A day later, Rehan was seated next to his wife Maria. They were in a room. Both were sitting quite uncomfortably with each other. It was an awkward moment especially for Maria. Rehan began the conversation,

“Alright Maria, I have called you because I need to tell you something.”

Maria didn’t respond much except for looking at him straight in the eyes. Rehan continued talking while looking at her but avoiding eye contact.

“The reason why I have called you here is that I wanted to tell you that the team of Crimes at Corners is sending me to Interior Sindh.”

“Why?”

“It’s just for a couple of days, I have to go.”

“But for what?”

“I have to go and resolve this missing person’s case.”

“So, you are going to shoot an episode over there?”

“Yes, that’s exactly what this is about.”

“Are you going to be alone?”

“What?” Rehan asked as he misunderstood her question.

“I’m asking are you going alone or there will be some other team member with you as well,”

“I won’t be alone. They will send the camera man along.”

“So there will be just one guy?”

“Yes, most probably.”

“And how long will this trip be?”

“Well, it won’t be more than a month.”

Maria didn’t speak but gave an expression of disliking.

“It might be just for two weeks,” said Rehan.

“I see.”

“It depends on how soon I resolve the mystery.”

Maria nodded and looked aside.

“Alright, I’m going to start my packing now,”

Rehan stood up as he said this.

“Good luck.” she whispered in a low voice that wasn’t audible at all.

Next minute, Rehan was in his room. He opened the closet and took out a big suitcase from inside. He kept it on his bed and unzipped it. He uttered looking at it,

“Okay….”

**************

Next day outside the studio of Crimes at Corners, Rehan was sitting on a chair with his stuff. Zakaullah was standing at some distance as he was making some phone calls. Somebody came and put another suitcase next to Rehan’s suitcase.

Zakaullah turned towards Rehan and said,

“The drivers are coming. They will drop you at the train station and then you can leave.”

“We’ll leave at three, right?”

“No, it has been delayed. The train will leave at 4:30.”

“Oh…” Rehan said, “Well, that’s not good to know.”

“I know, don’t worry about that. You and your camera man will leave within no time. Trust me, you’ll be there before you know it.”

Rehan didn’t say anything. He however asked after a while,

“Did you get to talk to Mr Lashari?”

“I tried his number but I couldn’t reach him.”

“So, if he’ll be willing to follow up? Will you support him?”

“What do you mean?

“I mean to say that if he wants to work on this, will you financially support him?”

“No, we won’t support him financially. But yes, it would be a good thing if he offers to help.”

“I agree.”

“It all depends on you now. How good you perform and how you satisfy him with your efforts.”

“I know. I’ll try, I’ll work harder.”

“I know you will, you are the perfect guy for this job.”

Rehan smiled.

“Just stay in touch,” Zakaullah added. “And let us know whatever you need.”

“Sure.”

“And one more thing.”

“Yes?”

“This show Crimes at Corners will start this week. It will air this Wednesday.”

“Coming Wednesday?” Rehan asked excitedly.

“Yes, coming Wednesday.”

“That’s great. I mean I’m really happy about it.”

“Yeah.”

“Why didn’t you tell me earlier?”

“I didn’t? I think I did, didn’t I?”

“No, as a matter of fact I asked you yesterday and you…Never mind, I’m just happy that it finally is.”

“Yeah, you can watch it on YouTube since there would be no TV.”

“Yeah, I know and what about the electricity?”

“As much as I know it is not there from twenty-four hours.”

“Oh, dear God,” Rehan uttered getting tensed.

Some taxi came by. Zakaullah looked at the vehicle and said,

“Alright they are here, it’s time to go Rehan.”

“Okay.”

Rehan stood up and picked his suitcase.

“Where is the camera guy?” Zakaullah asked.

“Yeah, call him please.” Rehan said as he started walking.

Rehan walked towards the car.

“Alright, best of luck!” Zakaullah said to him.

**************

Maria was sitting alone in her room. She was quite upset and she wondered:

My life is getting worse.

She then looked at her cell phone realising she had no interest in it anymore.

There was already too much distance between us. Now there’s even more. Our distances are increasing.

She looked up through the door and checked the view outside. She felt the emptiness and said,

The house is empty too, just like my life. Am I responsible for this?

She felt tears in her eyes. She wiped the tears off saying,

There’s no one to wipe my tears. No one wants to understand me. Am I destined to stay like this forever? Will these things never change?

She left her bed and stood up. She then picked up her phone and while looking at it, she said,

I think I should call someone. How about Hina, if she’s available?

Meanwhile at a village around the Interior Sindh, the taxi finally stopped. The two passenger side doors opened. Rehan and the camera man stepped outside. Rehan who was holding the money handed it over to the taxi driver.

Next minute, Rehan was looking at the small building. The camera guy asked him,

“So, are we supposed to check in here?”

“Yes, I guess so. Since the name of the building is the same,”

“Yeah…so, shall we?”

“Shall we? Shall we what?”

“Shall we go inside?”

“Yes, but it’s too dark.”

“Yeah, and there are no street lights as well.”

“I know, I think the electricity’s off.”

“At this time?”

“It’s just eight o’clock,” Rehan replied looking at his watch.

“Well, I hope there would be electricity after 12.”

“Yeah, I won’t be able to sleep without it.”

“Me neither.”

“Don’t worry, we won’t be working today. We’ll start working from tomorrow.”

“Yes, I know. Tomorrow afternoon, we have to start working on this task.”

