Chayon came to the hospital looking for Dr. Shafayet. There, he ran into Diya. He asked her, “Where is Dr. Shafayet?”
Diya informed Chayon about the strange incident that had happened about an hour ago. Hearing about Shafayet’s unusual behavior, Chayon was a bit surprised. He seemed to be thinking about something. Seeing this, Diya asked, “Why are you looking for Dr. Shafayet? Is there a problem?”
“Yes.”
“What happened?”
Diya looked at Chayon with a questioning gaze. Chayon gave a faint smile and said, “Nothing serious. Your sir had an accident on the road about half an hour ago. I just wanted to ask him about it.”
“An accident? Is he okay?”
Hearing Diya’s question, Chayon gave her a strange look. Diya couldn’t understand the meaning behind his gaze. The next moment, Chayon composed himself and said, “Your sir hit a cyclist in the middle of the road after leaving the hospital. He told the boy he would take him to the hospital and put him in his car. Then…”
“Then?”
Instead of answering, Chayon smirked. Diya looked at him curiously. In a calm voice, Chayon continued, “Nothing much. He didn’t take the boy to the hospital. Instead, he dropped him off in the middle of the road. We were heading to the hospital to investigate the case. On the way, we met the boy, and after hearing his account, I thought I should talk to Dr. Shafayet.”
Diya finally grasped the situation. But she couldn’t understand why Dr. Shafayet didn’t take the boy to the hospital. When she asked Chayon, he didn’t answer.
As Chayon and Diya were talking, another doctor arrived and handed a box to Chayon. Diya looked at them suspiciously. Chayon said, “My friend. You know him, right?”
“Yes, Dr. Roshan.”
Chayon nodded. However, something about this seemed suspicious to Diya because Roshan was the one who had swapped Shafayet’s allergy medicine with another drug. Seeing Diya deep in thought, Chayon said, “No need to overthink, neighbor. This isn’t your concern.”
“What do you mean?”
Diya asked, confused. Chayon smirked and then said, “You were a student at a private medical college, right?”
“Yes.”
Hearing Diya’s affirmative response, Chayon asked, “Who paid for your medical college expenses?”
“Dr. Shafayet, sir.”
Chayon was a little surprised by Diya’s response. He had expected her to avoid the question or lie. But she did neither.
Chayon asked again, “Why did Dr. Shafayet pay for your expenses?”
“Not just out of generosity. My father and he were business partners. As far as I know, Dr. Shafayet used my father’s money to support me. But he never admitted it. According to him, it was his own money, and he took responsibility for me because my father was a good friend of his.”
Chayon looked into Diya’s eyes, searching for any sign of dishonesty. But he found none.
He then asked, “Do you know what kind of business they were involved in together?”
“No.”
Diya said that her father had never told her anything about it.
Now, in a calm voice, Chayon said, “Your father and Dr. Shafayet were involved in drug trafficking.”
Diya couldn’t digest this information. She stood up in shock and said, “What are you saying?”
“Calm down. I know you loved your father very much. Your mother passed away when you were born. After that, the man who raised you with love and care—hearing such things about him must be hard to believe. That’s completely natural.”
Chayon tried to calm Diya down, but she couldn’t stay calm. She looked at him in disbelief.
Chayon, in a composed voice, said, “As far as I can tell, your father didn’t die in a car accident. He was murdered. And the person who did it was Dr. Shafayet. He wanted to take control of all your father’s money and property. The only reason he took responsibility for you was to ease his guilt or because he had already embezzled so much of your father’s money that he felt a little pity and spent a fraction of it on you. That’s what I think.”
Diya couldn’t believe any of this. She stared at Chayon in shock.
In his mind, Chayon thought, She’s been deceived. I mistakenly doubted her. But I’m a police officer. It’s natural to suspect people. If she had been living with someone for five years and hadn’t noticed anything strange, that would be unusual. That’s why I was suspicious. But no, Diya truly doesn’t know anything.
After dropping Diya off at the hospital, Chayon went to the police station.
As soon as he arrived, Sajal informed him, “Sir, Dr. Shafayet’s car wasn’t just seen near Champa’s house a few days before her murder. It was also seen near the houses of the other murder victims before they were killed. Also, the medicine you handed me has been sent for testing.”
“Alright.”
Just then, someone came in and said that Bellal Hossain wanted to share more information with Chayon.
Chayon immediately went to meet Bellal, who said, “Sir, why should I take all the punishment alone? Rafiq Sir had another accomplice.”
“What? Another one? Who is it?”
After a brief pause, Bellal Hossain said, “Constable Bazlu Molla.”
Sajal was shocked to hear the name. He quickly pulled Chayon aside and said, “Sir, this is the same Constable Bazlu whose missing person report was filed this morning.”
Chayon was stunned. He and Sajal immediately began investigating Bazlu’s disappearance.
Once again, they found a link to Dr. Shafayet. In previous cases, Shafayet’s car had been seen near the victims’ homes a few days before their deaths. However, in Bazlu’s case, things were different.
This time, Shafayet’s car was seen in the exact area where Bazlu disappeared just a few hours before he went missing.
Now, Chayon was sure—Shafayet was the psycho killer.
He immediately assigned a team to keep an eye on Shafayet. Then, he turned to Sajal and said, “Find out what connection Shafayet has with Shiuli.”
“Alright, sir.”
Sajal left on his mission.
Meanwhile, Chayon lit a cigarette to clear his mind. He started thinking about the boy from Shafayet’s car accident.
Flashback
That morning, as Chayon was heading to the hospital for investigation, he saw a boy sitting by the road, bleeding from his head.
He immediately stopped the car and approached the boy. “How did this happen to you?”
Chayon provided first aid, pressing a cloth to stop the bleeding, and put the boy in his car.
On the way to the hospital, the boy revealed that Dr. Shafayet’s car had hit his bicycle. Even though he was riding along the side of the road, the accident had still happened.
Dr. Shafayet introduced himself and put the boy in his car, claiming he would take him to the hospital. He began treating the boy’s wound but then suddenly stared at the bleeding spot in a strange way.
As the car started moving, Shafayet, using one hand to drive, pressed the boy’s wound with his other hand. Then, to the boy’s horror, Shafayet lowered his mouth to the bleeding wound and started drinking the blood like a madman.
Terrified, the boy struggled to stop the car. Eventually, the car crashed into a tree, and the boy managed to escape.
Present
Sitting in his chair, smoking his cigarette, Chayon thought about the boy’s story.
Everything about Dr. Shafayet now seemed clear to him—except for one thing.
“What is Shafayet’s connection to Shiuli? Where did she come from in his life?”
