Final Chapter of the best Thriller Series, Missing.
Read the previous chapter: Hearing Day 2.
Previously, on Missing: After Rajiv has been sentenced for Ruhi's crimes and the case is shut, Vinay decides to leave the town. The same night he receives a message claiming they have something to say about Inara. Will he go? What does he find out next? Read in this final chapter.
The court had annulled all the charges off Vinay. After the hearing had ended the court was void of any living creature except him. Yashwant waited for a while before Vinay asked him to leave and that he would soon follow. He sat there for quite a while before leaving. Contemplating everything that had recently happened and introspecting the decisions he had made ever since meeting Inara.
Before leaving, Inspector Jayveer had apologized for everything he had to do in the course of investigation.
“You did your job, sir. I’m even glad that the culprit has been sentenced. Worst part is that, although I doubted Rajiv of the crime, I had never expected he would do all this to Inara,” he said, almost breaking down. “He loved her, or, may be, he only pretended to.”
“We never know what a person conceals within him, until he is confronted by his worst fears or gives in to his weaknesses,” the inspector had said before leaving.
After giving it a good thought, Vinay decided to leave the town and return to his village. He went home where Mrs. Biswas had cooked up a fine meal for the dinner. That night, Yashwant, Vinay and Mrs. Biswas ate together. On the table, Vinay pitched his decision to the only two people he knew well enough to trust. His heart dropped down to his stomach as he said that, but, if he had to recover from whatever had happened, he had to leave this place.
“For how long will you keep running from your past Vinay? First you bugged out from your village after your father had disgraced your family. Then after your mother and brother died in the accident, you came here, running from your past and now again you want to leave everything behind,” Mrs. Biswas said, after a long silence at the table.
“That’s what the problem is. Every time I think of starting a new life, forgetting the past, living in the present and planning for a better future; every time things go awry. Every time, I think I had a person to confide in to my fears and share everything, around whom I could be myself; every time I lose them. First my dad, then my brother, then Inara. And after such a long time, when I had slowly started to recover from whatever had happened two years ago, all of a sudden, everything comes back to me and I’m left broken. Again,” Vinay cried.
The rest of the dinner was finished without another word by any of them. Vinay didn’t want to eat, but, he had been starving all these days and these meals were one of the things he had been longing for, for a while now. After Yashwant left, Vinay went to his room and started packing to leave the next morning when Mrs. Biswas entered with rice pudding.
“You sure about this child?” she asked, placing the bowl on the table.
“Yes I am, aunty. You need not worry about me. I’ll be fine, as always. I will return soon. You know I can’t stay for a long time without having those fish curry of yours and this tasty rice pudding that you make,” he said, having a spoonful of it.
Mrs. Biswas smiled, “Take care baccha.”
“I will,” he smiled back.
After she left, Vinay’s phone buzzed and he read the message from an unknown number.
There are things you need to know before
you leave the town. Things about…Inara.
Reach at the below address by tomorrow noon.
And below, was an address to Alibaug.
He looked around for anyone spying on him. He walked from hall room to bed room and had checked all the curtains, but no sign of any spy around. ‘If not a spy, then who had sent this message? How did they know about me leaving tomorrow? Until now, it is only Yashwant and Mrs. Biswas who know about this. Did they? No they can’t.’ he thought.
He considered telling Mrs. Biswas about this message, but, then she wouldn’t allow him to go. And if there was still something left to know about Inara, he had to go. He called at the same number, but all the calls went unanswered. He dropped many messages, but there wasn’t any reply. Was it all a hoax? After a while of moving around the place, his phone buzzed again.
Can’t tell you anything on call or
messages. If you truly loved her and still do,
and want to know the truth behind everything,
arrive at the address by noon. Else, the choice is yours…
He couldn’t sleep the whole night, but, paced the room and slipped in and out of his bed. What could possibly be left out after everything that had happened in the court? His mind created calamitous theories before he dismissed them all.
The next morning, he bid adieu to Yashwant and Mrs. Biswas. Mrs. Biswas made him food for his travel. He hadn’t told where he was going. Vinay could get a direct bus to Alibaug, but Yashwant had insisted to drop him at CST.
On reaching, they shared a hug and Yashwant left as Vinay blended in with the crowd. All the way Yashwant had insisted on knowing where he was about to go, but Vinay stood on his ground and asked Yashwant to leave as soon as they reached CST.
