“As you said, the shady dealings of Bose Pharma were just detected this year. So, I decided to keep the investigations confined to the time period beginning from January to the present. I went through the major actions and the deals they had cut with other companies. Their collaboration with Nilay Constructions particularly struck me given that they were in charge of renovating the sewers. Looking into them more deeply I realised that they were responsible for the renovation and repair work of the sewers exactly in the area the pandal was located.

“Too much of a coincidence, no? So, I pulled up the layout for the sewers in that area and went exploring down the manhole. I found a tunnel which wasn’t there before and it seemed to lead to the pandal. I couldn't check any further, firstly, because I didn’t want to get caught by any drugged up crooks there might be within the depths of the tunnel and secondly, because the tunnel had a grating secured by an electronic lock. I couldn't get in even if I wanted to.”

Aman brought out his phone and showed Sushil and Ananya the pictures he had taken of the grating with his cell phone.

After Nama had woken up, he had gone to investigate again. This time, obviously without Ananya coming along as she hadn’t replied to his messages. He had staked out the area for an entire day, firing off his Divine Vision in bursts and investigating the snapshot to see if anyone was passing in and out of the sewers.

Although, he hadn’t met with any success all day, he had a pretty detailed map of the dubious underground constructions by the time he finally saw a hooded figure enter the sewer from a manhole and go to the underground bunker through one of the tunnels.

His Divine Vision was too sporadic for him to get a proper idea of what the man was doing in the bunker but it proved that it wasn’t totally unused. That was enough for him. He had little curiosity as to the nature of Mr. Bose’s activities and even less desire to involve himself with the investigations any further than he needed to.

As soon as the man left and the coast was clear according to his Divine Vision - a really handy ability, that one – he slipped into the manhole the man had used and took some snapshots of the grating. He was done.

He had immediately called Sushil with news of his lead and that was how he was there, back at Sushil’s hotel suite, presenting his findings with a cooked-up story with leaps of logic that could only have been made if one knew the answer beforehand.

To his credit, Sushil looked flabbergasted for a much shorter time than Aman had expected and didn’t question him much on his process of investigation. “So,” he said, “The result of your investigation is that there is an illegal construction beneath the park and tunnels leading from it to the sewers as channels of entry and egress… Whether or not it is the den of operations, I have to commend you on a job well done. When I gave you the task, all I expected of you was to patrol the area and take note of anything blatantly suspicious. To be honest, I never expected anything to crop up there, much less, the actual core location. Who would have thought that he hid his base in the most crowded of locations? As they say, the most dangerous place is the safest.”

He looked at Aman seriously, “If my investigation pays off, you’ll be the recipient of a much larger share of the merits than previously anticipated. Congratulations.”

Aman smiled. “No, thank you, Sir. If not for you giving me this opportunity, how would I have ever managed to succeed?” He turned to Ananya. “And thank you for introducing me to him.”

She furrowed her brows and turned away, sullenly. Aman felt a bit awkward as the silence stretched on. Sushil realized that there was some tension between the two of them, so he stepped in to defuse the atmosphere.

“Well, it appears that tonight will be a busy night. I have called upon my contacts and obtained permission to set up a monitoring system over the manholes in that area as well as rigging the covers with sensors that will alert me whenever they are moved. If someone enters the sewer tonight we will know. Today is Navami, the ninth day of the month as per the Vedic calendar and tomorrow is Dashami, the climax of the Durga Puja celebrations. If their illegal construction has anything to do with the Pujas, as suggested by the placement of the pandal, they should make their move by tomorrow at the latest.”

He turned to Ananya, “Since, you still lack merit points as your contribution wasn’t satisfactory, you can choose to participate in the raid. As you can see, I’m a single person, and though my ability far outstrips the human threshold, I cannot deal with too many people at once, especially when I have no idea as to their details.”

Ananya frowned deeply. If she frowned any more then she might get wrinkles, Aman thought. “You mean to make use of Uncle?”

Sushil shrugged, embarrassed, “Yes, actually, he is quite the excellent warrior and it would be of great convenience if he chose to assist. You’ll get your merits, of course.”

“Won't that be unethical? The merits were to be earned by me, in person, not by proxy.”

“Well, the circumstances are different, I didn’t expect such a sudden development and on such short notice, I can't think of a better way to gather manpower than relying on you. Your personal connections are also part of your skill set.”

“But –”

“Fine!” he stopped her, “Just think of it as a service to your motherland and ask him to help. You can decide whether or not to accept the merits later.”

For the first time, Aman saw Ananya’s cool façade crack. “Good, good. Good.” For a moment it almost seemed like she would cry but she took a few deep breaths and stabilized herself. “I’ll tell him to help.”

Then she strode out of the room, slamming the door behind her leaving the two men to wallow in an awkward silence. “So,” said Sushil, “What did you do to get her so riled up at you?” Aman shrugged and told him.

“Pretty tactless of you, wasn’t it?” Sushil remarked.

“You’re one to talk.” Aman shot back.

Then they both sank back into silence. “Yeah,” they sighed in unison.