Thursday Morning
Early the morning the young detectives were at the café at Hilltop. Chief Walia had spoken to the school principal and asked for a day off for the three of them. Sister Maria Leena knew that it was something serious; most people in Solan knew the stories of the SMS Detective agency.
Sitting in a corner of the café, the three of them got down to discussing Pingu. ‘Let’s move to some other table. This table reminds me of the terrified cat on the ledge,’ Akriti said.
‘That’s the reason we’re sitting here. So that we are constantly reminded of the cat that we are supposed to rescue,’ Aditya responded, just as Bilal, the waiter, walked up to them.
‘Hello. Back again?’ He smiled and handed the menu to Aditya and Akriti. ‘I know your order. Double cheeseburger – veg with lots of fries on the side. Correct?’ And he smiled as if he had won a battle. Kabir made a face as Aditya and Akriti suppressed a giggle.
‘No school today?’ he asked them.
‘No. We bunked.’ Kabir was in no mood for conversation.
‘We came here to see if we can get some autographs,’ Aditya explained. He looked at his two mates, before he looked at Bilal and asked, ‘Is there some way to find out when the players come out of the room? I can then wait at the lobby and get their autograph when they step out of the elevator.’
‘For that you have to go to the CCTV room. There you will know who is coming out when. Once they get into the lift, then you can make a dash for the lobby and wait there till the players come out.’
‘OK, thank you,’ Aditya said, handing over the menu to Bilal and heading for the buffet.
‘Your order?’ Bilal asked Akriti. ‘I will go for the buffet too,’ she said and handed the menu back to Bilal.
‘Thank you,’ he said as he extended his hand towards Akriti. Akriti looked at his hand and froze. Her face went red. Beads of sweat formed on her forehead.
Oblivious to all this, Bilal took the menu card, and walked back towards the kitchen to place the order for his three guests.
Kabir had noticed the change in Akriti. ‘What happened, Akriti?’ he asked urgently, ‘what happened?’
Akriti didn’t respond.
‘Akriti?’ He held her by her shoulder shook her and asked her again.
‘Are you okay?’
‘You saw the guy’s hand? Bilal’s?’
‘No, but what about it?’
‘There were marks on his hand.’
‘What kind of marks?’
‘Serious scratch marks. As if some animal had violently scratched his hand. Could he be the one? Could these injuries have been inflicted on him by Pingu when he tried to kidnap her? They looked like claw marks.’
‘Wait. I didn’t notice.’
‘Check it out when he brings you your burger.’
‘OK.’
For the first time, Aditya and Akriti waited impatiently for Kabir’s burger hoping that Bilal would serve it instead of some other waiter. Luckily, it was Bilal who served them. In twenty minutes, he walked back with the burger and a few other things in his hand. However, the hand with the scratch marks had been bandaged. The scratch marks could no longer be seen.
‘What happened, Bilal? Got hurt?’ Aditya asked him, pointing towards the bandage.
Bilal glanced at the bandage around his wrist and forearm. ‘Aah this. I just slipped and fell last night. Lot of thorns and barbed wire where I fell. But nothing serious.’ And he hurriedly turned around and left.
After he left, Kabir looked at Akriti. ‘Don’t overreact, bro,’ he said. ‘The poor guy just had a fall and you were about to hold him responsible for kidnapping Rhea’s cat.’
‘Just because he says he got those scratches from a fall doesn’t mean he did,’ Aditya replied.
‘Those marks didn’t look like the work of thorns and barbed wire, Kabir,’ Akriti added.
‘Alright then. We’ll follow Bilal home, and maybe we’ll end up finding Pingu!’ Kabir rolled his eyes and announced.
