The
window creaked open, and the figure in black crept inside stealthily. In the
next room, a ghetto blaster whispered opera music sweetly, as the man in the
armchair relaxed with his eyes closed. Moving forward silently, the figure
slowly pulled out a gleaming object from inside his coat. As the man in the
chair moved, he saw a shadow wavering behind him, and then it happened. All he
could manage was a brief shout of pain, before he sunk to the ground in a pool
of blood. The figure turned and ran off with a crash of breaking glass.
The
car pulled into the driveway, purring softly, and a man and woman got out. The
young male led the way, and the uniformed policemen carved a way for him and
saluted as the youngster just nodded. Here he was, 25 years of age- young,
charming and smart- Chief Detective Ashish. The youngest in the department, it
was his will to work and his supreme intellect which had landed him on this
high chair, to the envy of the whole department. After successfully becoming an
engineer, Ashish applied for a job in the police force, where he was gladly
accepted. And in the next 3 years, this young lad raced to the top.
Going
up the stairs, the detective donned his gloves and examined each stair as he
treaded on them. Ducking under the evidence tape of the local police, he walked
to the scene of the crime, and looked around. The room was bare except for a an
antique music player, which was still whispering an opera, and an armchair,
which had held the victim just before the murder took place.
The
victim, ex-army Major Unnikrishnan, had been a quiet man who lived all alone in
this huge mansion- a relic he had inherited from his ancestors. A woman used to
come daily to cook food and to clean up the house, and the gardener trimmed the
lawn every 4 days. Along with this, the milkman and the grocer came in twice a
week, and the postman would drop in whenever he had a delivery. All of these
movements were noted by a security guard who was always in his cabin, and he
was ex-army himself.
“Well,
today is Thursday, so who all came in,” asked the Chief Detective to the
security guard.
“The
maid came in as usual though she was half an hour late. Then came the postman,
and the baker with a new loaf of bread. He usually chooses to forget Sir, but
he was specifically called by Major Sahab today. There was not a single time
when I left my stand, and I was always there,” replied the guard in a
matter-of-fact voice, laced with a tinge of pride.
“Don’t
tell me you haven’t relieved yourself since morning!”
“Well,
my cabin is my home, so Sir had fit my cabin with all the required amenities.”
“That’s
good. Did no one else come in? Are you sure?”
“Sorry
Sir, I forgot. Today, the Major’s sister had come, and we also had to call the
telephone repair guy to work on the phones. And at that time, I had to go with
the man to show him the cables.”
“Good
you remembered now, or I may have put you in jail on account of withholding
exclusive information in investigation.”
Turning
to face the equally young girl behind him, his subordinate, he said, “Get all
these people here within the next 15 minutes. I’ll check on the grounds and the
room till then. And get to work NOW!”
“As
you say, Sir.”
With
a nod, Ashish walked off, and stopped again after some steps. He swiveled his
head slowly to the left, and his eyes glowed, and a wicked smile erupted on his
face.
“Shanaya
darling, could you pass on your work to someone else? I am going to need your
administrative help taking this down right here.”
