Thursday, Afternoon
‘Why are we here, Kabir?’ Aditya asked for the umpteenth time as he tried to catch his breath.
When Kabir looked at his watch, it was as if a light bulb had gone off in his head. However, instead of wasting time explaining, he asked Aditya and Akriti to ride back to the hotel with him.
That too at full speed.
‘Come on! We need to get there before his shift changes!’ Kabir yelled, urging them to ride faster and faster.
‘Who’s shift?’ shouted Aditya.
‘Him!’ Kabir said, pointing at the doorman. He was the same doorman who had pleasantly wished them on their way out of the hotel. ‘When we were walking out, I noticed his watch. I even complimented him for that. At that time, because we were so certain that the kidnapper was Bilal, I disregarded it. But now that we know Bilal is innocent, I believe this man needs to be looked into.’
‘Because he wears a watch?’ Akriti asked incredulously.
‘He doesn’t just wear a watch. He wears a very, very expensive watch,’ Kabir answered.
Seeing that Akriti wasn’t convinced, he turned to Aditya and said, ‘Adi, how can the doorman of a hotel afford an expensive watch? I am telling you … my spider senses are tingling. It’s him.’
‘But how can you be so sure it’s an expensive watch?’ Akriti asked.
‘Well, Dad loves watches. His laptop’s wallpapers are always pictures of expensive watches – watches he loves but are way out of our budget. And the watch that the doorman is wearing is the one I have seen on Dad’s wallpaper.’
‘In that case, let’s go back inside and figure out a way to find out more about him and his watch.’