Obscured Affection (Slow Updates)

“Speak?”

As soon as Mahnoor left, Ishaq turned his gaze toward Yusuf and asked.

“This case of Ms. Verma… Ms. Mariyam and I have completed all the work related to it. Ms. Mariyam told me to inform you about the case, so that’s why I’ve come to tell you everything.”

Hearing this, Ishaq gave Yusuf his full attention, listening carefully.

“Go on,” Ishaq said, signaling Yusuf to sit down.

Yusuf took the chair opposite him and passed the case file toward Ishaq as he began explaining.

“Sir, the victim is Mona Verma, a 19-year-old journalism student who died on the spot in a hit-and-run incident. We found the vehicle’s number plate, which matches the car registered to Viraj Chauhan — the son of Chief Minister Dharamveer Chauhan. We have CCTV footage and even a confession audio. But… guess what?”

Ishaq glanced up from the file, looking at Yusuf with a serious expression.

“Something’s wrong with the CCTV footage?” he asked.

“Well… you’re sharper than I thought. Yes, someone has tampered with the CCTV footage. The footage from the camera outside the college shows Shiva driving the car — he’s Viraj Chauhan’s childhood friend and bodyguard. But the footage from the ATM camera near the college shows Viraj driving, although that video is extremely blurred.”

“Ah, the politician’s son… It’s very easy for them to manipulate things,” Ishaq muttered. “What about the confession audio?”

Ishaq was still studying the file carefully when Yusuf took a device from his pocket and placed it on the table.

“This case came to us through Mona Verma’s parents. She was from a very wealthy family, which is why her parents approached us. The audio confession contains Shiva’s voice — he is scared and insists that he did not kill Mona.”

“This is a highly sensitive case… I hope you’ll keep it confidential, like a professional lawyer.”

Ishaq looked up, locking eyes with Yusuf.

“Yes, I fully understand the gravity of this case,” he said. “Mona Verma’s parents will come to meet you again tomorrow. Think carefully if you want to take this case or not. I have compiled all the details in this file.”

Yusuf finished explaining and left, while Ishaq turned serious and began reading through the file.

“Ah, politicians and crime!” Ishaq muttered to himself with a bitter smile.

“Why are all these politicians always the same? My work only keeps increasing unnecessarily!” he said, rubbing his forehead in frustration. Then he searched online for Mona Verma and started reading her blogs.

Mona Verma was a journalism student who loved the word justice. She wanted to cover as many crimes as possible herself. Coming from a wealthy family, she was fearless. Many people supported her, and because of this, she wrote the harsh truths openly on her blog without any fear. She had helped put many criminals behind bars through her investigations. Ishaq was deeply impressed by her writing, but nowhere in her blogs did she mention Viraj or Dharamveer’s names. So why would Viraj kill Mona?

Ishaq sat there for a long time, going through files and trying to find anything about Mona that could explain why Viraj would want to kill her. But he couldn’t find anything indicating any enmity between the Chauhans and Mona or her family.

He had no idea how long he had been sitting there; he lost track of time. He rubbed his tired eyes and finally stood up, locking the files away in his cabinet. Then he sat down again and checked the time.