Khizer’s POV:
“Excuse me.”
Mansha gets up and leaves to use the toilet.
I watch her as she disappears behind the bathroom door, then lean over and pick up her purse, which was propped up beside her chair.
I open it, momentarily pausing at the mess that was supposed to be her bag.
She didn’t look like the type to be messy, but apparently she was.
Pushing her stuff to the side, I search for a white square sheet of paper.
I vaguely remembered what it looked like from when she was reading it in the elevator, but I was absolutely positive it must have changed shape, color as well as texture by now, what with all this mess surrounding it.
Dried up pens, small pieces of a broken eraser, folded up sheets of paper, a small, dirty notepad and even squished up or empty wrappers of gum.
I brush it all to the side, eyes focused on finding a small piece of torn paper.
By the way she’d stuffed it back into her bag in the elevator, I didn’t expect it to look like anything else.
I do find it, squeezed into a small pocket inside her bag, hidden behind a bunch of folded up change.
I take it out, being careful not to pull out the change along with it.
It was balled up, so I unfold it carefully to not tear it up even more.
‘Now I feel like you’re just seeking attention.
Run that little mouth of yours again at the
next hearing
And I’ll see to it personally that you get it’
Picking up my phone from the table, I snap a picture of it. Then I put the note back where I found it, zipping up the purse and putting it back where it was before.
I open my phone and send Ahsan a quick text.
‘Do a thorough check of the cases Mansha Haseeb is dealing with, and tell me if you even slightly suspect that anyone from the defendants side might be threatening her.’
His reply comes immediately.
‘Right away.’
I look up from my phone, just in time to see Mansha coming back.
“Shall we begin?” She asks, taking a seat.
I take a sip of my coffee, observing her over the rim of my cup.
I wonder if she gave up on that case the same night she received the threat.
“Ladies first.” I say, lowering my cup.
The conversation goes from there, and I’ve half forgotten about the note by the time Ahsan calls me.
I excuse myself, taking the call outside, not wanting to risk Mansha overhearing.
“Well?” I say, receiving the call.
“Ms. Haseeb is currently dealing with six cases Sir. One of them is Mr. Ahmeds, but the other five are all harassment or sexual abuse ones.”
“Is there a case she recently dropped?” It was common knowledge that lawyers around here will drop a case when threatened.
I couldn’t blame them really. How else are they supposed to stay alive?
“No. She hasn’t ever dropped a case halfway. But recently she’s been giving more attention to this one case then all others, so it’s probably the defendants from that case giving her trouble. I’ll be able to confirm it for you soon.”
“What’s the case about?” I look back towards the cafe, where Mansha was sitting hunched over, writing something in a notebook.
It didn’t really surprise me that she’d chosen to ignore the threats, since she seemed to be foolish enough to do that, but I also wasn’t expecting her to be the type to choose someone else’s life over hers.
She appeared to be more the type to put herself above all else.
“It’s against the Mayor’s son.” My eyebrows rise in shock. Mansha was ignoring threats from a MAYOR? “He’s been charged for raping a female employee in an orphanage, the very one funded by his father, too. The girl claims he rapes girls there on a daily basis, picking a new one every week.”
What an animal. “And you think he’s the one sending Mansha threats?”
“I wouldn’t be surprised if he was. Bribing the judge is out of the question with the media covering the case, and the girl and her family are currently under police protection, so telling the prosecution to back off is the next best option for him. I’ll tell you for sure soon.”
I nod. “Come to my office in half an hour. Tell me then. I also have a few things about Ahmed I want to discuss.”
“Yes Sir.”
I cut the call and head back in, making a mental note to wrap this up quickly so I can head back to the office.