carry on my investigation.
“Sure babe. I still have that encryption protocol to crack, but I’ll get to it as soon as possible. I can definitely give you the location by evening, tops. Would that be okay?”
“Yeah sure! Thanks a lot! You are simply the best!”
All this work had made both of us hungry. So we ordered our lunch. Before we could talk anything else, we noticed the clock; the lunch time was over.
We got up to leave. Just then, I felt a tug on my shirt. By the time I understood what it was, I was already being pulled by Sarah. She totally caught me off guard and the next moment I could feel her lips against mine.
“Bye Richie, See ya later!” , She chuckled and left.
And I was still standing there blushing, frozen to ice ; until I received a call from Jack to report back to office.
I did leave Jitters, but with a very fond memory.
I reached office only to know that the case I had been working on has been solved, and so I could take rest of the day off if I wished to, as there were no new cases for forensics.
Now, since I had time on my hands I decided to work on the Mr. X case.
I decided to stop by The Sunshine Plaza to check on the manager, to see if he found something about the waiter. I had left the office this early for the first time. Usually I am the one to wait up till 6 PM, watch the doors of the office close behind me. Even if I would get half a day off I would hang around to help my colleagues, but now this Mr. X case and finding out the truth is more important to me.
I reached the restaurant, and to my surprise the manager had a look on his face which told me that he was actually waiting for me to come back.
“Excuse me, I am here to talk about the waiter from yesterday. Did you get any information about him, or was there any note left for me by any chance?“- I asked
“Yes sir, I was waiting for you to come by. There was an anonymous note left on our front desk in the morning. At first, I couldn’t understand but then I realized that maybe this was for you.”
I was completely puzzled at this point. How would Mr. X know that I will come by again? How was he so sure?
Never mind that. I took the note and I was shocked to see what was written in there. There was just one line –‘Hey there! I am watching you!!’
CHAPTER 4
‘I am watching you!’
What could Mr. X possibly mean by that?
Does this imply that, no matter what I do he will always stay ahead of me?
Does this mean I will never be able to reveal his identity?
I threw that chit on the ground in anger. Just then I noticed something written on the back. I turned over that piece of paper. There was one more statement which seemed like a reminder.
‘........and remember Pizzas from Sicily is waiting for you.’ My frustration grew further reading that same statement again.
As soon as I said this, the expressions on the manager’s face changed.
“Did you mention Pizzas from Sicily?“- He exclaimed
“Yes I did, What’s the matter?”
“You see sir, Pizzas from Sicily is our sister company. The owner of both these restaurants is the same person.”
This can’t be a mere co-incidence, I thought. For a moment there, I felt like maybe this is why Mr. X lead me here.
“Can you give me the address of that place? I would like to go and check that place too.”
“Sure sir. It’s just a few blocks past the 21st street subway station. Here sir; Take this business card with you.”
I thanked the manager for all the help and left the restaurant. I had deciphered a part of my next clue.
I took the subway, got down at 21st street, I started searching for the restaurant but flashes from yesterday started coming to me. It was around this place, that I had my first encounter with Mr. X. How my life had changed in these 24 Hrs? Will I ever get a closure to these events?
I reached the restaurant. I saw a huge hoarding- ‘Pizzas from Sicily- Authentic Italian pizzas here in New Orleans’ and I knew I was in the right place. I went right in to see what I could find.
The manager of The Sunshine Plaza had already informed the restaurant manager that I would be visiting. The manager agreed to give me a tour of the restaurant, so I can look around for any clue.
He even introduced all the staff there, to check if someone among them knows something about Mr. X but yet again I failed to get answers.
I looked around to my heart’s content. Later I just sunk into one of those couches in the restaurant; partially due to frustration partially due to dejection.
Just then my phone started buzzing, but I didn’t notice it. An old woman who was sitting on the other couch nudged me, told me to pick up the phone, saying- “If I were you, I wouldn’t miss a call from my partner”
I came to my senses. I picked up the call.
“Hey! What’s up? Any luck regarding the IP address?”
“Oh yeah! I traced it to three towers and triangulated the signal to find the accurate location”
“Oh! .....and ? What did you find out?”
“Well, the address was of a private terminal from inside The New Orleans Auction House”
“Alright! Any other useful information?”
“Yeah! According to its website, there is an exhibition tomorrow followed by an auction. You might wanna check it out”
“Great! Thanks for the info babe. Bye”
“Bye hon. See you later”
As soon as I hung up the call I saw a change in expression on the face of the woman beside me.
She got up to leave. But while leaving she glared at me and said “Hmm.... So you are going to the auction house after all. Interesting”
This sent chills down my spine. She uttered these words as if she knew me. She said that line with conviction like she already knew I would go to the auction. There was something off about that woman. I didn’t know who she was but something about her made me think
‘This, definitely wasn’t going to be our last meeting’
