(A/N Hello everyone! Sorry for again updating so late. I'll be updating a little slow for some time as my annual examinations are going on. Hope you enjoy this chapter :))
"Why did you decide to add me in this?" Brute asked Dhawan while he was driving towards the Connaught place.
"Because this case requires more attention than a single detective and a cat can give," Dhawan told him, "and you know more about history and Sanskrit than me."
"But there are more professional people than me who could be more helpful for you", Brute said.
"But they aren't as good as you for this case", Dhawan declared, still focusing on the road more than Brute.
"How can you say that?" Brute asked again.
"As no–one else yet noticed the pattern of death of these people", Dhawan told him.
He drove till the first bungalow near Connaught place which was now sealed with the police's investigation tapes with 'DO NOT ENTER' printed on them.
"I've a little work to do," Dhawan said, stepping out of the car and turning his face towards the sealed bungalow, "you stay here."
"You can't interfere the police's investigation", Brute said.
"Who said that?" Dhawan sassed back.
The young detective walked across the 'DO NOT ENTER' tapes.
"Hey!" a police officer stopped him by standing on his way. "You can't enter."
Dhawan raised his right eye–brow. "You may allow me to go after seeing this", he handed the officer a card.
"Sorry sir", the officer apologised and saluted Dhawan and then let him go in.
"How the hell?" Brute narrowed his eyes. He was still inside the Benz.
He stared back at the list created by him. He had never thought that his interest in history, languages and symbols would take him so far. He had become a part of a secret mission!
'I've to do this,' he thought, 'or many else would die.'
He took out a ball-pen from his backpack and spread the unfolded list on his thigh. He amended the list and underlined the names of the scholars who were already dead.
1. James Grunt
2. Manav Dutt
3. Manchester Fury
4. Karishma Shekhawat
5. Christopher Frost
6. Luna Cluster
7. Todd Lamb
8. Annabelle Broom
"Six have died," he wondered aloud, "and two are left. None of the living targeted scholars in the list live in this country."
He focused closer to the list. "Todd Lamb is an African–American and he lives in the US. Luna Cluster is a former English journalist and she lives in the UK."
"James Grunt died on the sixth of November; Manav Dutt died on the eighth of November; Manchester Fury died on the tenth of November; Karishma Shekhawat died on the twelfth of November; Christopher Frost died on the fourteenth of November. There's a gap of one day between each death." He whispered to himself. "If Mrs Broom died yesterday, the killer may attack his next target tomorrow."
"Good," Dhawan opened the door and slammed it close when he got seated on the driver's seat. "Keep this bloody well up."
"Why did the officer let you enter Mrs Broom's bungalow?" Brute asked when he realised that the secret agent had entered the car.
Dhawan showed him a fake police ID card which looked very much real. It contained Dhawan's postcard sized photograph and other fake identity information. Even the name written on it was fake.
"RAW made this for me when I was spying on a police department, two years ago", he told Brute.
"You know," Brute said while Dhawan was driving opposite to the Connaught place, "all the deaths had a difference of one day between them. It means the killer would attack tomorrow again."
"I hear you," Dhawan agreed. "I also want to show you something I found."
He parked the Benz at the parking area outside a café. "Yesterday, Broom told me something about stones," he said unfolding a black-and-white photograph. It showed eight marble stones gathered together to form a conch-shell. A few words were scratched on it. Although it wasn't English, they both could understand its meaning. It was pure Hindi and was written in the Devanagari script.
"It's a broken conch–shell," Brute said, "consisting of eight broken marble stones."
"Antt se hogi shuruaat?" Brute read the words scratched on the shell after studying the photograph.
"It means it will start from the end", Dhawan told him.
"I can understand Hindi", Brute told him. Obviously he could. He had been living in India for more than last fifteen years and how could he not know the most spoken language of India?
"It will start from the end," Dhawan repeated the translation and crossed his eye-brows, "doesn't it seem like a film dialogue?"
"I do agree," Brute said. "Anyway, what is the link between these stones and the deaths of scholars?"
"The fact to notice is," Dhawan pointed towards the black-and-white photograph, "that the number of stones here is same to the number of targeted scholars. And I think that each targeted scholar has one of these stones. And I also think that the killer is killing them for these stones only. But why would anyone do that just for a few stones?"
"Maybe...." Brute paused for a second, "The killer wants to sell them. These stones seem antique and expensive, don't they?"
"I think the killer has more and greater motives", Dhawan said, rubbing his chin.
There was silence for a few seconds.
"What else have you found inside Mrs Broom's house?" Brute asked.
"Yes, I got this......" he took out eight photographs of the scholars, "And this....." he took out a diary, "It is Mrs Broom's personal diary." He started turning its pages.
"Don't you think that you're breaking someone's privacy?" Brute asked.
Dhawan eyed him for a second, and then again focused on the diary. "This diary contains phone-numbers of Mrs Broom's friends which includes the eight targeted scholars too. Well, we just need two numbers which are of the only two targeted scholars who are still breathing.....and here they are."
"Meoaw!" Crunchy advised.
Brute suddenly turned towards Dhawan's white-furred brother. He had almost forgotten that there was a cat among them too.
"Thanks for the advice, Crunchy", Dhawan smiled.
"What did he say?" Brute asked.
"Crunchy just advised to go and ensure the security of the remaining scholars first," Dhawan said. "I think we should go to Mr Todd Lamb first. He knows me very well. We're very good friends."
"So," Dhawan turned towards Brute, "ever been to America?"
YOU ARE READING
The Cursed Shell
Mystery / Thriller"It will start from the end...the end will start from it......" World's best known Sanskrit scholars are dying, one-by-one. Detective Ritesh Dhawan and a talented young boy have to find the person behind the deaths before the killer targets more peo...