No sooner, Yashwant was out of sight, than Vinay changed his track and started towards Alibaug. Perhaps few secrets were yet to be disclosed.
It was a long way to Alibaug for him. An hour long route through the sea, then another hour or so in the bus had drained him. As soon as the conductor announced the next bus stop, Vinay walked towards the door. He got down at Khidki and walked his way to the address. He asked the local people for ‘Kshitij Mansion’. No one knew where it stood.
He had almost forgotten about the owner’s name that was mentioned in the address. He found his way as soon as he mentioned the name, Arun Avasthi.
There it was. Set in on one of the smaller cliffs, far from any living soul, stood a yellow bungalow, lined with trees around the boundary walls.
All the while, it was the hot and severe heat that he faced. But where he stood, in front of the gate, the wind was so strong and cool that it had relieved him off his tiresome journey. Hesitatingly, he opens the gate and walks towards the door. The route from the gate up to the door was lined with pebbles and the shells at the border only added to the beauty of the house.
He ringed the doorbell and waited for a response, but, no one answered. ‘Perhaps it was a hoax,’ he thought and turned back on his path just then his phone buzzed again.
Get in.
He turned back and searched for cameras, but found none. ‘How the hell am I being watched then!’ he screamed under his breath.
As he stepped closer, he found that the door was already open. So he did, as was commanded.
“Hello!” he called, but, received his own voice in return. He walked towards the sofa set at the center of the room. Everything, in the room was perfect, else than the piece of paper on the tea-table in front of the sofa. He leaned in and found it was some sort of note.
“Is anyone home?” he asked no one. His eyes fell on a frame on one of the walls. A photo hung on it. A girl, or perhaps, a model.
“If you didn’t want to speak then what was the point of calling me here?” he asked again and yet was replied by silence.
He walked around for a while before noticing that the piece of paper had displaced its original place and had landed on the sofa. He went to the sofa and picked it up. He wasn’t interested in reading any of it, until he read the name at the end of the note.
Utmost Hate,
Dad,
Pranav Avasthi.
Pranav Avasthi, his lawyer had written a letter, to his son or may be daughter. If so, then why hate? What was it about? He flipped to the beginning and started.
I would have started the note by DEAR RUHI, but, perhaps you’re no more dear to me. I am filled with hatred, every time I think that my daughter could ever do such heinous crimes. I feel guilty for not having you raised properly.
He knew it was his daughter he had addressed the note to. Vinay noticed a wet patch on the note. The ink was smudged at some places. Had Mr. Avasthi been crying?
After everything that has happened in the last two weeks, or rather, the last two years, has left me scarred after knowing that you did all that to Inara and I had to prove someone else guilty of your crimes.
The note almost slipped through his hands as Vinay found it hard to hold on to his senses and keep standing. He fell by the sofa, glaring at the note. ‘It wasn’t Rajiv who did all that but Ruhi? Mr. Avasthi’s daughter?’ he thought, then continued.
Two days before the final hearing, you confessed to your crimes. I would like to confess some of mine. After you left, that evening.
Vinay did not understand which evening was Mr. Avasthi talking about, but he cared no more.
I recalled everything you said. How you abducted her, in the dead of night after Vinay and Inara’s fight. How you kept her at your uncle’s bungalow at Alibaug. How she escaped and how you attacked Vinay and hurt Inara with the knife you stole from his kitchen. I went to the place where you said, you wanted to push Inara from and end her. After searching for a while, in one of those dense bushes around the place and retrieved it back home. I also remembered that Vinay and Inara had a fight that included Inara knowing something about Rajiv. It was then that I worked things out and asked whether he had searched Rajiv’s farmhouse. I had a hunch that Rajiv hid something so I went there. Scanned the place and found the room. I then framed him for everything. He had brought girls there until the last month, but I removed all of them and left only the one’s dated before two years and left the knife there. I knew the forensics would surely test the finger prints on the knife and know it wasn’t him so I made an attempt to wipe them off and it worked partially. Rest all was done by Inspector Jayveer and his team. I only had to present the court with a truth that was believable enough to sentence Rajiv. After all, a truth isn’t legit if people can’t believe it.
