Chapter 4: Flaws and the Truth

A brutal murder had taken place. A stranger came to the station to describe the findings of the murder. Listening to his description and writing it down, Shekar filed the report.

Another constable was also at the station, resting. Shekar's curiosity had peaked. He wanted to find out what had happened and felt that something was amiss because of his own weird experience. But he didn't have the permission to investigate. So he called the head office to inform them about the murder.

Shekar: "Hello, sir."

Head Officer: "Yes, Shekar, what is it?"

Shekar: "Sir, a person just came here and told us that he saw a dead body. He says the body looks very strange."

Head Officer: "Strange, how?"

Shekar: "Sir, he says the body is full of holes, and all the blood is gone."

Head Officer: "Okay, I'm coming there."

Shekar: "Okay, sir."

The call ended.

Shekar told the stranger, "Sir is on his way. You can wait over there."

Some time passed.

Driven by his curiosity and a desire to prove himself, Shekar decided to ask the stranger more questions.

"Sir, even after seeing such a horrifying situation, why didn't you run away?" Shekar asked.

The stranger replied, "The person who died was someone we knew. He's not a relative, but I've seen him there a few times."

Shekar asked, "Then why didn't you mention this earlier?"

The stranger answered, "I don't want to get involved in this case, sir. I have a family. I don't want to take any risks for someone I've only seen two or three times."

Just as they were talking, the head officer arrived. He asked, "Is this the person you were talking about?"

Shekar: "Yes, sir."

The head officer asked the stranger for more details: "What's your name? Where did you see the body? At what time did you see it? What were you doing there at that time?"

After asking all the necessary questions, the head officer took the stranger away.

After the head officer and the stranger left, the station became silent. No matter how curious he was, Shekar couldn't go and investigate directly. He didn't have the authority. Shekar could only write the report. Only by asking them could he find out what happened. And Shekar wasn't that intelligent. A registrar couldn't solve a case.

Shekar's inner voice: A few hours have passed. The people who went haven't come back yet. I don't even know if they are safe.

A few hours later, the head officers and sub-inspectors came back, discussing things with great anxiety.

Shekar's thoughts: What could have happened? What kind of visuals did they see? What did the body look like?

The photographs and details of the murder case arrived. Shekar looked at them and was terrified. On a wet, muddy piece of land, a man's body had been brutally murdered. There were 14 holes all over his body. Shekar had assumed they were small, but when he saw the photographs, he understood. The holes on the body were so clean that if you looked from one side, you could see right through to the other. There were big holes, 22 cm wide, on his stomach, heart, and face. On his hands, shoulders, and legs, there were medium-sized holes, about 15 cm wide. The holes looked like someone had drilled them into the body. But if you drill holes, a lot of blood should come out, right? Where was the blood? That was the mystery. Did someone suck all the blood out of the body and then drill the holes? Was there even a body left?

The medical proofs were yet to come. Only the forensics team could tell what happened to the body.

Shekar had many questions in his mind, but he couldn't ask anyone. If he asked too many questions, they would just scold him. Because Shekar didn't have the right to ask questions. He could only read the report to find out what happened.

Shekar's mind wandered to a strange question: I can't even get involved in a case. How will I ever solve a big case like MEDS? I haven't even found out anything about this time loop. As all this comes to my mind, I feel sad, wondering if I'm truly useless or if I'm just an idiot.

Shekar was right in his thoughts. People in higher positions are often well-educated and intelligent. They've labeled the rest of the people as not knowing much. But how can they say that everyone doesn't have curiosity?

Shekar was lost in his thoughts. The other constable at the station went outside to eat.

Shekar was talking to the head office on the call. He was still thinking about the brutal murder and was not responding properly to the head officer. He said in zoned out state "Ah, Yes sir. Okay sir". and the call ended. Shekar was still think "who to solve this MEDS case?"

While Shekar was lost in his thoughts, his cousin Meera came to the station. She had brought dinner for Shekar. Because it was getting late, Shekar's mother had cooked and sent Meera to deliver it. Meera was happy to come, but she never showed her affection on her face.

Meera: "Here, brother-in-law, your mom sent this from home for you."

Shekar: "Oh, really?"

Meera: "Your mom gets very anxious. She's always thinking about you—how you are, what you're doing, where you are."

Shekar: "Hmm."

Meera: "She dreams that you'll get a big position, but here you are, struggling in this small post."

Shekar: "..."

Meera: "If you don't like it, you can leave, right? Leave this and do something you like. But even if you don't become a police officer and get some other job, they still won't marry me to you."

Meera added softly, "At least you'd be happy, right?"

Shekar: "Why are you talking about all this now?"

Meera changed the topic and said "So, what special case did you get today?"

