The knowledge that the killer was a colleague from Serpent Financial Group focused Rajeev's mind with terrifying precision. The ANI was demanding a name, and the 'S' on the toy block was the key.
He locked himself back into his apartment, knowing he was a wanted man—a suspect in his best friend's murder and a person of interest in a bizarre rooftop trespass. He had to assume the police were watching him, but the 36-hour clock was the only law that mattered.
Rajeev pulled out his employee directory—a digital file, but one he had printed out years ago for reference. He scanned the names of senior staff and close colleagues at the firm, cross-referencing them against the two men already implicated in the periphery: Sunil (the cake shop helper) and Vijay Kadam (the dead truck driver).
He realized the motive couldn't just be the life insurance payout, which was relatively small. It had to be something deeper, connected to the Serpent Group.
He looked at the hierarchy. The only person in his immediate professional circle whose name started with 'S' and had the influence to orchestrate a complex, timed murder was Mr. Satish Nanda, his direct superior, the Vice President of their division.
Satish was a man whose ambition was as sharp as his suits. He was polite, ruthlessly efficient, and had always maintained a distant, professional relationship with Rajeev. Why would he target Rajeev's family?
Rajeev remembered a difficult project two years ago, just before the accident. Satish had been pushing a major, legally dubious transaction. Rajeev, known for his integrity, had quietly refused to sign off, flagging potential ethical breaches that had stalled the deal and cost the firm a significant bonus. Satish had never forgiven him.
But murder? Just for a stalled deal?
The Truck Driver's Secret
Rajeev pushed the corporate motive aside and returned to the physical evidence, the only truth he could trust: The truck driver, Vijay Kadam.
He zoomed back in on the police report photo of the truck cab. Kadam was a commercial driver; he shouldn't have been carrying children's toys. The toy block was the key to the killer, not the victim.
Rajeev realized he was making an assumption: that the killer left the block as a signature. What if the block was actually a clue left by the victim?
He needed to know more about Vijay Kadam.
Using a secure, anonymous network provided by Rohan's defunct system, Rajeev searched for Kadam's history. He found a recent social media profile under a pseudonym. Kadam had been divorced two years ago and had been fighting a bitter custody battle. He had a five-year-old daughter.
Rajeev's heart seized. The coincidence was too brutal: Anaya was five. The truck driver's daughter was five.
Kadam's profile photo showed him smiling next to his daughter, surrounded by a mountain of toys. And Rajeev saw it—the exact same yellow plastic building blocks scattered on the carpet.
The block in the cab was his daughter's toy.
The killer hadn't left a signature; the killer had used Kadam's life against him.
The Motive of Control
Rajeev now had the chilling truth:
The Killer's Motive: Targeting Rajeev's life due to a corporate slight (likely from Satish Nanda).
The Setup: Sabotaging Kadam's truck and timing Anjali's route via the cake shop phone call.
The Control: The killer knew Kadam was emotionally vulnerable due to the custody battle and would be highly susceptible to coercion.
Rajeev quickly cross-referenced Vijay Kadam's financial records (which he could access through his high-level position at the bank). Kadam had recently received a substantial, untraceable cash deposit—enough to sway a desperate man fighting to keep his child.
The killer didn't intend for Kadam to die. The killer paid Kadam to sabotage the truck's steering—but with a timed mechanism that would lock the steering column after Kadam had jumped clear. Kadam was supposed to be the patsy who survived to confess mechanical failure.
But the collision was so violent that the front of the truck cab crumpled instantly, pinning and killing Kadam before he could bail out.
The ANI, by demanding Rajeev "find the killer," was forcing him to prove coercion and malice rather than accident.
The Direct Confrontation
Rajeev looked at the network directory again. Satish Nanda was the most likely candidate for the corporate conspiracy, and his name started with the 'S' of the Serpent Group.
Rajeev had no time for police reports or digital evidence that could be traced. He needed a forced confession.
He sent a single, anonymous text message to Satish Nanda:
To: Satish Nanda (VP)
The truck driver, Vijay Kadam, had a daughter who played with yellow building blocks.
He waited. He knew the text would hit Satish like a thunderbolt, reminding him of the precise, terrifying detail that tied him to the crime.
Moments later, Satish Nanda called back, his number appearing as "Unknown." His voice was low, tight, and laced with absolute venom.
"Who is this? How do you know about Kadam?"
Rajeev kept his voice even. "I know everything, Satish. The money, the timed sabotage, the phone call to Anjali. I know it was about the ethical freeze on the foreign account transfer. You risked two lives—one innocent family, one desperate father—to get revenge."
There was silence, then a dry, terrible laugh. "You're broken, Rajeev. You're losing your mind. But yes. I wanted you to lose everything that mattered before I let you walk away from that deal. I wanted the agony to be personal and unending."
"You killed Anjali and Anaya," Rajeev stated, his voice devoid of emotion.
"I removed your anchor," Satish hissed. "And now you're reaching out to me again. Pitiful. I should have known you wouldn't let it go."
Rajeev stared at the clock: 35 hours remaining. He had the name and the confession.
His phone buzzed.
FROM: ANONYMOUS DEATH
CORRECT CHOICE. Killer Identified: Satish Nanda.
The consequence of a successful Host action is the escalation of the game's final phase.
EVENT 6 IS READY: THE EXECUTION.
The new objective: You have 1 hour to choose one of two execution methods for Satish Nanda. Deliver the choice to Inspector Patil before the deadline.
Method A: The Public Fall. Method B: The Silent Sleep.
The game wasn't over. It had given Rajeev the killer, only to force him into becoming the executioner.