Vishal was back in Mitra’s house. The day’s investigation had not yielded anything productive.

They had enquired the whole neighbourhood, scanned all the CCTV footage and exhausted all their means, yet they hadn’t been able to get anything conclusive except for the intel that a street fight had happened between a man and a mysterious person who had a circumstantial resemblance to Mitra.

Vishal lied down on the bed, reeling in the helplessness he felt about Mitra’s disappearance. He took out his phone, browsing through the reports covering the video. The number of reports, blog posts and public opinions on social networks had reduced within the one-day span.

A notification popped from one of the social media pages he followed.

‘A Video Similar To The Infamous ‘Girl In Blindfold’ Released’, read the title of a post.

Vishal didn’t bother to read the content and scrolled down to the video. As soon as he saw Mitra in the thumbnail, his heart sank.

He played the video, a sick feeling heavy in his chest.

It was Mitra beyond doubt. What shook him further was the state she was in, the things that were being spoken and discussed in the video, the man behind the frames who was orchestrating the whole happening.

He was a murderer, a psychopath, and now had Mitra at his mercy.

Vishal shut his eyes tightly, his head splitting with pain, nausea making him uneasy.

Mitra is being hit. She is being tortured. She would be killed. What if he filmed murdering her and telecasted that too?

Frightening visuals and thoughts ran amok Vishal’s mind. Who was this killer? Why was he victimizing Mitra? Was it simply because she had witnessed his other crimes? Or was there something else to it?

He needed help. Help to find and rescue Mitra. Before it got too late.

Vishal picked up his phone and called Raghavan.

“Hello? Sir... sir, this is Vishal. There’s... there’s a new video of Mitra. Did you see that?” he spoke urgently, stuttering with the temporary numbness the roots and implications of the situation had caused him.

He heard a sigh from the Inspector. “Yes, Vishal. It was posted to the police website also.”

“It’s her! I told you she was the victim!” he screamed into the phone.

“Look, I had my doubts, but I accepted your statements and made my people investigate it, and included you in that process. You can’t blame me for an ignorance that I had never feigned,” Raghavan answered with a flared temper.

There was an uncomfortable pause as both men tamed their high emotions. Vishal had acted out on his distress while Raghavan had been feeling like he was hit by a reality he had wished not to be true.

“You’re right. I'm sorry,” Vishal broke the silence.

Raghavan grunted an acceptance.

“We need to act,” Vishal was less authoritative than before.

“I know.” A moment’s pause later, Raghavan said, “I have already alerted the Police IT cell to trace the video. We might get something by the tomorrow. If you come to the police station in the morning, we will try to analyze the video and see if we can get any clues from it.”

“Can’t we do that now?” Vishal asked, his anger on the rise again.

“No. I am caught up with another case at the moment. A high-profile political one. I can’t step away now. I will see you in the morning.”

The call was disconnected, and Vishal was left to the agony of feeling for his friend slash lover’s sufferings. The silence of the house was hell and the speculations about Mitra’s current situation were a torment to think about. 

He played the video several times, trying to understand the spoken and unspoken words, the situation that was unravelling the past, present and future of the two people involved and the implications.

The aftermaths of the video being publicized took over Vishal’s time, effort and patience.

It began with Mitra’s parents.

Vishal had called them to check upon them, only to find them in uncontrollable tears, despair and heartbreak. The viral video had taken them by storm. Watching their daughter wounded, conversing with a psychopath who was about to kill her and struggling to stay alive had almost given them a heart attack.

As if to torment them further, their relatives and acquaintances had been calling them continuously to confirm that it was indeed Mitra, and to gather details from her parents about her abduction, their stance on the whole incident, what they were planning to do about it, and so on.

Vishal’s call was the only solace they could get. He informed them of his coalition with the police and their combined efforts to investigate the whole incident. He didn’t give them any false hope, neither did he leave them in a state of loss. He assured them that he wouldn’t rest until he found Mitra. Alive.

“Don’t answer any calls from media people. They will keep contacting you to get something worth publicizing and they will trespass a lot on your privacy,” he warned Mitra’s parents. “Although Mitra’s complete personal information is not yet revealed to the public, it won’t take long for everyone to find out who she is. Once that happens, you will be targeted by everyone, mostly media, to get news material. Approach the local governing bodies, report them the whole thing and tell them that the Bangalore police have already started the investigation.

Release just a one line statement to the media that you and the police are doing your best to search for your daughter and you would be grateful if anyone gave you any relevant information to aid the rescue process, including sufficient government’s help.”

Mitra’s father understood the implications.

“Uncle, if possible, leave the place and stay somewhere else for the time being. Don’t tell anyone where you are going. It would stop the media from harassing you,” Vishal advised.

“What if the kidnapper calls or comes searching for us? What if Mitra comes home? Shouldn’t we be here?”