The case came via a frantic WhatsApp voice note from Rohan, a former classmate now running a homestay in Mukhwas Village. "Arjun, the tea seller saw her. Ankles backward. Heels facing the road. She smiled at him and asked for a cigarette. He ran. Now four of my guests are gone."

He wanted to argue. The spectrometer was silent. The GoPro was off—he had forgotten to press record.

"The next morning," Meera said, "her footprints were found. Heels forward, toes backward. As if she had walked away from her own life."

"Arjun. You've spent ten years proving fear is fake. But what about hope?"