Chapter 21 · The Hidden Witness

Chapter 21

The Hidden Witness

Entering the office the next morning, Meghla noticed that Kamala Devi was nowhere to be seen.

She asked Ananya,

— "Where is Kamala-di?"

Ananya said in a low voice,

— "The manager scolded her badly this morning. He's sent her to work on another floor."

Meghla's heart sank.

She understood that Kamala-di's only crime was that she had spoken the truth.

At noon, Meghla went to the storeroom to fetch an old file.

Right beside the storeroom was the office's record room.

The door was half open.

The voices of Rajat Dutta and Sanjay drifted out from inside.

Meghla had not meant to eavesdrop.

But the words reached her ears anyway.

Rajat Dutta was saying,

— "To get the girl fired, we need to prove her guilty in front of the owner. Just spreading rumors won't do any good."

Sanjay said,

— "Sir, what if she files a complaint?"

Rajat Dutta laughed.

— "File a complaint? Where's the proof? I never do anything in front of the office CCTV. And everyone will speak in my favor anyway."

Meghla's chest tightened.

She quickly slipped away from there, so no one would see her.

That afternoon, Binoy Sen suddenly showed up at the office.

He called Meghla over and said,

— "I'm satisfied with your work. Your permanent appointment evaluation will happen next month. Keep working with dedication."

A light of hope shone in Meghla's face again.

But Rajat Dutta, standing at a distance, heard everything.

He said to himself,

"There's no need to wait until next month. The game will be over before that."

After the office closed, Kamala Devi quietly came up to Meghla.

Looking around, she said very softly,

— "Dear, may I say something?"

— "Go ahead, Kamala-di."

— "There's a CCTV inside the manager's cabin. But there's no camera at all in the old guest room at the back of the office."

Meghla asked, surprised,

— "And then?"

Kamala said in an even lower voice,

— "Sometimes sir takes people there when he wants to speak privately. Be careful. If he ever calls you there, don't go alone."

A shiver ran through Meghla's body.

She understood —

Rajat Dutta had still not given up.

In fact, he was planning something even bigger.

Right at that moment, P.A. Sanjay called out from a distance,

— "Meghla Madam! The manager has asked you to meet him in the guest room tomorrow evening after office hours with some urgent papers."

Meghla and Kamala looked at each other's faces.

Both of them understood at once...

The storm was now knocking at the door.

To be continued...

Chapter 22

The Refusal

Sleep would not come to Meghla's eyes all night.

Kamala Devi's warning kept ringing in her ears, over and over.

"Don't go alone."

The very next morning, she made up her mind —

She would not meet anyone alone in some deserted room of the office, under the pretext of office work.

The whole day passed normally at work.

By six in the evening, the office was nearly empty.

Right at that moment, P.A. Sanjay came and said,

— "Madam, sir is waiting. Please come to the guest room."

Meghla said calmly,

— "If it's office work, we can discuss it in the conference room during office hours tomorrow."

Sanjay, a little flustered, said,

— "It's sir's special instruction."

— "I have a rule too. I'll do office work only during office hours."

Saying this, Meghla began packing her bag.

A few minutes later, Rajat Dutta himself arrived.

A false smile on his face.

— "Don't you trust me?"

Meghla answered politely,

— "It's not a question of personal trust, sir. I want to work according to office rules."

Rajat Dutta stepped a little closer and said in a low voice,

— "Learn to be a little more flexible. It'll make life a lot easier."

Meghla stepped back.

— "I'll accept a hard life, but I don't want an easy life bought by losing my self-respect."

Hearing this, anger flared in Rajat Dutta's eyes.

He said slowly,

— "Then you'll have to bear the consequences too."

Without answering, Meghla walked out of the office.

After Meghla left, Rajat Dutta slammed his fist on the table.

— "Such nerve!"

Sanjay said,

— "Sir, what will you do now?"

Rajat Dutta answered in a cold voice,

— "Now I'll arrange to get her suspended. Her image needs to be ruined in front of the owner too."

— "How?"