I have had tough days ever since we last talked. I wanted to confront you for the last time, but, I don’t have the courage to face a criminal. I would rather say, I don’t have the courage to stand in front of you as an untruthful, disloyal and an unfaithful lawyer. I was bound by my duty to save Vinay, as I was bound by love to save my daughter. You know, ‘The Things We Do For Love’. After everything that has happened, I have decided to quit my job as a lawyer. I have sentenced an innocent, not wholly though, to a life sentence. I have betrayed my profession and I can’t stand it. I’m leaving Ruhi. Farewell.
Utmost Hate,
Dad,
Pranav Avasthi.
Vinay’s bowels turned to water as he finished the note. His little fingers were numb and his heart was beating out of his chest. He stared into nothing for a while.
Everything became clear to him. Rajiv was innocent. Everything was done by Ruhi and Mr. Avasthi helped her in wiping out the evidences and turning the case towards Rajiv. ‘No, this isn’t right,’ he thought. He had to tell Yashwant, Mrs. Biswas or Inspector Jayveer about it. This was the same bungalow, Inara was held in. He had to work fast.
He straightened up and just as he turned towards the door, he saw a girl in her twenties walking into the gate. At once, it occurred to him that it was Ruhi.
Ruhi stood petrified on seeing Vinay there. Flushed with anger, Vinay walked towards her, held her throat and pressed it as hard as he could and pinned her on the wall that had her picture.
“You drab of a woman! You hurt her! You killed her!” he yelled as he tightened his grip on her throat. She coughed and tears were running down her cheeks. She scratched him and struggled to break free, but Vinay’s strength and anger overpowered hers. Vinay loosened his grip, but did not let her go. He punched her in her stomach and slapped her on the face. She yelled and cried. She begged him to leave, but, he wouldn’t.
“Yes! That is exactly, what my Inara might have asked for. Freedom. All those months in one of these rooms,” and out of the blue, he broke down. He left her and cried. Ruhi touched her throat and coughed until she puked saliva. Vinay had started to calm down and Ruhi was getting back to her senses.
Almost abruptly, Vinay held her back and grabbed her throat again.
“You killed her and your father covered for you. First, I will kill you now, and then, your father,” he whispered to her.
There was a loud gunfire and blood spill from Ruhi’s right temple. Vinay’s eyes, popped out. He followed the sound of the bullet and saw a female hand retrieving back into the car as the window shut. Before he could run behind the car, it was long gone.
Everything was silent now. Was it the silence of the arrival of a storm? Or had the storm ended? He stood at the gate, watching the dust rise and fall slowly where the car had just passed. He glanced at the corpse and then to the empty road ahead. What was happening? Who was this woman? Who had called him here? And why? Did Ruhi call him? Or the woman in the car? He had many questions, but no one to answer.
His phone buzzed, and another message dropped by the same unknown number.
Sorry Vinay. I had to kill her. She had known more than she was supposed to. Though a trusted supporter, she would be of no use after Rajiv has been sentenced. She helped us, throughout the case. All these years, she remained quiet and helped us. I’m sorry that in the course she had to lose her mother and now, her dad as well. But, in big fights like these, there has to be some collateral damage to keep things running. And the Avasthi family has been of great use to us. May the two souls rest in peace.
Also, before the cops get you, you have to get out of there. You have always run from your past Vinay. Now, run from your present, if you want to survive.
He knew, by the final words who she was. All he did not understand, why?
Note:- The story has a free end and readers are free to make their own theories and endings with the help of the clues dropped throughout the series. I would love to hear you out at this forum. Make sure you tell us what you think about the series on the forum and share your endings that you might have expected or the ending you have. The ending with the most likes on the forum will be added to my site as an ALTERNATE ENDING . Perhaps, if not you, then your writer friends might have something to say about it. Make sure to share if you liked the series.
Also, if enough people like the series, I will make sure we have a PART 2 on it. And believe me, PART 2 is going to be impeccable!
Teaser to PART 2:-
"They say, the dead tell no stories. What if I tell you a story? Would you believe it?"
Share the series with your friends and family and tell me whether you would like to have a part 2 on it.
I will also be adding a pdf file of the whole story on my blog soon. Till then, stay connected and keep reading!
So, after a long long time, the series finally ends here. Thank you so so much for staying connected and reading, liking and sharing until the end. It has been a great journey and hope to stay connected to everyone until the end of time.
Poster credits:
Picture credits: Pinterest.
Edited by: Rohan Basak.
Read other best stories by Rohan Basak
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