A Brutal Hand: There's No Escape (SHORTZ) by Jigs Ashar & Ravi Subramanian

Author:Jigs Ashar & Ravi Subramanian [Ashar, Jigs]
Language: eng
Format: mobi
Publisher: Westland
Published: 2020-09-06T16:00:00+00:00

TWENTY-NINE

W ait for me here,’ Rastogi told Kadam, two hundred metres from the entrance to the Adarsh Nagar chawl. Kadam, not one to question his boss, parked the police car immediately. It was after 11 a.m., and the rains continued unabated. Rastogi leaned out of the car, opened his umbrella and with a grunt, lifted his heavy frame out. He carefully avoided the puddles as he walked towards the chawl. Small shops and kiosks lined the narrow lane, makeshift plastic shutters drawn down to keep the merchandise safe from the rains. Rastogi smelled samosas as he passed an eatery, and smiled to himself. It was ideal weather for samosas. Much less ideal circumstances, he quickly reminded himself.

He was dressed in a plain half-sleeved shirt and trousers, having changed out of his uniform before leaving the station. He had seen the surprise on Kadam’s face when he had asked him to stop quite a distance away from their destination. Rastogi empathised with Arti’s situation—acquittal after years of wrongful imprisonment, the trauma of Deshmukh’s abuse, and probably the worst of all, the social ostracism faced by all ex-prisoners. He did not want to add to her misery by taking a police car to her front door.

Bapat had given him the complete address, so he did not need to ask for directions. He looked at the central staircase winding steeply up the tenement and swore. There were very few occasions when Rastogi lamented his complete lack of interest in keeping fit, and this was one of those. He counted the twelve steps between each floor, resting for a few seconds to catch his breath when he reached the landings. Finally, he stopped to wipe the sweat off his brow on the third floor. I just hope she is at home, he said to himself as he walked towards Arti’s room at the far end.

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