The next morning, the rain had stopped.
But the city of Mysuru seemed unusually tense.
Aditya barely slept.
The blood-stained letter replayed in his mind.
"The first key lies where the lion watches the river."
And the unfinished warning:
"Trust no one connected to Varma. Not even—"
Not even who?
That missing name could change everything.
At eight o'clock, Aditya met Ananya and Inspector Prakash outside the old archives building.
Ananya carried a stack of books.
"I think I've found something," she said.
"What?"
"The lion."
Aditya raised an eyebrow.
"There are dozens of lions in Karnataka."
"Not like this one."
She opened an old photograph.
It showed a weathered stone lion overlooking a riverbank.
Prakash recognized it immediately.
"Near Srirangapatna."
Ananya nodded.
"The statue was built during the Wodeyar period. Historians rarely mention it because it's hidden inside an abandoned riverside garden."
Aditya smiled.
"Then that's where we're going."
Before they could leave, Prakash's phone rang.
His expression changed instantly.
"What happened?" Aditya asked.
Prakash ended the call.
"Another body."
The victim was found in the famous sandalwood section of Mysuru's old market.
Merchants had gathered outside.
Police had sealed off the area.
The smell of sandalwood filled the air.
Aditya entered a narrow shop where officers were collecting evidence.
A man lay behind the counter.
Dead.
The victim's eyes remained open in terror.
Unlike Professor Acharya, this murder was violent.
A deep wound crossed the victim's chest.
Prakash examined the scene.
"Name is Mahadev."
"Occupation?"
"Antique dealer."
Aditya froze.
"Antiques?"
Prakash nodded.
"Rare coins, manuscripts, royal artifacts."
Ananya looked uneasy.
"That's too much of a coincidence."
"It isn't a coincidence," Aditya replied.
Someone was eliminating people connected to the cipher.
One by one.
While the forensic team worked, Aditya inspected the shop.
Broken display cases covered the floor.
Drawers had been emptied.
The killer had searched for something.
Again.
Then he noticed a sandalwood box hidden beneath a shelf.
The lock had been broken.
Inside was a folded receipt.
The document listed a recent sale.
Buyer:
R. Varma Enterprises
The room became silent.
Ananya looked at Prakash.
Prakash looked at Aditya.
The same name had appeared again.
Varma.
A few minutes later, an elderly merchant approached them nervously.
"I heard you asking about Mahadev."
Aditya nodded.
"You knew him?"
"For thirty years."
The old man glanced around before lowering his voice.
"Yesterday evening, Mahadev had an argument."
"With whom?"
"A tall man wearing a black coat."
"Did you hear what they said?"
The merchant swallowed.
"Only one sentence."
"What sentence?"
The old man's hands trembled.
"The key belongs to the tiger."
Ananya's eyes widened.
The tiger symbol.
The brass token.
The royal connection.
Everything was beginning to fit together.
Yet the picture remained incomplete.
As they prepared to leave, a young constable ran toward Prakash.
"Sir!"
"What is it?"
"We found this in the victim's pocket."
The constable handed over a small piece of paper.
Aditya unfolded it.
A simple sketch appeared on the page.
A lion statue.
A river.
And beneath it, a strange symbol.
Three interlocked circles.
The same symbol appeared nowhere else in the victim's belongings.
Ananya stared at it.
"I've seen that before."
"Where?"
"In Professor Acharya's research notes."
Aditya looked up.
"What does it mean?"
Ananya hesitated.
"The symbol belonged to a secret society."
"A society?"
She nodded.
"According to old records, a small group was entrusted with protecting royal secrets after the fall of the kingdom."
Prakash folded his arms.
"You're saying people are killing each other over a centuries-old secret?"
Ananya looked at the paper.
"No."
Her voice was barely above a whisper.
"I think they're killing to find it."
Across the city, inside a luxurious office tower, a man stood before a large window overlooking Mysuru.
The morning sunlight reflected off polished marble floors.
He held a photograph of the brass token.
His expression was calm.
Cold.
Dangerous.
A woman entered the office.
"They've found Mahadev."
The man nodded.
"And Aditya Narayan?"
"He's getting closer."
For the first time, the man smiled.
"Good."
The woman looked surprised.
"You want him to continue?"
The man placed the photograph on his desk.
"Sometimes the easiest way to find treasure..."
His smile widened.
"...is to let someone else solve the puzzle."
On the desk lay a nameplate.
Raghavendra Varma.