The Vault

“Tring Tring”

My phone rang I had already dozed off due to hectic schedule. I woke up disturbed, and switched on the table lamp tumbling the first time I tried. The clock showed 2:00am,I picked up the phone and in a lousy voice uttered.

“Hello?”

“Vikram,Manish here,come immediately to the headquarters we have found something that might interest you”

“What is it? I asked

“Do you remember the Jacob case?

“Yes”

“Something related to that which I can only show you”

Hearing this I was back in my senses killing my half sleep I replied.
“OK,I will be there in half an hour.”
I hung up the phone and in a jiffy got ready to go. The eagerness was killing,I sat in my car and started driving. I started to think of the time it all started..

(Flashback)
3 days ago.
It was my first day in the CBI headquarter,and I was really nervous. The Chief, Mr Rajan was explaining me, the rules and regulations and how the system work. The explanation was disturbed by a phone call.

“Yes, Rajan speaking, how can I help you?” Mr Rajan spoke softly.
“What? You mean to say Jakob is in Delhi?
“What is his location ? Tell me fast!
“Room no. 402,Hotel Hilton”
“OK,we are coming”

He gestured the police to reach the location and asked me to follow.
“You want to come” he asked

I was afraid but I nodded. We drove to the place,the air had a nervous texture that seem to engulf everyone. We got down the car and Mr Rajan said”Keep your gun ready”

I was a bit startled but held myself from inside. The police had already secured the boundaries of the hotel and all hotel staff had been informed so that the respective for is vacated.
We quickly went to the 4th floor and slowly walked to the room no. 402 where two armed men were already waiting for us. We planned to instantly break in.
At the count of three…
1..2..3..
THUD..(The door opens)
On entering the room we saw a man lying in the bed.
“Hands up Jacob,your game is over”Mr Rajan shouted pointing his Mauser towards the bed.
But there was no response. He repeated his cautions. Mr Rajan gestured a policeman to move forward and we had stayed back for cover. He quietly moved forward and flipped the man.

The man on the bed, Jacob lay dead.

Mr Rajan quickly called the forensic team and asked the police to search the room.

“Nothing Sir,its not here”they replied after vigorously searching the room.

Mr Rajan sighed. We headed back to the headquarters. This operation was very tiring so Mr Rajan and I went to the resting room.

“Sir,Who is this Jacob? and What are we searching?” I asked
“I am so sorry Vikram I didn’t tell you anything, I was in a hurry that it skipped off my mind”
“No problem Sir” I humbly replied.
“So here is the story” he started.

“A few years from now Jacob and his friend were working on a top secret mission. They were working on a machine that could change your face for some time,kind of a disguise. They succeeded in finishing the blue print and all the data was stored in a chip. Jacob’s friend wanted this project to be shown in the army but Jacob resisted ,thinking he would get a special price in the black market.
They argued. Jacob murdered his friend and since then he is on a run.”

“Sir,How do we know he still has that chip” I asked
“Cause it is the most wanted stuff now and black market won’t buy it for money,I guess you are getting me”
Mr. Rajan went out attending a phone call. I was very interested in this case. And as he cane back..
“Sir can I help you with the case?”
Mr Rajan smiled and turned to door and said”Come in the evening tomorrow, you can help me but first finish Vijay’s case, the file is on my table”.

I was happy as well as a bit disappointed. I picked up the file from his table and went home. I studied the file and came to know that Vijay, a 27 year old guy was missing. The case was complex as he was living alone and did not have many friends. A fact interested me that he was a employee in the Hotel Hilton.
He had a tattoo on his neckline that was a small cupid.

I read the file roughly and retired.
When this call from the headquarter reached me.

(Present)
I reached the headquarter and quickly went to the forensic department where I met Manish.
“Hey Manish”
“Hi Vikram”
“Come with me”
I accompanied him to the postmortem section where Jacob’s body lay broken and open.
“We have found this from his body”
He handed me a small box nearly 4 inch long and two inch wide, it appeared to be some kind of a device.
“What is this?” I asked Manish
“It seems to a e-vault that holds something valuable”.
“What can it be?” I asked myself
“The chip, yes the chip”
“What is the possibly reason for death”
“Poison Sir, a slow one”
“Manish call the engineering team and get this done”

He nodded and called the team.
The engineering team came and took a good look at the vault and gave me their feedback.
“Sir, this box is fragile, but if we open it I fear that the content won’t be safe, so it would be good if we open it by entering the right password”
“Password?
“Yes” he stood up and clicked a button on the side of the vault and a screen opened saying,
“password (3 tries left) ”
“Oh I see”
I needed to crack this password so I took help from the IT team. We took a look of his profile. He had served in the army before..and was a part of special forces..I saw some of his pictures and one was a page and a riddle written on it..

I have teeth but no mouth
I speak and make no sound
I can eat meat but I cannot drink wine..

I was left thinking.. What could be the answer..?? The first two times I failed.. and lost hope and then it suddenly strikes me..
“Yes a knife.. So can knife be the password?
“No that’s too simple, can it be..
I picked the vault and entered “Victorinox’
“Access granted”

I was glad, and surprised, jumping in happiness, I had unlocked the vault. I immediately called the Engineering team,who would arrive in 10 min. I was losing patience. I went near Jacob’s body and said to his lifeless face

“Your game is over boy” and laughed.

But this laugh was short lived.
I saw something strange on his neck, I went close to take a clear look. It was a tattoo, a tattoo that I had seen before,yes I remember..it is the same cupid that Vijay on his neck. I was amazed and ran back to my office where the vault was placed. I switched it on and entered the password.
But this time the screen said.
3..2..1.
BOOM.
The vault exploded with a bang.
I was in pain and blood all around, I was barely able to stand up and my vision started to blur and blackness surrounded me.

Vijay entered Jacob’s room with his order that he had placed, Jacob knew that he had been spotted so he killed Vijay by poisoning him and took his place and placed him on the bed.
Wandering how they changed faces?
Jacob had completed his machine that he was working on “The Disguise machine”
And all these years he had been hiding ,this machine was the one that helped him. Jacob is still on the run and the search continues..

__END__