through the huge ridge of the Appalachian Mountains is out of this world. The biking is great and we are having a good time. In our next leg of the journey, we will meander all along the Great Lakes and also cross the cities: Cleveland, Detroit, Michigan, Chicago, and hike across the beautiful countryside. We will be back in Cornell after a week. Pray to Allah for my bike-team's victory…"
Nausheen sighed, "Oh Dear! This boy prefers his bike to his Ammi ."
She found another email from the Dirt Motorbike Racing Company, inviting Aban to participate in the winter race. The contest was scheduled for two days after Aban had left for the US.
Nausheen called up the company to enquire about her son. The company promised to call her back if and when they had any news.
She waited.
In the meantime, the company received a message from the FBI. Finally, Nausheen received a call from the company, telling her not to lose sleep, stating in the most enigmatic terms that her son was on a great journey.
South Block
The Director of IB went to South Block to see the Foreign Secretary. He explained the situation to the Secretary and how the FBI was dragging Juhi, the daughter of the Indian Ambassador to the USA, into a controversy.
The Secretary was worried. He asked his PA to connect to the Under Secretary for Political Affairs of the US Department of State. After explaining everything to the officer, he hung up.
The Secretary turned his attention to the Director of IB, "The situation seems to be messy. The FBI has already reported the matter to the Secretary of State, stating that they will need to call the daughter of the Ambassador for questioning. They say that Juhi may throw light on the Mumbai attack, since she is in a relationship with Aban."
"Sir, the riddle is full of twists and turns. We still need to join many missing dots: the AIG's murder, Mr. Malik's instruction to his son to take the backup of his computer to the US. Aban's closeness with Juhi seems to be just the tip of the iceberg. There is certainly more underneath. The AIG mentioned something 'bigger' than a certain Project Karachi. However, we still don't know what it is and what could be bigger. Then, there is this ' To Pak To ", which we have not been able to decipher.
"What do you propose then?"
"I think our Foreign Minister should talk to the US Secretary of State. He should talk to the Director of the FBI to keep us in the loop. I'm sending my Joint Director, Siddhartha Rana, to New York in order to coordinate the investigation."The Director went on to explain every lead in the case.
"The Foreign Minister is in the meeting of the Cabinet Committee on Security. Once he is back, I'll ask him to work out the nitty-gritties."
Lalit Intercontinental Hotel
Siddhartha Rana reached the Lalit Intercontinental Hotel and went to the front desk. The reception staff escorted him to the spacious chamber of the General Manager.
Siddhartha showed the photograph of the AIG to the General Manager and wanted to confirm whether any staff member had seen him. The GM called the Concierge and asked him to help Siddhartha.
The Concierge took him to the Maître d'hôtel and asked him the name of the servitors and butler, who were on duty on 26/11. The list was more than one hundred names long. The manager called up each of them, one by one, in his chamber and showed them the photograph.
One of the butlers recognized the AIG as he had attended the visitors and was rewarded with a handsome tip. "Yes sir, there were four people in the Presidential suite."
"What time did they leave?"
"Just before midnight."
"On the same day."
"Yes."
"Did anyone stay the night?"
"No. All of them left."
"Are you sure?"
"Yes sir. I went for clearance to the room the minute they left since the next guest was to arrive in half an hour."
"Can you describe what they looked like?"
The butler recalled everything that he could. Siddhartha noted down each description and then asked the butler to
Nausheen sighed, "Oh Dear! This boy prefers his bike to his Ammi ."
She found another email from the Dirt Motorbike Racing Company, inviting Aban to participate in the winter race. The contest was scheduled for two days after Aban had left for the US.
Nausheen called up the company to enquire about her son. The company promised to call her back if and when they had any news.
She waited.
In the meantime, the company received a message from the FBI. Finally, Nausheen received a call from the company, telling her not to lose sleep, stating in the most enigmatic terms that her son was on a great journey.
South Block
The Director of IB went to South Block to see the Foreign Secretary. He explained the situation to the Secretary and how the FBI was dragging Juhi, the daughter of the Indian Ambassador to the USA, into a controversy.
The Secretary was worried. He asked his PA to connect to the Under Secretary for Political Affairs of the US Department of State. After explaining everything to the officer, he hung up.
The Secretary turned his attention to the Director of IB, "The situation seems to be messy. The FBI has already reported the matter to the Secretary of State, stating that they will need to call the daughter of the Ambassador for questioning. They say that Juhi may throw light on the Mumbai attack, since she is in a relationship with Aban."
"Sir, the riddle is full of twists and turns. We still need to join many missing dots: the AIG's murder, Mr. Malik's instruction to his son to take the backup of his computer to the US. Aban's closeness with Juhi seems to be just the tip of the iceberg. There is certainly more underneath. The AIG mentioned something 'bigger' than a certain Project Karachi. However, we still don't know what it is and what could be bigger. Then, there is this ' To Pak To ", which we have not been able to decipher.
"What do you propose then?"
"I think our Foreign Minister should talk to the US Secretary of State. He should talk to the Director of the FBI to keep us in the loop. I'm sending my Joint Director, Siddhartha Rana, to New York in order to coordinate the investigation."The Director went on to explain every lead in the case.
"The Foreign Minister is in the meeting of the Cabinet Committee on Security. Once he is back, I'll ask him to work out the nitty-gritties."
Lalit Intercontinental Hotel
Siddhartha Rana reached the Lalit Intercontinental Hotel and went to the front desk. The reception staff escorted him to the spacious chamber of the General Manager.
Siddhartha showed the photograph of the AIG to the General Manager and wanted to confirm whether any staff member had seen him. The GM called the Concierge and asked him to help Siddhartha.
The Concierge took him to the Maître d'hôtel and asked him the name of the servitors and butler, who were on duty on 26/11. The list was more than one hundred names long. The manager called up each of them, one by one, in his chamber and showed them the photograph.
One of the butlers recognized the AIG as he had attended the visitors and was rewarded with a handsome tip. "Yes sir, there were four people in the Presidential suite."
"What time did they leave?"
"Just before midnight."
"On the same day."
"Yes."
"Did anyone stay the night?"
"No. All of them left."
"Are you sure?"
"Yes sir. I went for clearance to the room the minute they left since the next guest was to arrive in half an hour."
"Can you describe what they looked like?"
The butler recalled everything that he could. Siddhartha noted down each description and then asked the butler to
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