kaaval kaaran

Chapter 5

The morning air in Karaikudi was crisp, but Siva’s mind was fogged with confusion as he sat in the police station, surrounded by scattered files, photographs, and notes from the two murder scenes. His head buzzed with questions, and his instincts told him there was a deeper conspiracy at play. But he couldn’t see the full picture yet.

Just as he was about to go over the clues again, Vetri entered the office, looking anxious.

"Siva, naa puthusa oru lead kandupudichurukka. (Siva, I found a new lead.)" Vetri announced, holding a piece of paper in his hand.

Siva raised his eyebrows and took the paper from him. "Enna lead? (What lead?)"

"Muthuraman case-la oru suspicious phone call vandhurukku. Ippo oru local guy vandhu solraan, adhu mattum illa, nethu rendu death pathi pesunom la, innorutharukum andha payan call panni vechirunthaan. Avan case-laye involve aagi irukano nu oru suspicion varudhu. (A local guy tipped us off about a suspicious phone call related to Muthuraman’s case. And when the second death was mentioned yesterday, this same guy had made a call that seemed very suspicious.)" Vetri explained.

Siva’s curiosity was piqued. A phone call that connected both murders? It was the first solid link they had.

"Yaaru da andha payan? Avana alachitu vara sollu. (Who’s the guy? Bring him in.)" Siva demanded, his eyes narrowing.

"Paavam, payan oru normal delivery boy thaan romba bayapudran. Aana avan edho solla vandhurukkan. (The boy’s a simple delivery guy. But he’s scared and wanted to come clean.)" Vetri said.

"Avan apdi romba bayandhu poi irundhan-na, naane poi paesuren. (If he’s that scared, I’ll talk to him.)" Siva said, pulling out a chair and signaling for Vetri to bring the boy in.

A few moments later, Vetri came back with the young man. He was in his early twenties, visibly nervous, his hands trembling as he clutched his phone. He was wearing a faded delivery uniform, and his face was pale.

"Sir, naan ippo sollaporadhu paththi please yarukkum solladhinga. (Sir, please don’t tell anyone about what I’m going to say.)" the boy pleaded.

Siva motioned for him to sit. "Sollu da. Unakku inga yaaralaiyum ethuvum aagathu, Don't worry. (Tell me. No one will hurt you.)"

The boy took a deep breath. "En peru Mani, naan oru delivery boy. Muthuraman case nadandhapodhu naan avar office ku parcel konduvandhen. Avar office-ku pona apo, avar phone-la pesitu irundhaaru naan pakkathula dhaan irundhen. (My name is Mani. I’m a delivery boy. When the Muthuraman case happened, I was delivering a package to his office. While I was there, I overheard part of a phone conversation.)"

"Phone-la apdi enna pesinaaru? (What was the conversation about?)" Siva asked, leaning forward.

Mani swallowed hard. "Avaru yaaro oru periya aal pathi than sir pesunaru. Aana oru word mattum purinjidhu. Avanga sollinathu, 'Oru deal thappa aagiruchu, seekrama kaali seiyanum.' Andha 'deal' nu sollinathu thaan enakku romba suspicion ah irukku. (It seemed like they were talking about some big guy, but one word stuck with me. They said, 'The deal’s gone wrong. We need to clean it up fast.' The word 'deal' made me suspicious.)"

Siva’s mind raced. "Yaaru thaan avar kooda phone-la pesunaanga nu theriyuma? (Do you know who they were talking to?)"

Mani shook his head. "Illai sir, aana adutha week-laye Muthuraman sir-u sethutar. Adha paathu thaan enakku  doubt vandhuchu ithula oru danger irukku-nu. (No sir, but Muthuraman died the following week. Now I realize that something dangerous was happening.)"

Siva looked at Vetri. "Inimel namma andha kedacha ella phone records-eh trace pannanum. Indha 'deal' pathi yaar pesinaanga-nu vechi thaan namakku clue irukku. (We need to trace the phone records. The word 'deal' is our only clue for now.)"

Vetri nodded. "Naan ipo poi enquiry ah mudikkiren. (I’ll follow up with the inquiry now.)"

As Mani was about to leave, he hesitated and turned back to Siva. "Sir, nethu night rendu pera patha, avanga edho enna watch panra maariye irukku andha rendu murders ku aprm, ana avungala paaka periya kai maari therithu sir . (Sir, after those two murders, someone strange was watching me. He looked like he was working for someone powerful.)"

Siva tensed. If Mani was being watched, it meant someone knew the police were closing in.

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**Meanwhile, at Rajamanickam’s House…**

Dharani, oblivious to the danger surrounding her, was creating her usual havoc at home. Her father had gone to the fields, and Bhava was busy texting Ram in her room. Dharani, on the other hand, was plotting something mischievous.

"Bhava, nee evalavu neram andha phone-a paathutu irukka? Edho nee mattum vera ulagathula irukura maari irukku. (Bhava, you’ve been glued to that phone for too long. It’s like you’re living in a different world!)" Dharani said, snatching Bhava’s phone.

"Dharani, podhum di un velayattu! Inimel nee un velaiya paaru! (Dharani, stop it! Mind your own business!)" Bhava yelled, trying to grab her phone back.

Dharani danced around, laughing. "Naa unakku idhula pannama vera yaaru ka pannuva? (Who else can mess with you like this?)"

As Dharani was about to throw Bhava’s phone on the bed, it lit up with a message from Ram: "We need to talk. I’m in trouble."

Dharani’s eyes narrowed. "Trouble?"

Bhava snatched the phone back quickly, panicking. "Dharani, enakku unnoda velayada neram illa, idha periya vishayam ah aakadha. Ithu ennoda personal matter! (Do you need to make this a big deal? This is a personal matter!)"

But it was too late. Dharani had caught the word "trouble" and her detective instincts kicked in.

"Oho! Trouble-aa? Yen Ram apdi pesuraru? (Oh! Trouble? Who is this Ram?)" Dharani asked, trying to pry out more information.

Bhava froze, unsure how to answer. Dharani wasn’t stupid; if she pushed too much, she’d find out about Ram, and that would create an entirely different problem. Bhava needed to get Ram out of whatever mess he was in and fast.

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**At the Police Station…**

Siva and Vetri had managed to retrieve the call records from Muthuraman’s office phone, and as they sifted through the data, a pattern began to emerge.

"Itha paaru, rendu number mukkiyama indha numbers la irundhu dhan Muthuraman erandha aprmum munnadiyum call vandhurukku. (Look here, two numbers stand out. They both made calls before and after Muthuraman’s death.)" Vetri said, pointing at the screen.

Siva noted the two numbers. One belonged to a political fixer known to work for the local MLA, the other was a number that hadn’t been registered.

"Indha number register la illaatha number ah irukku.indha number epdiyum periya aal number ah thaan irukkum indha clue vachi Thirumba call trace pannanum. (This unregistered number could be someone powerful. We need to trace this call.)" Siva said, writing down the details.

Just then, a call came into the station.

"Inspector, oru shocking vishayam. Indha unregistered number-oda owner Per Karthik, enakkum theriyum avara, unga local MLA oda connection irukku avarukku. (Inspector, this unregistered number belongs to a guy named Karthik. He’s connected to someone close to your local MLA.)"

Siva’s mind reeled. Could this Karthik be the key to solving the murders? And if he was, how deep did this conspiracy go?