Verdict of Silence
______________________
📱 11:49 PM – Arjun's Apartment
Arjun
> ...
Arjun
> Someone's inside.
He slowly reaches for his service pistol.
The apartment is silent.
Only the ticking of the wall clock echoes through the room.
---
Unknown Voice
> Don't move.
A knife flashes out of the darkness.
---
Arjun
> !
Bang!
A gunshot echoes through the apartment.
The attacker dives through the shattered balcony window and disappears into the night.
---
📱 Incoming Call
Vikram
> Arjun!
Arjun
> ...
Vikram
> Are you hurt?
Arjun
> How did you know?
Vikram
> Because I'm outside your building.
---
Arjun
> What?!
---
Arjun opens the door.
Vikram is standing there, drenched by the rain.
His left arm is bleeding.
---
Arjun
> You're injured...
Vikram
> I stopped the attacker before he reached your floor.
Arjun
> Why would you risk yourself?
Vikram
> ...
Vikram
> Because I already failed to protect you once.
---
📱 Inside the Apartment
Officer Ravi
> Sir!
Officer Ravi
> We found something.
A black chess piece.
The King.
Attached is a note.
> "The king survives. Sacrifice the knight."
---
Officer Meera
> This killer leaves puzzles instead of fingerprints.
---
📱 Private Chat
Arjun
> Tell me the truth.
Arjun
> Five years ago...
Arjun
> Did you really take those bribes?
Seen ✓
---
Vikram
> No.
---
Arjun
> Then why did you confess?
---
Vikram
> Because someone threatened your life.
---
Arjun
> ...
---
Vikram
> They told me...
> If I exposed them...
> You would be their first victim.
---
Arjun stares at the screen, unable to type.
---
📱 2:06 AM – Central Hospital
Doctor
> Mr. Vikram...
> The bullet only grazed your shoulder.
---
Arjun
> Sit still.
---
Arjun carefully wraps a fresh bandage around Vikram's shoulder.
For a brief moment, neither of them speaks.
---
Vikram
> You still remember how to tie a bandage.
---
Arjun
> ...
Arjun
> I remember everything.
---
Their eyes meet.
Just as Arjun reaches for Vikram's hand—
Officer Ravi
> Sir!!
Officer Ravi
> Another body has been found!
---
📱 Crime Scene No. 2
The victim is hanging from the ceiling of an abandoned courthouse.
Across the wall, written in blood:
> "Justice killed the innocent."
Pinned to the victim's coat is an old photograph.
It shows four smiling people from six years ago:
Arjun
Vikram
A young female police officer
An unidentified man whose face has been scratched out.
On the back of the photo, someone has written:
> "Only one of you is innocent."
__________________
⟪ End of Episode 3 ⟫
Next Episode: The identity of the woman in the photograph is revealed, old friendships begin to crack, and Arjun realizes the murderer isn't choosing victims at random—they are eliminating everyone connected to a forgotten case from six years ago.