Shekar: "Hey, I'm not supposed to tell you."

Meera: "It's okay, brother-in-law, tell me. I'll help you. You know what, I will be a big help to you. If you use me. I am so intelligent you know."

Shekar's mind: She won't let it go. I'll just give her a small case to get rid of her.

Shekar gave her a simple case that had already been solved.

The thing is, it's against the rules to discuss a case with outsiders or family members. But because she was acting so arrogant, Shekar, in his ego, gave her the case files, but he hid the conclusion and other important details.

Case 1: This was a petty theft case. A thief stole a chain from a woman. He stole it and ran away. Later, in court, they found out that there was another culprit who was behind it all.

So, who was the culprit, what was the motive, and what happened?

Because the case was a bit confusing and Meera had no field experience, she took a moment to pause.

Seeing the look on Meera's face, Shekar's ego was satisfied. "Haha! You can't do it. Just leave it," he said.

Meera was stubborn and didn't listen to him. She just thought carefully. She leaned a little toward Shekar and asked, "I need more details."

Shekar's inner voice: Haha! She can't solve this case. And I haven't given her many details. Now, instead of the important details, I'll give her some small ones.

Shekar: "The thief was caught on the same day he committed the theft. I won't tell you where he was caught."

Meera: "He was caught by the woman's son."

Shekar was shocked. "How do you know that?"

Meera: "Yes, you said 'how,' which means I'm correct."

Shekar, still in shock, said, "But the case isn't over yet. You haven't mentioned the motive or the reasons."

Meera: "It's simple, dude. The motive is money. Her son is a drug addict. He needed money, so he planned this with another thief. He did this because he knew his mom's routine very well, not because he was trying to steal from a stranger."

Shekar: "How did you solve it so simply? I didn't even give you many clues. How?"

Meera: "Read the report closely. It says in the report that this happened on the same path the woman always takes. And at that time, no one was with her. Her husband works in another country. And the complaint was filed by the woman herself, and when she called her son, the line was dead. The son came after everything was over. Isn't it obvious? And most importantly, they found drug traces on the son's shirt. When you see that, you'll understand half of the case."

Shekar: "Oh, shit!"

Meera: "I guess you didn't even know which report to hide. It's okay, I'll teach you."

Shekar got a little angry and snatched the report. "I'll give you a more difficult case."

Shekar took some time and brought a confusing accident case.

Case 2: The people who caused the accident came and surrounded the victim, but the victim was the one who went to jail. Why?

Meera: "Hmm! This is a little complicated."

Shekar: "Yeah, yeah. If you can't do it, just leave it."

Meera: "Maybe he wanted to get caught? But people go to jail for such a serious acquisition. There must be something else."

Shekar: "You're correct to some extent." Shekar's inner voice: It took me a long time to figure that out. Am I really that dumb?

Meera: "Ah, I know now. The person who was in the accident was on the run after committing a serious crime. Right?"

Shekar: "How? How? How does she solve it so easily? If I had this much intelligence, all my problems would be solved."

Shekar, with his intelligence, gave her seven more cases. She solved all of them very easily.

To test if she was cheating, this time he himself read the report and told her about the cases, but she still solved them easily.

Shekar understood the difference between them. If she continues like this, she will become a very intelligent police officer.

Shekar also wants to be in a good position and become a big officer, but with his intelligence, it's very difficult.

No matter how much he tries, he won't be able to get there quickly.

Meera was very proud of herself.

Shekar was staring at her with admiration. He thought to himself, If I give her the MEDS case, she'll solve it easily. Should I give it to her?

Shekar shook his head in a state of tension. He was very scared. He didn't know what to do. He was breaking all the laws. He would also get into a lot of trouble with his current job if he told Meera about the ongoing case.

But Shekar had no other choice. He had to do what he had to do before the other constables came back.

Shekar had no other choice, and even if he was a higher-ranking officer, he wouldn't be able to solve this case with his intelligence. That's why he was taking this risk.

Shekar handed the report to Meera and said, "You can read this report. I'll arrange these other reports and come back."

He handed her the report and started arranging the seven files he had with him.

Suddenly, there was a sound of something falling. Shekar immediately ran to see what had happened. Meera had fallen to the ground. She was having a seizure. Her body was twitching, and foam was coming out of her mouth. Her eyes were wide open. Seeing Meera in that situation, Shekar was very scared. His hands were also shaking.

Shekar: "Oh no! What have I done to you?" he said with a lot of sadness and anxiety.

He immediately reacted to her situation.

He put the keys in her hand. Will she become normal, or will she die just like that?

Shekar made a mistake by giving Meera the ongoing case. What did she see in it that Shekar couldn't?

Wait for the next chapter.