“The Missing Guy” – 2

The next time , Appi and I are sitting on the 15th floor of ‘Hotel Grand Palace.I have narrated whole story to him. again a known fear swept over my face. For 10 minutes , neither i spoke nor Appi’s. The situation is growing tense. This is once again strange in itself. i always received him in cheerful mood.What should i talk? There are so many topics to talk but in actual nothing.He was too , busy in solving the cube – a totally new habit which he has developed.All the colors on the cube were in the company, looks merrily with each other but he is trying to arrange then colorwise on each surfaces.Finally he is able to arrange all the red cubes on one face , kept it down and took a serious glance at me.

Hey , Have you got any friend to hangout with ? he asked grinning

I have several , what about you? I said in haste to quickly end this topic

Oh , bro i am asking about girl- friend ! and his grin turned into laugh

I wasn’t expecting such remark from Appi at this point of time. I  was feeling uneasy.

Come on Appi ,  we are sitting here at 11 PM , to discuss such trivial things? My voice grew louder as i spoke.

Okay , okay . Do u smoke? with this he took out a pack of one and hold it infront of me.

I am already smoking 20-25 cigarette a day. I said sarcastically

Appi nearly jumped out from his seat as i spoke. So u became chain smokers here in the Delhi. How innocent you were in school days.

Look at the environment here bro. It’s so polluted that even if you don’ want to smoke , you have too and its equivalent to smoking 20-25 cigarette.I haven’t started smoking yet but why do you want to add 1 to this?

I smoke only on special occasion.Anyway Lets get out , i will explain the whole procedure in taxi.

But where?

To Raj’s Room.

Its nearly midnight.Is it right time to go?

I think , we will never get much better chance than this.

He said it with such confidence that i believed that there is something in his mind , i quickly tiptoed him.

In a city like Delhi , its not much difficult to locate an Auto at any point of time.Due to the advent of cab companies and prepaid taxi , they are barely employed.their business has gone down drastically. Also people find themselves uneasy to bargain against the prices said by auto , royalty is other reason of cab over auto. Also earlier people used to take Auto to enjoy fresh air which is no longer fresh anymore , so the business of cab wallah , expanding in Delhi.

Appi want to take auto to go Raj’s room. it may be because i have prohibited him from smoking inside , so he wants to derive pleasure from outside.We took auto and reached there within half an hour.Since it was half past midnight , those who have to go for work or college have slept and those preparing for competitive exam are still helping themselves in night with table lamp to light others ahead.In actual we don’t have any threat with these people because of all people who are waking , some of those have immersed themselves in books whereas the others in movie , fascinating over the beauty of girls otherwise Technology and yes , Earphone is the best companion ever.We passed stealthily among them making sure no one pay attention here.The rooms are constructed in such a way that people can hardly breath , one room is divided into two with the help of plywood which is enough to accommodate 2 beds , fitting to full length of rooms.A large section of people used to live like this and they have no other option since you have to ponder over both aspects i.e Economical and Convenient.In a city like Delhi , both terms are contrary to each other.you will get one but loose another.

we are now standing infront of Raj’s door , which is protected with a Lock.I remarked , Are we going to hammer it and broke it down?

Yes, we will do so ,so that all the people gather around to help us in the process and i am sure you have brought hammer. Appi sarcastically commented at my foolish remark.

I was equally blushed and silent that time. Meanwhile  Appi was busy with his small bottle of glass similar to  in which usually homeopathic medicines are given to patient.

What is this ? I asked.

Hammer . he  said in cool mood.

Don’t joke Appi , I am serious

I am also not joking , this liquid will do the work of hammer in silent mode.It is Aqua regia – mixture of HNO3 and HCl in 3:1.

Isn’t the molar ratio was 1:3 ? But it generally

Yes Yes , its 1:3 and we remember it since the 3 molecules of O is in opposite to HNO3. Anyway lets try it , i have studied somewhere that one researcher proved it to be effective on iron and nickel too.

