Murder Games- Part 1

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.”