Chapter 14 - The Truth
January 18 - Mira City Police Department, 5:55 AM
Kabir hadn't slept. Not since he realized the voice on the 911 call matched one he hadn't heard in nearly two decades.
Sia.
Not a name in a case file. Not a suspect. But the child who once called him Uncle Kabir - before she vanished from the Nestling Program's database.
"Thank you for the music."
It was his gift. Clair de Lune. Played on the old upright piano in the children's wing, during his community service hours. She'd sit on the floor, rocking, humming along. That was when she still had a name.
Back before they split her into pieces.
.....................
Flashback - 2007, Mira Psychiatric Research Facility
Kabir (then a rookie officer) walks past the children's therapy room. Dr. Saloni Mehta sits beside a trembling child in oversized pajamas. She's barely five.
Saloni: "What do you see when you look in the mirror, Sia?"
Sia: "Not me."
Saloni: "Who, then?"
Sia: (whispers) "Her."
On the mirror's surface, she's written two letters in her breath: A and R.
Aarya and Raina.
.....................
January 18 - Kabir's Apartment, 6:32 AM
His whiteboard was a war zone of red string and photographs. Four columns now:
? Aarya - fa�ade
? Sia - truth
? Tara - rage
? Raina - mimic
And at the center, a new photo.
Arvind and a little girl - his daughter, smiling up at him on his lap.
"So she wasn't adopted.
She was made."
Each identity served a function. Arvind didn't adopt a child; he helped engineer one - maybe to test the Nestling Program's endurance. Maybe for darker reasons.
But someone broke free.
.....................
7:02 AM - Forensics Call
"Sir, we reanalyzed the fingerprints from the hidden room behind Arvind's study. Found something. Partial match on Raina, but also? a child-sized print. Recent."
"Child-sized?" Kabir blinked. "She's an adult."
"That's the thing. The hand pressure matches someone around 7 years old."
Kabir froze.
Split identities didn't just affect psychology - they affected motor behavior.
If Sia had emerged that night, she would've moved like a child.
And she was in that room.
Which meant? she saw everything.
.....................
7:58 AM - Confrontation
Kabir requested Aarya be brought into the interview room.
She looked different this time. No makeup. No posture of poise. Just? vacant.
"You called me back," she said softly.
"Who am I speaking to?" Kabir asked.
She smiled faintly.
"Which one do you want?"
"The one who remembers Clair de Lune."
That cracked her. A shimmer of pain crossed her eyes.
"Uncle Kabir?" she whispered. "You found me."
"Sia," he nodded.
"They all fought me. They locked me away. But I wrote you. I left the photo. I hid in the music box like you said. You said music was a safe place."
"What happened that night?" His voice was low.
Sia's lip trembled.
.....................
Flashback - The Night of the Murder
9:05 PM - Aarya arrives at Arvind's house. She smiles, drinks tea. But Tara is close to the surface. Rage.
9:20 PM - Arvind begins shouting. Something about "disobedience."
9:30 PM - He locks her in the hidden room. She breaks down. Tara emerges.
9:35 PM - Tara attacks. She smashes the porcelain ballerina from the music box. Uses it to stab Arvind twice.
9:37 PM - Raina takes over. Cleans the room. Wipes down the murder weapon.
9:41 PM - Sia surfaces. She sees blood. Sees her father dead. Screams.
9:58 PM - Aarya calls the police, calm, controlled.
All four were present.
All four committed a piece of the crime.
.....................
10:12 AM - Legal Standstill
The DCP reviewed Kabir's findings with caution.
"You're telling me our primary suspect is four people in one?"
"Legally, she's still Raina D'Souza. But medically, it's complex. Tara committed the murder, yes. But Sia witnessed it. Aarya reported it. Raina covered it."
"So who do we charge?"
"All. Or none."
.....................
1:40 PM - Saloni's Final Note
Dr. Mehta, upon hearing the full confession, submitted her final statement:
"What Arvind did was create a child to withstand trauma by fracturing her mind. What emerged was not a killer - but a survival mechanism gone rogue.
If you ask me, the killer wasn't Aarya.
It was Arvind.
He just didn't die soon enough."
.....................
3:05 PM - Final Interview: Aarya
Kabir re-entered the room. This time, the woman stared blankly ahead.
"Who are you now?" he asked.
"I don't know."
"Would you let Sia speak?"
"She's sleeping. She's tired. She watched everything."
"Will she ever wake up again?"
Silence.
Then, softly:
"Only if the music plays."
.....................
8:00 PM - One Last Thing
Kabir stood outside the psychiatric wing, holding a USB speaker.
He pressed play.
Clair de Lune filled the hallway.
Inside, behind the glass, the woman who had worn many names stirred.
Her lips moved.
A whisper.
"Thank you, Uncle Kabir."
.....................
If justice cannot punish what doesn't exist anymore? can healing begin where the truth ends?