He wore his surgical gloves and gave one to me and dropped 4-5 drops of solution on the U-shaped portion of the lock.I kept a hawk eye on the process.Within the lapse of few moment , it started melting. I cried with joy , it is working.

After all its a china product.We both then started laughing at this remark of Appi , since from childhood we had the habit of making fun of China’s Product durability.Now the first step is cleared to Raj’s room and i think we moved a step ahead to find Raj.

The room was neatly arranged as one knows that he have to go somewhere today.The window was closed , blanket was folded neatly , the kettle was left intact of the coffee prepared last night , might be due to haste.The floor was also clean except two footprints one of sports shoes , the other of formal one as evident from the sole of shoes.In formal one , footprints are usually flat running to full length of shoe , its impression are consecutive and generally follow a definite pattern. On Contrary , Sports shoes are unpredictable , they can be zig-zag , straight , sometimes circle or half oval or any other pattern. Raj’s sports shoes was not there hence the other formal footprint was of his roomie. The Day which Raj gone missing , there were two person inside the room – another clue and the other person was wearing formal shoes.

Shashank , see the other bed.you said that Raj got a new roomie yesterday but here is not even a single bedsheeet on his bed. My suspicion on him deepens now and i am sure that he has laid the plot.

yes , you say it right.Why would he pack up his luggage if he has come to live here ?

Exactly! Oh! what is this ? He pointed out to a piece of paper lying at the opposite end of bed.

Show it to me , i hurried toward Appi , it has following contents :

Its a general formula of differentiation Appi , written casually in free time. I said abruptly due to anxiety

Do u   remember formula with ‘D’ in place of ‘x’ , brother?

There is truth in Appi’s remark.Seldom any person  Solve problems using other constant such as D instead of ‘x’ , until its special case or given.

You mean Raj wants to convey something from it? some message , some location etc.

I think so.Lets figure out.        secD could mean ‘sector D’ , right?

But there is no place like sectorD in Delhi. Moreover we are not taking square into consideration. I also added.

Wait , Tell me the name of all the sectors in Delhi.

I am not sure if i know all the place with sectors but some of which are famous are – Noida sector , Dwarka sector , R.k Puram Sector , Okhla Sector , Vasant Vihar sector , Mahabalipuram sector ….etc

Repeat the name of the 2nd one , he questioned.

Dwarka sector it is , no?

Sounds interesting. can here SecD be Dwarka sector ? Appi exclaimed with joy .

Yes may be but there are 25-26 sectors in Dwarka , still very large to figure out Raj and his roomie. Taking square into consideration , Lets put down in this way ….

Dwarka Sector -2; , now it looks fine.

Great bro , I am blessed to have a friend like you. you  deduced it nicely. Appi said.

Don’t flatter now Appi , its you who have deduced all the things , anyway What does this sphere means ?Is it a cricket ball?

Good point but not much precise.so you have the opinion that Raj has gone to Dwarka sector to play cricket?

Yes why not. Cricket is such a interesting game that anyone could me tempted. You remember how I used to play whole day on Holidays , this game.

yes, You used to play but not I

what do you mean?

you said its a interesting game but for whom? those who are interested in it. you are the one who is close to Raj , tell me if he keeps interest in cricket? Appi laid down the crucial point before me.

( Raj seldom watch cricket match, he do not have any cricket equipment , he doesnt have any favourite player moreover he was often reluctant when i asked him to go for playing cricket)

Not much , i said thinking for sometime.

Appi said , that even there is a possibility that he went for cricket then if you will consider these points , remark will become quite absurd. How much time does it takes to travel to Dwarka sector 2?

It depends by which means you go. Buses can be cheap but usually atleast 1.5 – 2 hours by any means of transport.

Thats the point.who would like to travel 3-4 hr to play a match of 1 hr .also you have a park nearby your room so no need to cover such distance.The other points which discard the idea of cricket are , first he has not returned till now and the 2nd who will trust a guy overnight that he went to play with him.The reason must be some big which only Raj can  tell.

Every points which Appi made , seems logical to me. Then what does that sphere symbolise? i broke into midway because ultimately we have to find that.