Rajat Dutta smiled faintly and said,

— "The company's annual audit is next week. I'll hand her the responsibility for a file worth crores. Then the real game will begin, starting with that very file."

Meanwhile, Meghla was riding the bus home.

Looking out the window, she said to herself,

"Today I managed to protect myself. But it feels like an even bigger danger is waiting ahead."

She did not know...

That the next morning, a file would be placed on her desk that was not just a document —

It was the first step of a conspiracy meant to change her life.

To be continued...

Chapter 23

The Audit File

The next morning.

As soon as Meghla entered the office, she saw a thick red file sitting on her desk.

On top of the file, written in large letters —

"Annual Audit – Confidential"

Right at that moment, P.A. Sanjay came and said,

— "Madam, the manager said this file is your responsibility from today."

Meghla asked, surprised,

— "Such an important file, given to me?"

— "Yes. Sir said you're very responsible."

Hearing this, something felt off to Meghla.

Why would the man who had humiliated her all this time suddenly hand her such a big responsibility?

She opened the file and found the company's accounts from the past year.

Bills, vouchers, payments, tenders — everything was there.

As she worked through it, her eyes suddenly caught on one bill.

"Madhumoy Sweet Shop"

The bill amount —

₹4,98,750

Meghla's brow furrowed.

A sweet shop's bill for almost five lakh rupees!

Turning a few more pages, she found more bills under the same shop's name.

Some for three lakh, some for seven lakh, some for four and a half lakh rupees.

She noted down all those bill numbers in her diary.

At noon, Ananya came and sat down in the canteen.

Meghla said quietly,

— "I need to tell you something, but you won't tell anyone?"

Ananya nodded.

Meghla said,

— "The audit file has bills worth lakhs and lakhs of rupees under that sweet shop's name."

The spoon fell from Ananya's hand.

She whispered,

— "You've seen these?"

— "Yes."

Ananya looked around and said,

— "Don't tell anyone about this. First figure out what's going on."

In the afternoon, Rajat Dutta came to Meghla's desk.

— "How's the work on the file going?"

— "Fine, sir."

— "Noticed anything unusual?"

Meghla paused for a moment.

Then said,

— "No sir. Still going through everything."

Rajat Dutta smiled faintly and left.

But a doubt had taken root in his mind.

"Has the girl figured something out?"

After the office closed, Meghla wrote in her diary —

"Unusual bills under Madhumoy Sweet Shop's name. Won't tell anyone until I verify it. Need to find out the truth."

Right at that moment, Kamala Devi came into the storeroom and said quietly,

— "Dear, be careful. The day anyone tries to look into that sweet shop's accounts, that's the day their trouble begins."

Meghla asked, startled,

— "How do you know that?"

Kamala stayed silent for a while, then said,

— "Because... an accountant before you asked the same question."

— "And then?"

Kamala's eyes grew moist.

— "The very next week, an embezzlement charge was raised against him... and he lost his job."

The diary nearly slipped from Meghla's hand.

She understood —

She had opened the door to a mystery that had brought ruin upon many who had tried to open it before her.

To be continued...

Chapter 24

The Accounts That Didn't Match

The next morning.

Meghla came into the office and opened the audit file again.

Today she was even more careful.

She began cross-checking every bill, every voucher, every payment, one by one.

Suddenly, something caught her eye.

Three bills from Madhumoy Sweet Shop had different numbers, but the payment vouchers used the same date and the same approval number.

She checked all the papers again.

No, she wasn't seeing it wrong.

Something did not add up.

Right at that moment, Rajat Dutta came and stood in front of her desk.

— "How far along is the work?"

Meghla looked up and said,

— "Almost done, sir. Just cross-checking a few bills one more time."

Rajat Dutta's eyes flicked to the file.

He tried to seem normal, but a hint of unease crept into his voice.

— "No need to scrutinize it so closely. The auditors will handle the rest."

Meghla answered politely,

— "Since the file is my responsibility, I want to be certain before I submit it."

Rajat Dutta left without saying anything more.

