I was lying on the bed trying to get some sleep, but a thought kept me awake.
What secrets did that website hold? What happened to it, and why is it secured in such an uncanny manner? What would have happened if it were to go out in public?
Time flew by, and the sun came up, blessing this planet with its gentle rays that give life to all organisms. I hurriedly left for the firm to get the answers that I simply could not overlook. I had developed dark circles around my eyes, perhaps lost some weight, and was a tad stressed out.
I was sharp on time, but the advocate was late, like the last visit. I had heard that he was a jet-set advocate; his work took him places where people shelled out their money to the point of destituteness; he visited them through his work and came back with minimum expenditure. A spendthrift, I guessed.
After a while, he made his entry. Dressed in a perfect black suit and white shirt. He walked in with a sharp, upright posture, like a lawyer with an unquenchable thirst for justice. He was on the phone, speaking to some clients while skimming through documents. A multi-tasker.
He then looked at me and gestured "hello". I nodded. He sat down and spoke for maybe another ten minutes. Finally, he took me into consideration.
"I'm here regarding Mary's case." I said.
"Right." He said this while ransacking a neatly stacked pile of files. "I've got something for us. The website contains complicated information that seems to me to be a tool for destroying people."
He passed me a sheet that had a picture of a screenshot of the website. It showed images. I looked at those images. Some were CCTV images that showed a person battering a woman. Then a subsequent picture showed the same man sexually abusing her. Further images showed him raping her.
"You see, these seemed to me to be real once. I'll confirm it. You can see how defamatory it would be if it went out into the public, especially if it was fake." He added.
I looked at that man. He seemed sort of familiar to me, as though I had seen him somewhere, most probably in papers.
"Are these people in these photographs celebrities or politicians?" I spoke after a long silence.
"Not sure."
"Do you know who operated this website?"
"Yes. There was a group of journalists who started a website about fifteen years ago, but it got shut down for no reason. The founders were imprisoned for three months as per preventive detention laws at the time. I'm almost certain they were not tried for a decade and then went missing. Even after the collapse of this website, someone has been feeding information to it." He concluded.
"Mary was a politician, so maybe I could find something here, don't you think?"
He let out a sigh. Then he opened another file and put it across the table on my side.
"That is all I could find." He said.
There were images. I turned the pages, scanning every image. There were images of goons entering shops, bars, and schools. That was something new. Then there were images of her making speeches and taking public photos. The next page had more of these. I looked closely to see if I could recognise anyone. None. Next page, none. The subsequent pages were mostly group photos. Then, there was a page with a single large photo printed in the entire printable area of the page. I looked at it. What I saw shook me.
It was another public photo; Mary was in the middle, and other ministers, guests, and dignitaries were around her. In the corner, there was a woman. A woman I swear I can recognise from anywhere.
"Is this real?" I uttered.
"Yes."
"Then I've been misled. I've been a fool. It was so obvious, yet I was played by."
"What's the matter?"
I passed him the file back.
"The woman in the right corner. I know her."
"Okay, and what about it?"
"She's working with me on this case. She was lying to me constantly all this time."
"Name?"
"A-Avani."
He nodded and closed the file. His nod gestured "I see".
"So you've been working with a person who never was on your side. That's why you had such difficulty." He said.
I nodded. I rested my head on my hand with my elbow on the table, contemplating.
An hour later, we departed for Maxam Hospital with the hope of finding something in a black Skoda. I found myself in the back of the car, beside him. I was still thinking of her rattling.
"I believe," he said, "we can get some good pace from the hospital."
"I hope." I replied.
We hit a red signal. We were at the front. Suddenly, a car hit the back of the car, pushing it forward. The car kept accelerating, trying to get us to hit the moving traffic. The driver changed gear, turned the car around, and stepped hard on the gas. The car was following us and gaining on us quite quickly.
The driver took a sharp right turn into a subroad that was too congested for a car to go on. Still, we could not lose them. It kept going until we reached the other side, which was a nice road. Then he hit the gas as hard as possible, and yet we failed to lose them. Suddenly, they started firing guns in broad daylight. The rare wind shield cracked. One of the bullets hit the tyres, causing them to burst. The driver lost control. The vehicle spun and hit the curb. The air bag opened in the front. I hit my head on the side door. The advocate injured his arm.
I struggled to not black out. Slowly, I reached for the door handle and puked. It opened. I stepped outside. There was a group of people surrounding us. I collapsed, falling on the rough road. Faintly, I could hear an ambulance.
As I regained consciousness, I could smell the hospital, the bed, and the clothes. I could feel a fuzzy feeling in my head. Apparently, they stitched the wound. I looked out of the corner of my eye. Kiara was asleep, face down on the bed, tightly holding my hand.
How long have I been here?
I felt guilty for the reason that I troubled her again. I ended up in a fix and hurt myself to near death. She must have been worried. It was my fault.
The door opened, and a nurse walked in to check. I looked at her. It was Kusuma, the head nurse. I realised that I was in Maxam Hospital, the exact place where I wanted to be. But not as a patient.
I had an idea to utilize this scenario to dig deep into this place so that I could collect more evidence. Now, my investigation has gotten a kickstart.
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TO BE CONTINUED...