I have seen this sign somewhere , but where? he nodded his head to remember.

its a sign of sphere Appi. you can find it at many places like pepsi’s logo , sports shop etc

But the thing become special when it resembles to the Logo of DMRC(delhi metro rail corporation).he said as his eyes started glittering.

But in Metro , the ring of the sphere are joined by a straight line. I pointed out

I said resembles not exact. Anyway symbol are not meant to convey straight forward clue.it need to be deduced , he said.

Agreed.then i think there would be a metro station near Dwarika sector -2 ?

yes , there is a possibility. check it once.

Yes there is , blue line running through this station.I replied instantly after checking on cellphone.We have got some crucial information to proceed in the case but still its insufficient to locate them. Near metro station but where? Metro has often pleothra of commuters daily. its very difficult to locate two amongst them. Something is still missing.I have heard that ‘ How smart criminal may be , he still makes some mistake’.I am looking for the same mistake he would have committed. But What?

The digital watch’s screen formed 2:00 AM. there is a deathning silence all around. Those who are preparing for competitive exam have slept till now in the hope to resume the work again -today only with a new enthusiasm. At that time the blowing air seems to horrify a lonely person.The rustling of leaves in that environment seems to comprise the horrific sound of wind – a little and in that environment Appi and I are trying to find some more clue to approach my friend Raj. certainly this is not our business but our passion. Appi , to relax himself opened his Facebook and started scrolling the news feed in a very casual way , calm and composed.

Is this Facebook , I asked with a great eagerness?

Yes , what is special in it? same news feed everyday , those familiar memes of no importance , this and that!

You Know there is a search button which is of vital importance , you can search anyone if you have his contact number or email id.

Appi got the point which i was trying to make. Most probably , this is the mistake which the convict has committed. He quickly entered the number of Raj’s roomie on fb search box. I can’t say at that time my heartbeat stopped or started beating fast because in a way it was our last hope and i cared more for the results than myself.

Hey! What happened ? I asked impatiently.

Appi turned the screen infront of me. Not much information i got except his name and a image. I think this guy is a real fraud. he keeps switching fb  account to account to fool people.See , he has also used this account for barely  25 days.

What about his friend list? Is anyone mutual or known to us? ( Appi and I studied for a good time together so we now most of each others friend)

only 22 friends and I don’t know any of them. you should check once since you are living in Delhi for 1.5 years. He might be from your college or Delhi.

I also checked.No one is there whom i knew. Infact in this account no friend is from Delhi. I think he created this account a long time ago.Out of 22 friends , everyone belonged to different region or state. This could mean that he approach people who don’t have any past knowledge about him. Anyway we have got his name which was same as Aadhar card and his Picture.The Guy doesn’t seem to be very tall one , average looking , with mole on  forehead just above the nose. Long but Curly hairs are the one which would be helping us to identify him. Upto half an hour more  we kept making discussion and preconceptions about that guy , his eyes , nose , occupation and everything. Appi was taking much interest in him as he were his girlfriend. Appi is going to be very selective while choosing partner , may be he has already , I have never asked – I smiled as i thought.All set now , Tomorrow we are going to that Metro station as Raj hinted. His roomie might be coming to meet someone there or maybe Raj himself. I asked Appi about the timing. He said that Raj is missing since morning. He will be coming to do another mischief or to meet his gang , so we will go in morning and instructed me to make sure that we would be there by sharp 6:30 AM.I made my mind how to go .We have to leave from here at 5AM to reach there at time. Appi strictly instructed me that we will go by metro as he does not want to leave any leaf unturned to find Raj , albeit there is a little probability of finding Raj’s roomie on the way.

Lets get back to Hotel , Appi you must be tired and we have to leave early today. its already 2:30 , we will reach there at 3 and still 2 hr to take rest.

Wait for me outside , i am coming in a minute , he said.