“Yeah, let’s go inside now.”

v v v

Next day at eleven o’clock in the morning, the camera guy woke Rehan up who was sleeping on his bed.

“Get up, Rehan. Get up. We have to get ready now.”

Rehan opened his eyes and then looked at his cell phone on the bed. He picked up his phone and through an indication of a little light, he realised that he had a missed call. He unlocked his phone to see whose call it was.

“Let’s get ready now,” the camera guy spoke.

Rehan looked at the caller’s ID after unlocking the phone. It was quite unexpectedly Kevin Rollin’s missed call. Rehan’s eyes opened wide.

“Come on,” the camera guy distracted him, “Get up now. The breakfast is here,”

“One second,”

Rehan dialed Kevin’s cell number quite anxiously. After three rings, Kevin answered his call,

“Hello, Rehan?”

“Hi Kevin, how are you? What a pleasant surprise?”

“Yeah, thanks. So, how are you?”

“I’m good. What about you?”

“I’m also good. So, what’s up?”

“I’m good. Actually, I’m doing this new job.”

“Really? What is your new job?”

“You won’t believe it,” Rehan answered with amusement.

“What is it? Tell me,”

“I’m hosting Crimes at Corners.”

“Oh, my God! Really?”

“Yes.”

“Well, that’s great.”

“I know. I’m really happy and at the same time worried about this new job.”

“It usually happens when you join a new job.”

“Mr Kevin…” Rehan said changing his tone, “Tell me are you available these days?”

“Available?”

“I mean, are you busy these days?”

“Not really, but why are you asking?”

“Well, I am stuck in a mystery. I haven’t really started working on it. But I was hoping that I could get your help.”

“Oh, so what is this mystery about? Is it a murder mystery?”

“Well no,” Rehan replied. “It is a missing person mystery.”

“Missing person? You mean you are looking for a person who is missing?”

“Yes exactly, have you heard of Mujhtaba Illyas?”

“Mujhtaba Illyas? I think yes, I know about him. I mean I saw this on a news channel.”

“Really? Well, I’m in that village, where the incident took place. Can you tell me what I must do? Whom should I talk to?”

“Well, you can talk to one person if you want to know what was going on in his life. I don’t remember that person’s name but you can find him on YouTube.”

“Mr Kevin can you do this little favour for me. I just want you to send me a link of that video. Can you do that, please?”

“Oh sure, I can do that. Just give me some time.”

“Thank you, Mr Kevin, I’ll wait for your text.”

“I’ll send you the link on WhatsApp okay?”

“Sure, that would be great.”

“Yeah, we’ll talk again. Bye.”

“Good bye.”

Rehan disconnected the call. The camera guy asked him,

“Who was it?”

“Well, he’s a good friend of mine, therefore I asked him for help.”

“Regarding this case?”

“Yes, and surprisingly he is not unaware of this.”

“That’s no surprise. The case was in media for several weeks,”

“Whatever. What matters is that we have someone who can help us and I’m sure that he won’t misguide us.”

“Well anyways, why don’t you get ready?”

One hour later, Rehan was standing outside the hotel he was staying in and checked his phone. Kevin Rollins had just forwarded the YouTube link to him. Rehan clicked on the link and watched the video. The camera man who was standing ahead asked him,

“What is it now? Are you coming or not?”

“I think we have a clue now,” Rehan answered looking at the phone.

“What are you talking about?”

“I’m saying that we have this person now. His name is Sarim Saud. We just need to find him and talk to him. He was really close to Mujhtaba.”

“Oh, well that’s a great progress within a short period of time.”

“Yeah, let’s go and find this person out.”

“And what if he’s not here in the village?”

“What? What do you mean?”

“I meant to ask what if this person does not live here anymore? What if he has moved?”

Rehan got a little irritated and replied,

“Look here, please. I’m already tensed. Don’t make it any more difficult for me. We have to work on this together. I’m sure we’ll find him.”

“Okay okay, just relax.”

Rehan saw a small wagon going and said,

“Let’s get on that vehicle.”

“Yeah, maybe they can help.”

Meanwhile back at Karachi, Kevin Rollins was standing outside the studio of Crimes at Corners. He wondered:

Something doesn’t seem right. Why have they hired Rehan for this show when he has no TV experience at all?

While he was standing, he saw Jahanzeb coming out of the studio with his bag as if he was leaving for home. Kevin stood in front of him and asked politely,

“Excuse me, Sir, do you have a minute?”

“Yes, who are you?”

“I’m a close friend of Rehan. I just wanted to know that why is Rehan hired for this job, of hosting a show. I mean he has no experience. He never had a career related to TV then why has he been hired by your team?”

“It’s a good thing you’ve asked. Tell me something, whoever you are, are you close enough to advise Rehan?”

“Yes, I guess so. Why?” Kevin asked curiously.

“Rehan is in danger. The only reason they have hired him is because they know he will die. They know that the person who will find Mujhtaba Illyas will eventually die out of the killer’s hands.”

“Oh no, really?”

“Yes, and now you can save him by convincing him to leave this job. These people are simply using him for their benefits.”

“I see.”

“Yes, that’s what it is.”

“But what if the killer does not kill Rehan? I mean if the killer is already dead.”

“In that case, Rehan won’t stay in this company for long. This is a low budget project. He’ll be paid for one month and then asked to leave.”

“I see. Now I understand the game,”

“He is in Interior Sindh right now.”

“Yeah I know.”

“It would be good if you go there and ask him to leave everything and return back to Karachi.”

to be continued...