The moment he entered his own cabin, he shut the door.

He called Sanjay in and said,

— "The girl has noticed the bills."

Sanjay said, frightened,

— "What do we do now, sir?"

Rajat Dutta said in a cold voice,

— "We have to swap the file tonight. By tomorrow morning, there'll be nothing left in her hands."

In the evening, after the office closed, everyone left one by one.

Meghla too went home.

But she had developed a habit.

Every day, before finishing work, she wrote down important notes in her diary.

Today too, she wrote —

"Three bills share the same approval number. Suspicious. Will verify again tomorrow."

Half past eight at night.

The entire office was almost empty.

Only Rajat Dutta, Sanjay, and the security guard remained.

Rajat Dutta took the storeroom key and went inside.

Sanjay stood guard at the door.

Rajat Dutta opened the file, pulled out a few pages, and slipped in new ones.

Then he smiled faintly and said,

— "Now the audit won't run into any trouble. And even if it does... the responsibility will fall on Meghla."

The next morning, Meghla came to the office and opened the file, only to freeze.

The three bills that had the discrepancy...

Were no longer there.

New papers had taken their place.

Bewildered, she started flipping through the pages.

A question rose in her mind —

"Did I see it wrong?"

Right at that moment, her eyes fell on her own diary.

The previous day's entry was clear —

"Three bills share the same approval number."

Meghla slowly raised her head.

She understood —

The file had been swapped in the dead of night.

But who had done it?

And how could she prove it?

Right at that moment, Kamala Devi, standing outside the door, said very softly,

"Dear... last night I saw someone go into the storeroom."

To be continued...

Chapter 25

The Only Witness

Hearing Kamala Devi's words, Meghla's heart pounded.

She looked around and said quietly,

— "Who came in?"

Kamala, making sure no one was around, said in a low voice,

— "I was on duty at night. Around half past eight, I saw the manager and Sanjay babu go into the storeroom. They came out about half an hour later."

Meghla's face turned pale.

— "Are you sure?"

— "I saw it with my own eyes, dear."

Meghla said,

— "Then tell the owner everything."

Kamala sighed and shook her head.

— "Who would believe my word? I'm just a cleaner. And I'd lose my job too."

Meghla stayed silent for a while.

She realized that one eyewitness account alone was not enough. Stronger proof was needed.

At noon, Rajat Dutta called a meeting.

All the staff were present.

He said,

— "An outside auditor is coming next week. Everyone should work carefully. If any mistake is found, strict action will be taken."

As he said this, he kept glancing repeatedly at Meghla.

After the meeting, everyone left.

Rajat Dutta stopped Meghla.

— "Remember one thing. If any problem is found in the audit, that file's responsibility is yours."

Meghla said calmly,

— "I'll submit exactly the file I received."

Rajat Dutta smiled coldly and said,

— "That's exactly what I want."

On her way home that evening, Meghla thought for a long time.

She didn't want to make any accusation without proof.

Suddenly, something occurred to her —

There was a CCTV camera in the corridor outside the storeroom door!

The camera didn't show the inside of the storeroom, but it should show who went in and when.

A light of hope shone in her eyes again.

The next morning, she went to the office and asked the staff member in charge of security,

— "Is the corridor's CCTV footage from the night before last still saved?"

The man hesitated a little and said,

— "It should be... but you need the manager's permission to view the footage."

The smile faded from Meghla's face.

Permission would have to come from the very man under suspicion!

Right at that moment, Rajat Dutta, standing at a distance, overheard everything.

He said to himself,

"The girl has gone too far. The CCTV footage needs to be dealt with today."

He quickly went into his cabin and picked up the phone.

— "Hello... IT department? There's apparently been a recording issue with the corridor camera for the past two days... let everyone know about it."

Putting down the phone, Rajat Dutta smiled faintly and said,

"Now let's see where you find your proof!"

Meanwhile, Meghla did not know...

That she had come very close to the truth.

And it was precisely for that reason that the biggest conspiracy against her was about to begin.

To be continued...