“Sia, meet Hari. The PI we have been communicating with,” said Ajay.

Sia had spoken to Hari before, over the phone. He had been providing them with regular updates on how her uncle and family were coping after having to give up everything and move out of the Naidu Estate.

Despite a significant reduction in their income, there were still a lot of anomalies in her cousin and uncle’s joint bank account. So far they couldn’t figure out the proper source for that money.

When Hari had called Ajay late in the evening to discuss about some critical information he wanted to convey to them personally, her heart began to pound in anticipation. Shaking Hari’s hand, she ran her eyes briefly over him, assessing him.

She was taken aback with what she saw. Hari was young, maybe around the same age as Ajay and her. Like them, his eyes looked somber. She normally didn’t trust anyone with her secrets, but Ajay had told her that he went with his gut instinct and trusted the man. The man had already done a significant amount of digging about her and her family, so she had no other choice but to go with the flow.

She was more than anxious to hear what he had to say.

“Mrs. Manthena—”

“I’ve told you before, you can call me Sia,” she said.

He nodded. “Sia, I wanted to tell you in person that I’m sorry for what you suffered at the hands of your uncle. And I’m glad Ajay put me up to this investigation. Because what I’m about to tell you... it’s big.”

Her heart rate increased. “Big? What do you mean?”

“You were right about sexual abuse being a premeditated act. And also that sexual predators seek their victims in advance.”

“Who are the victims?” she asked.

“I think they are orphans from the orphanages run by the Naidu Estate. And not just that, I also think your uncle, along with Judge Sundaram... are involved in child abuse as well as child trafficking.”

There was absolute silence.

“Is there proof?” she asked quietly.

Hari shook his head. “Unfortunately, no. Or at least, not yet.”

“What do you mean?”

“From what I understand, they have a very exclusive group. CEO’s, ministers, judges and even a few police officers. They meet twice in a year in an undisclosed location and have questionable parties where children are involved, after which to eliminate any proof of abuse, these children are shipped off to various countries abroad. Either as sex slaves or as bonded labor.”

“They meet twice a year? How can they not be worried of being caught?” Ajay asked.

“Because they are too complacent,” Sia replied. “They think they are above law with their money and power. I’m sure some of them even think they are above god too. And not even the distant threat of going to hell match up to the need for instant gratification by claiming the innocence of a child.”

Sia’s stomach churned. “How can anyone not know or complain about any of the missing children so far?” she asked.

“I’ve thought about it too. But there are so many missing children each day, it’s easy to chalk it to that. But I have a feeling that some of the missing children might be from the orphanages that Naidu estate runs.”

“We are going to comb through the files starting tonight,” said Ajay. “Even if they have listed the missing children as adopted, we are going to verify each and every case.”

Sia nodded. She knew her uncle was more or less broke with all the estate and trust funds transferred to her. He will be desperate and will want to make money. And if he can make money through his perversions, then why not?

She had to get him. This was the only chance they had.

Hari showed them printouts of calendar entries. “From their private calendars, I see that Judge Sundaram, Jagadish Naidu and some other bigwigs have kept their evening open. The entries marked in some of them simply said. Sundaram. But there is no event being planned in the Judge’s house which is quite large enough to host a big party.”

“This is next month,” Ajay observed with a frown.

“Yes,” replied Hari. “I think if we have someone infiltrate their inner circle by attending that party, we can bust that racket and catch them red handed,” he spoke quietly. “Someone we trust or even one of us.”

A bolt of excitement ran through Sia, and she sat up straight at Hari’s words. She was thinking on the same lines.

“Sia and I can’t take such dangerous risks at this point,” said Ajay.

Sia immediately felt deflated. Ajay was right. They were parents to an innocent baby. They cannot afford to go to that place personally or talk to anyone related to the child trafficking. It could be dangerous. One thing she understood over the past few weeks was that Anika and Ajay were the most important things in her life now. While she still craved and wanted justice for herself, she had to balance it by keeping her family safe.

“So we give tips to the police?” she asked.

“Yes,” replied Ajay. “Along with that we need to also check if we can get a live video of the happenings in that place.”

“How?”

“We have the technology. So I’m sure we’ll figure something out.”