...

“What coupon?” I asked, astonished. “The coupon on your can…containing the special number.” She said to me, as if explaining to a particularly dim-witted child.
At that moment, another person burst into the room. It was Dark-Jacket!
He immediately started shouting.

“Ms. Sharwani! I’ve done it! I’ve solved the…” He caught sight of me and all his exhilaration melted away.
“Oh no! Have you won it?” he shot at me.
“No! She hasn’t shown me the coupon yet, so you still have a chance.” Said the ever-so-sweet Ms. Sharwani.
He dug out a crumpled coupon which looked like it was torn off something and handed it over. She checked it before speaking into her cell-phone and doing the whole routine- “Congrats!” etc.
“What is all this?! Where’s Mr. Shah?” I yelled at her, in frustration.
“How did you know that he was going to give away the prizes?” she asked me. I was about to tell her- you’re not making any sense- when another man burst in.
It was a few minutes before I realized that the men weren’t the kidnappers but were part of her security troupe. Ms. S. soothed him and said it was part of the game.
“I thought you were trying to breach security because you didn’t check in at the special counter…” he explained apologetically “…at that shed over there, like this young man did a few minutes ago.”
After this, my glance fell on a poster on the desk nearby.

“SPRING COLA presents: THE GREATEST TREASURE HUNT EVER! With a Twist!!
Get your can of Spring Cola and get to a part of the most intriguing and entertaining puzzles ever- with Ms. Nisha Sharwani. Track her down and win exciting prizes. COURTESY- Shah Enterprises.
Don’t forget to carry the tear-off coupon on the sticker of your can- that’s the ticket to your fame!!

Starts on 4th June, 7:00 pm, visit the store near you to find out more!!”

I groaned as I realized what had happened and in fact, why Spring Cola kept cropping up wherever I went. It was this treasure hunt that I had been solving and not Mr. the mystery of Mr. Shah’s disappearance! 4th June was the day I shopped at J-Mart! And I had bought the can of Spring Cola at 7:30 pm! That’s why the clerk had behaved strangely and had said that I was one of the first!
And…N.S. didn’t stand for Narang Shah, it stood for Nisha Sharwani!
“How did you get in? I locked the door on the way up here!” I asked Dark-Jacket, thinking that there were a lot of things yet unanswered.
“The security guys helped me get a ladder and we propped it up and climbed the minaret. We let ourselves through one of the huge windows.”
“But why did you run away that day at the park and why did you snatch my purse? Answer that!” I exclaimed.
He looked as if he didn’t know what I was talking about. “First of all, I wanted to keep the package as it was mentioned that there would be a limited number of clues given out. Plus, I had to go somewhere else!”