The Detective sat on a park bench near Subarnagarh police station, flipping through the rest of Sanchayita's diary. It was filled with normal teenage thoughts—exams, school gossip, dreams of becoming a writer.
But in the last few entries, the tone shifted.
> "A man in a blue car followed me again."
"Someone entered my room when I was at school. I can feel it."
"I can't trust anyone. Not even Sir…"
The Detective narrowed her eyes at that last line.
> "Sir?"
She closed the notebook and immediately dialed Inspector Ratan.
"Meet me. And bring the files of all staff members from both Taraniketan and Sanchayita's old school."
Within an hour, they were sitting together beneath an old peepal tree, the files spread between them.
"Did you find anything in the diary?" Ratan asked.
"She was definitely being followed. And someone from her school was involved," the Detective said. "She called him 'Sir'… but she never wrote the name."
Ratan furrowed his brows. "Do you think it's the same person behind Ishita's disappearance?"
"I don't know yet," she said, her voice low. "But the patterns are matching. Both girls were smart, reserved, and scared before they went missing. And Sanchayita disappeared exactly twenty months ago."
She stood, brushing the dust off her coat.
"I want to talk to the teachers from both schools. Especially male teachers."
"We'll start tomorrow," said Ratan.
"Yeah," she said absently. Then added, "But I'll go somewhere alone tonight."
Ratan straightened up. "Where?!"
The Detective simply gave a faint smile.
"I won't be long."
And with that, she walked away, leaving Ratan staring after her, concern etched deep on his face.
---
To be continued...