I came outside to release pressure which has been built inside and waited for Appi. He came after 5 minutes. I also do not bother to point out this delay.We took  an auto again and returned to hotel. I didn’t know when my eye betrayed me and i slept. The next time i remembered Appi pouring cold water over me. At one moment i became angry at Raj for this act but soon realise the situation.

soon we were travelling in metro. since it is morning there is not much commuters. Appi was having quick glance here and there and instructed me to do so. Once or twice i was suspected by old ladies and young girl having any bad intention but i soon slipped out of there before they shout. Appi neither talked to me nor uttered a single word. I also do not find it suitable to interrupt in his reverie.We reached Dwarka sector – 2 metro station by 6:35. Appi instructed me to wait at ‘Exit’ gate and positioned himself at ‘ Entrance’ . we have inserted earphone , so that people will think that this Guy is listening music but we are  connected  through call. one have to inform in code word ‘ Si ‘ which means yes in Spanish after confirming that this Guy is Raj’s roomie. The plan was that if he exit , we have to follow him and if he is found at entrance we have to stop him anyhow.

we waited for 30 minutes.there is no any sign of Raj’s roomie , i said Appi.

keep patience , he will come definitely.

I nooded. The crowd is growing with every passed minutes.if you want to see the fast paced life of Delhites , stand and observe near any metro station , more better when you will stand at any interchange. How People are working like machines and following one other throughout the way. while i was thinking all this i saw a person with curly hair first and then the mole on his forehead. my heartbeat rose significantly. yes he was the same we saw in photograph and in accordance with Appi”s description.He was wearing white shirt and sky blue jeans. I informed Appi and he instructed me to follow him because he is our last hope, since it will take time to cover the distance from exit to entrance.

I started following him. He was in hurry and looked tensed. He took large footsteps and jumped a couple of stairs while coming down. Anxiety and fear can be seen clearly on his face.After walking about 100 metres , Appi came almost running from behind. He was out of breath and asked – Where is he?

I pointed Raj in that direction. we again started following him. In his own anxiety , he never turned back. after walking a good about 1200 metres he advanced to first floor of a building and towards a room which was aloof from the rest of the building built specially for the purpose of renting. The door was locked from outside. Appi’s final shot was he told me that as soon as he will open the door , it is ur responsibility to enter into the room while i will grab him. The timing was perfect and exactly the same happened.Raj’s roomie couldn’t understand what had happened to him in the past few seconds while the most happiest thing was i found Raj sitting in one corner of the room. He almost broke down to tears and embraced me hard.

For the first time i realized the true value of friend and how their absence made me orphan in this strange city. his eyes started wetting again. I consoled Raj that Don’t worry , everything is fine now and turned to Appi. He locked the door and the guy was made to sit on chair. Certainly he has no idea how we have captured him except Raj , Appi and me but i don’t care. At first , i have to listen what actually happened that day. And here is what Raj discloses which i am putting down in his own voice.

” he came that night about 9 pm and started smoking ciggerrate in the room. I told to go outside if he has to smoke.then he used his mobile for how long , i didn’t know since i was tired after exams.when i woke up in the morning , i looked for my mobile to the see the time.it was not there.i thought it might has slipped under the bed so first i prefer to look time in watch.it was 6:45 AM .Meanwhile , he said that i am going to take tea. I found this remark absurd because no any tea shop open at that time but i thought that since he is new here he doesn’t know and I let him go to see the place. Again i resumed the search operation for mobile but it was nowhere. he came again and i asked him to ring on my phone.ring was going but couldn’t be heard in room. i was on dread of loosing my new ‘I phone 6S plus’ which hasn’t barely be used for 1 month. At that time he suggested that he know one person who is expert in GPS and location system and he has found several lost phone.He showed 2-3 false images of the shop and its achievement and took me in his confidence.I also don’t want to panic my parents for a new phone. I came here with him and he said that he has called that agent at his room . I was wondering that why he took room there if he is living here?He then said that he is going to arrange breakfast for us and locked me from outside. From then I am alone here and I couldn’t contact anybody.I have doubt on this person from night but I couldn’t imagine that he would come to this extent.Thats y I left that note in hurry.

Much appreciated. Worth praising your skill Raj , it was impossible to reach here without ur note , said Appi..

