Another challenging problem had come before Mihir. The ray of light he had seen to solve the crime had turned into darkness. He didn't even know anymore. Mihir found himself standing again at the same place where he had first begun the case.
Frustrated, Mihir left that place and returned home. His head was throbbing with a pain so intense that it felt as though his skull might split open. To calm his mind, he brewed a cup of tea, sat down, and sipped it slowly, allowing the warmth to soothe his racing thoughts. As he drank, his mind began to focus on the case again.
He couldn't stop wondering where the rest of his family members had gone. Had they disappeared or was all of this part of a larger scheme orchestrated by the same person who had bribed the police to close the case? Maybe someone had paid money, or used some other means to stop the investigation.
Suddenly, a memory struck him. He recalled what the old man had said—how the house had once been filled with happiness. But now, the atmosphere had changed completely. How had that happiness turned into pain so suddenly? Mihir's mind raced. *Maybe these two things are connected to the bank crime,* he thought. *I have to uncover this secret.*
With renewed determination, Mihir went to a cyber café. As he entered, he interrupted the young man behind the counter. "Is the owner here?" he asked.
The man behind the counter replied, "I'm the owner. What do you need?"
Mihir asked, "Can I use a computer for an hour? I have some personal work to do."
The manager glanced at him and said, "Sure, here's the list of charges for using the PC. If you want to use it for an hour, it'll be 20 rupees."
Mihir nodded. "Alright, here you go," he said, handing over the money. The manager gave him the ID and password for PC number 10 and mentioned that the computer would automatically shut down after one hour.
"Thanks," Mihir replied, and then sat down to get to work.
He immediately began searching for the name of the man he was investigating on social media. The more he searched, the more information he uncovered about the man's life—his friends, acquaintances, and enemies. Mihir discovered who had been close to him and who had distanced themselves. He downloaded photos of everyone related to the case and saved them on his phone.
Once he had gathered all the information, Mihir left the cyber café and went straight to the photo studio to get the pictures printed.
As soon as he reached home, he noticed something strange: a bike was parked in front of his house, and the door was wide open. Mihir felt an uneasy chill as he wondered whose bike it was. *Why is the door open?* he thought, feeling an odd sense of unease.
He cautiously stepped inside, and to his surprise, he found his old family members—his mistress and her daughter—sitting in the living room. The house, which had once been neat and well-maintained, was now in disarray. The cleanliness he had kept had disappeared.
"Madam, what's all this?" Mihir asked, a frown creasing his forehead.
His mistress's daughter, Myra, responded, "Brother, when I came here, I saw that something wasn't right. So, I decided to clean up. Did we do something wrong?"
Mihir replied, "No, Myra. It's not that. But sometimes, doing too much isn't good."
His mistress interjected, "I did this for myself. Don't worry."
Mihir then turned to the bike parked outside. "Whose bike is that?" he asked.
His daughter answered, "It's yours, brother."
Mihir looked at her, confused. "I don't have money to buy a bike."
She smiled and replied, "We noticed that you get late, and then you can't find a rickshaw or a car. Now, nothing like that will happen. You can use this bike."
Mihir was overwhelmed. He had never felt so much love and care from his loved ones before. Tears welled up in his eyes as he hugged Myra.
"Why are you crying, brother?" Myra asked, holding him close. "Don't cry. We are all with you."
After spending some time with his family, they left, and Mihir was left alone with his thoughts. Now, with the bike, it was easier for him to go anywhere.
He closed the door behind him and went to his secret room. There, he pinned the pictures he had printed to the wall, organizing them by the relationships they represented. He thought to himself, *These people are close to me... but some of them are connected to the case, and not all of them seem trustworthy.* Mihir had identified five people who seemed suspicious, but he was still searching for one key detail—the person who might have ruined his happiness. Could it have been someone from his family, or one of his friends?
Mihir's thoughts turned to his three close friends: Sachin, Naveen, and Manohar. He marked their names on the wall. After digging deeper into their lives, Mihir learned that two of them—Sachin and Naveen—worked at the same company, but in another city. Manohar, on the other hand, owned a shop in yet another city.
Despite the distance between them, Mihir discovered that these four friends met regularly at a place called *"Night Valley"*, a calm and relaxed location located 100 km away from the city.
Now, Mihir was more determined than ever to find out what had happened that night at *Night Valley*.
Would Mihir be able to uncover the truth about his friends?
And could he finally solve the mystery that had been haunting him for so long?