Friday, Noon
By the time the clock struck twelve, all three felt their hearts beat faster in anticipation. This was the most exciting moment of their lives. They were about to eavesdrop on the conversation that would save Pingu!
Kabir had requested Bilal to seat the cricketers on the table next to theirs. He had told him that Chief Walia had mentioned to them that Punit Singh always visited the hotel café before the match. And that they wanted to be seated next to him and get selfies and pictures with him. He added to his entreaties by telling him how big a fan of Punit Singh, Aditya was.
An unsuspecting Bilal had lovingly agreed to their plan. At five minutes past twelve, Punit Singh entered the café. As if on cue, Bilal rushed to his assistance and ushered him to the table that Kabir and he had decided upon earlier. Turning around, Bilal gave them the thumbs up and went back to his post.
‘Poor Bilal,’ Akriti said, ‘he doesn’t know we lied to him and that –’
‘We lied for the greater good,’ Aditya interjected. ‘Now ssshhhhh!’ Aditya was feeling very conflicted – at last he had got to see his hero up close. However, it appeared that his hero may have fallen off his pedestal. ‘What an epic fall,’ he said to himself.
Minutes went by ever so slowly as the three sat in wait for Punit’s partner-in-crime to show up. Just then, PK Dhruv, another player from the Indian cricket team walked into the café and joined Punit at his table.
‘It’s Dhruv,’ Aditya whispered to Akriti.
‘Wait, listen in first,’ she replied.
‘What did you want to talk about?’ Punit asked him as soon as Dhruv had taken a seat.
The hostile way in which Punit had spoken to Dhruv gave them the feeling that the kidnapping partnership had gone sour. Maybe they had ended up disagreeing at some point.
‘Look, when I had agreed to it, I didn’t think someone would get hurt,’ Dhruv scowled.
Aditya, Akriti and Kabir exchanged furtive looks. Had Pingu been hurt? Would they be able to get to the cat in time to save her or were they too late?
‘I know but –’ Punit tried.
‘No. Rhea had tears in her eyes yesterday. And it is all our fault. We need to come clean about it,’ Dhruv said.
‘Are you crazy?’ Punit demanded. The idea of coming clean to Rahul evidently scared Punit. ‘He will get mad if he finds out about it.’
‘If you don’t tell him, I will,’ Dhruv said to Punit as he got up from his chair and started to walk away. Hurriedly, Punit followed Dhruv, trying to change his mind.
As soon as Punit and Dhruv had exited the cafe, Kabir rushed out to find Chief Walia. He had to find him and tell him that Punit and Dhruv hadn’t given themselves away. And to ask him what they were to do next. They had barely three hours until the time the match was scheduled to begin. Barely three hours to find the cat they were no closer to finding than they were when they first began their search two days ago.
Just as Kabir was filling Chief Walia in on the latest developments in the lobby, a harrowed Rhea got out of the elevator. She walked towards the café. ‘Have you seen Rahul ?’ she asked the moment she saw Punit.
‘He must be in the gym. He should be here soon,’ Punit replied. He could see Rhea’s eyes. They were red. She looked like she had been crying the whole night.
Dhruv glared at Punit, wordlessly imploring him to confess. A very remorseful Punit called out to her and said, ‘Rhea, I am sorry. We were the ones who stole it from your room.’
The moment he said this, Aditya banged his fist against his palm in glee. ‘Yessss! I knew it! I knew it!’ he whispered to Akriti.
‘What!’ Rhea said. ‘It was you! How could you even do something like this?’
‘I am sorry, Rhea. We didn’t realize what we were doing. Please forgive us.’ Chief Walia who was close by stepped into the conversation. Anto too had come down to the lobby by then.
‘Didn’t realize? Do you even realize the trauma you have caused me? And what about Rahul? He adores you. You did this to him. How could you?’ she asked as tears started to spill from her eyes.
Just then, Rahul who was walking back to the lobby from the gym saw the commotion and the small group of people in the middle of it. Seeing Rhea distraught he hugged her trying to console her.
‘What happened?’ he asked.
Rhea looked at him and sobbed even harder. She pointed to Punit accusingly, ‘He is the one Rahul. He is the one who stole it.’
‘I am sorry, Rahul,’ Punit apologized. ‘We were doing it just for fun. But it went awry.’
Rahul was calmer than usual. He probably didn’t want to create a scene in front of everyone. The Press was waiting to rush into the hotel at the first opportunity. ‘OK. What’s done is done. We will deal with it later. But where is it now?’ he asked.
‘We ate it last night. I must confess, it was delicious.’
‘What?’ Rhea asked, stunned. Words failed her. ‘What are you saying?’
‘We were hungry, and we couldn’t find anything else at that time.’
Rahul clenched his fist and screamed angrily at Punit. ‘If you are hungry, would you eat a cat? You actually ate Pingu?’ There was a tremor in his voice. ‘Are you out of your mind?’ He moved belligerently towards Punit.
‘Hey! Hey! Hey! Hold it!’ Punit put his hands up to stop Rahul. A few constables struggled to keep onlookers at bay. ‘What are you talking about? Pingu?’
‘What else would we be talking about? You said you stole her right?’ Rhea replied.
‘I didn’t even know Pingu was missing. I was talking about the birthday cake that Rhea specially flew in from Delhi for you. The cake was not iced, so I didn’t know it was your birthday cake. I am sorry. I will make it up to you. And what is this about Pingu missing?’ Punit asked.
‘Pingu has been kidnapped,’ Rahul explained in a low voice so that only Punit could hear.
The private elevator of the Pereira’s residence dinged just then. Lizzy exited the elevator. She saw the crowd of cricketers and decided to step away. Looking at the SMS gang standing by the side, she walked towards them and waved out to Akriti.
‘Honey, did you see Bella’s Insta story today?’ she said, showing Akriti her phone. However, seeing that the children were more involved with what was happening in the lobby, she waved goodbye and walked away.
‘And you thought I had –’ Punit asked, looking visibly hurt at Rahul’s assumption.
‘Yes. I mean no. I didn’t think that. Please understand … Rhea is very disturbed. She doesn’t know where Pingu is. Pingu is such a possessive cat, she just can’t stay without Rhea,’ Rahul said, looking in Chief Walia’s direction.
Suddenly, Chief Walia had a dozen eyes staring at him. He had never before understood the exact meaning of the term ‘feeling hot and bothered’. But, today he did.
He could feel the three crime busters slinking behind him.
‘Anyway, let’s go. It’s time to get ready for the match,’ Rahul said as he turned to leave.
Chief Walia excused himself from the group and walked away with the kids in tow.
‘What now, Dad?’ Kabir asked.
For once, Chief Walia was at a loss for words. He simply shrugged at Kabir, unable to put in words the sense of disappointment he was feeling.