I am nothing infront of you Guys , I have a micro possibility that anyone will pay attention to my note. I knew Shashank has the habit of investigating very small and odd. It’s all thanks to you otherwise I don’t know what this guy will do to me.

The Guy on the chair is flummoxed . He doesn’t have any idea what we are talking about. Appi’s voice grew louder and addressed him ..since I know most of your plan – it was surely for theft , tell me why you came there and where is Raj’s mobile?

Surrounded by 3 sturdy men , he hasn’t any choice other than to narrate his story which is below in his own voice :

I follow the similar trick everywhere to stole valuable objects . This time , target person was Raj. I didn’t know him before but when caretaker was showing the rooms , I saw him surrounded by valuable things like I phone , MacBook , Wrist watches etc. I thought that if I catch this guy , I will gain maximum benefit. Hence I booked a room with him. Everything was going as planned , I stole his mobile phone and gave it to my friend outside with the excuse of going to take Tea. Now since I am his room partner I have  got the keys of the room and along with the mobile I gave it to a  Friend waiting outside. Now my next move was to take Raj away  and in that period , my friends will stole all the valuables from his room. I took Raj outside but my friend wasn’t able to do as planned because there were some construction work in the side rooms and few workers were wandering all the day. My plan was to release Raj by evening which came to halt now . Now we switched to the midnight but I was unfortunate that day , circumstances didn’t favor me . This time I was also with my friend and when I reached there , to my surprise the door was open. I thought that his friends are here to look for him. I returned empty handed again.I had to keep Raj again overnight locked here in room.

Where have you been coming from this morning ? I asked in a harsh tone.

Overnight I stayed with my friends and came to see Raj here.

Suddenly his tone changed and started laughing and said your work is appreciable but you will not stop  theft. My friends will do the unfinished work today morning. Ha ha ha ! He laughed continuously.

My face grew red with anger . I wanted to strike him down but Appi interrupted in middle.

Oh Mr. You are a real fool in this planet. He grinned. It was me that night in Raj’s room and you are helpless because we get there by breaking the lock. See , I have replaced that lock with this electronic one , which has a number lock. Siren will be activated if wrong code is entered two times which will alert the neighbors. You will be caught and your friends wouldn’t be able to count his ribs on the attack of fellow people when they will know that your motive is to steal. So call your friend and stop them now otherwise you know the consequences.

He has certainly no other option left. I dropt a copy of this blog near the chair , tied him with the rope and called the police. We three left quitely in a very casual manner showing that nothing has happened.

So u were fixing a electronic lock in Raj’s room , thats y you joined me late ?

What electronic lock , i never had such lock , Appi smiled. it was just a trick. with this he take out a key and handed it to Raj and said – Use china product again , it helps us.

I understood his irony and a loud laughter thereafter echoed from three of us.I have another work to do. both gasped at me ..I took out a cell phone and texted large father.

Uncle , Raj was on  tour from college planned all of sudden and told him to narrate whole incident when you get back to home.

His father replied in no time – Ok Beta ! Parents do trust friends more than their own son , sometimes i thought.

Appi is leaving for California today. We have to go hotel to collect luggage . On the way i told Appi

It was close , i was not sure i would identify him.

Thats why i gave thesis of half an hour describing him. Appi smiled as he said.

He does everything for a reason – Appi , my friend.I thought.I recalled another question which was in dormant state till now.

Do u like anyone , who is very close to your heart?

He nodded gave a shy look , took out his cell phone and showed picture of a girl. She is Amaera from Uttrakhand , India and one who is very close to heart. she is my colleagues in California.

Amaera is damn beautiful and to get a girl with a Indian accent in foreign is more beautiful than that. I often find myself unable to describe the beauty of girl.

Indian culture bhule nhi boss aap , I remarked

Why should I ? , its unique and beautiful. Appi added with pride.

Appi was busy in packing while i saw the cube lying near his bag. All the four surfaces are adjusted with different color.

When did you do this ?

what ?

this cube , When did you solve this.

You slept for 2 hours  today morning , didn’t you?

ha ha ha , Dedication matters !I said.

– Shashank