Chapter 1: The Disappeared Couple and the Other Case

Have you heard the story of the Disappeared Couple? Everyone in our gaon talks about it as if it happened just yesterday—like some big twist in a reel, or a ghost kahani whispered over evening chai. People say that house still feels thanda at night, jaise the air remembers everything.

But today, yaar, I’m not talking about that case. I want to tell you about another one—a story that sits heavy in my chest, much more than the Disappeared Couple’s tale. You know why? Because of one thing: that house, standing all akela at the edge of our gaon, cut off by the talab and those ancient bargad ke ped, as if cursed from the very beginning.

Isolated and helpless, that house could swallow any paap, any andhera, and no one from the village would even notice if kuch bura happened inside.

But here’s the real twist: this time, the one who vanished wasn’t the victim—it was the qatil. Woh jo sabko dara ke chala gaya.

Gone for a full five years, like he’d melted into the monsoon ki dhund, or the zameen had swallowed him up.

Until, after five saal, the criminal’s old mother—her back bent like a sickle—came to the thana and said, “Inspector saab, mera beta chhup raha hai uss bargad ke jhund ke andar.”