January 18 - Mira City Police Department, 5:55 AM
Kabir hadn't slept. Not since he realized the voice on the 911 call matched one he hadn't heard in nearly two decades.
Sia.
Not a name in a case file. Not a suspect. But the child who once called him Uncle Kabir - before she vanished from the Nestling Program's database.
"Thank you for the music."
It was his gift. Clair de Lune. Played on the old upright piano in the children's wing, during his community service hours. She'd sit on the floor, rocking, humming along. That was when she still had a name.
Back before they split her into pieces.
.....................
Flashback - 2007, Mira Psychiatric Research Facility
Kabir (then a rookie officer) walks past the children's therapy room. Dr. Saloni Mehta sits beside a trembling child in oversized pajamas. She's barely five.
Saloni: "What do you see when you look in the mirror, Sia?"
Sia: "Not me."
Saloni: "Who, then?"
Sia: (whispers) "Her."
On the mirror's surface, she's written two letters in her breath: A and R.
Aarya and Raina.
.....................
January 18 - Kabir's Apartment, 6:32 AM
His whiteboard was a war zone of red string and photographs. Four columns now:
? Aarya - fa�ade
? Sia - truth
? Tara - rage
? Raina - mimic
And at the center, a new photo.
Arvind and a little girl - his daughter, smiling up at him on his lap.
"So she wasn't adopted.
She was made."
Each identity served a function. Arvind didn't adopt a child; he helped engineer one - maybe to test the Nestling Program's endurance. Maybe for darker reasons.
But someone broke free.
.....................
7:02 AM - Forensics Call
"Sir, we reanalyzed the fingerprints from the hidden room behind Arvind's study. Found something. Partial match on Raina, but also? a child-sized print. Recent."
"Child-sized?" Kabir blinked. "She's an adult."
"That's the thing. The hand pressure matches someone around 7 years old."
Kabir froze.
Split identities didn't just affect psychology - they affected motor behavior.
If Sia had emerged that night, she would've moved like a child.
And she was in that room.
Which meant? she saw everything.
.....................
7:58 AM - Confrontation
Kabir requested Aarya be brought into the interview room.
She looked different this time. No makeup. No posture of poise. Just? vacant.
"You called me back," she said softly.
"Who am I speaking to?" Kabir asked.
She smiled faintly.
"Which one do you want?"
"The one who remembers Clair de Lune."
That cracked her. A shimmer of pain crossed her eyes.
"Uncle Kabir?" she whispered. "You found me."
"Sia," he nodded.
"They all fought me. They locked me away. But I wrote you. I left the photo. I hid in the music box like you said. You said music was a safe place."
"What happened that night?" His voice was low.
Sia's lip trembled.
.....................
Flashback - The Night of the Murder
9:05 PM - Aarya arrives at Arvind's house. She smiles, drinks tea. But Tara is close to the surface. Rage.
9:20 PM - Arvind begins shouting. Something about "disobedience."
9:30 PM - He locks her in the hidden room. She breaks down. Tara emerges.
9:35 PM - Tara attacks. She smashes the porcelain ballerina from the music box. Uses it to stab Arvind twice.
9:37 PM - Raina takes over. Cleans the room. Wipes down the murder weapon.
9:41 PM - Sia surfaces. She sees blood. Sees her father dead. Screams.
9:58 PM - Aarya calls the police, calm, controlled.
All four were present.
All four committed a piece of the crime.
.....................
10:12 AM - Legal Standstill
The DCP reviewed Kabir's findings with caution.
"You're telling me our primary suspect is four people in one?"
"Legally, she's still Raina D'Souza. But medically, it's complex. Tara committed the murder, yes. But Sia witnessed it. Aarya reported it. Raina covered it."
"So who do we charge?"
"All. Or none."
.....................
1:40 PM - Saloni's Final Note
Dr. Mehta, upon hearing the full confession, submitted her final statement:
"What Arvind did was create a child to withstand trauma by fracturing her mind. What emerged was not a killer - but a survival mechanism gone rogue.
If you ask me, the killer wasn't Aarya.
It was Arvind.
He just didn't die soon enough."
.....................
3:05 PM - Final Interview: Aarya
Kabir re-entered the room. This time, the woman stared blankly ahead.
"Who are you now?" he asked.
"I don't know."
"Would you let Sia speak?"
"She's sleeping. She's tired. She watched everything."
"Will she ever wake up again?"
Silence.
Then, softly:
"Only if the music plays."
.....................
8:00 PM - One Last Thing
Kabir stood outside the psychiatric wing, holding a USB speaker.
He pressed play.
Clair de Lune filled the hallway.
Inside, behind the glass, the woman who had worn many names stirred.
Her lips moved.
A whisper.
"Thank you, Uncle Kabir."
.....................
If justice cannot punish what doesn't exist anymore? can healing begin where the truth ends?
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