Dreamy Red

Episode 4 - Unforeseen

Arush and Ravi helped me into the attic by placing two tables they got from different rooms, one on top of the other. The trapdoor was quite tight. I had to use all my strength to push it open. "Achoo", I sneezed as dust fell on my face. I put on my mask and crawled into the attic. Bang. I bumped my head on the roof sill as it was very low. It hurt. I rubbed my head and showed some light onto the attic using my super torch.

The attic was empty of items but was full of cobwebs. It was obvious that none had been in there for quite a long period of time. At a distance, a slim beam of moonlight emerged from a small round glass dormer window. Some reflected upon me. I crouched closer, dusting the path with a dust cloth Ravi had found. Shining in the mild darkness was a mystically beautiful treasure chest that lay there surreptitiously. It was like the ones in the movies, antique and studded with precious stones. The most intriguing fact was that it was not dusty at all.

Before I could explore the chest, my phone rang. It was Karan. He said that he was at the entrance and had some interesting news from the lab. I crawled back carefully to the trapdoor. "Achoo", I sneezed again. Neither Arush nor Ravi was there to hold the tables for me to get down. "Arush?? Ravi??", I shouted for them. But they did not respond back. Did they abscond me in the lone villa?! I got frustrated. Somehow I managed to get down all by myself.

Ah, Arush was lying flat on the bed. I woke him up and together we went to the entrance. Ravi was already speaking with Karan who seemed anxious to narrate something that had happened.

He yelled in excitement as soon as he saw me. "Bibbi, there is so much to this murder that you will not believe!" Interesting, I thought. He said that Dr Vidhwaan, our pathologist at the lab, found traces of dimethyl mercury in her blood. It is a powerful man-made slow killer. Absorption of doses even as low as 0.1 ml is proven fatal. However, symptoms of poisoning start showing only after months of initial exposure, which is definitely too late for any kind of treatment and kills the person in around 10 months.

"According to the level of spreading in the victim's body, the poison must have been administered at least a month ago is what the doc told", Karan explained. So someone must have targeted her back then and must have killed her a month later since he couldn't wait any longer or he had got whatever he desired. Another assumption that can be made is that there could be two different persons trying to kill her. As Karan had said, there is more to this murder!

"One more surprise", said Karan in a high-pitched tone. "Nishanthi Ghosh was pregnant. Six weeks pregnant. The nausea and vomiting that Armaan spoke of must have been the symptoms of morning sickness. She had been pregnant for more than a month. Don't you find it suspicious?!" He raised his eyebrows as he spoke. Indeed it was suspicious. The motive of the murder could have been the child she was carrying. But I was too tired to think or explore more. So I decided to get back home. "Bye, we can discuss things in the morning", I told them as I was leaving. Ravi and Karan left the Villa too. Since Arush had already had a good nap, he had to stay back guarding the villa.

*****

I had reached my home sweet home, Sawanth Villa in Hans Vihar, Mansarovar. I wasn't that rich to have a massive garden or a three-storied mansion. However, our home was antique as it was built with stone by my grandfather, Sawanth Chatterjee.

Dr Vidhwaan, short and slightly old with a crooked nose wearing green-coloured striped pyjamas was waiting for me at the doors. "Bibbi dear, I know this is all difficult for you", he said affectionately in his gruff voice. "But don't you think it is wrong to blame someone with just assumptions?", he asked me assertively. I was confused. Who was he talking about? Armaan? But I hadn't even put him behind bars nor did I tell him that I suspected him! I was pretty much exhausted, all I needed was some rest and he was bringing up an unnecessary subject without letting me in.

"Didi, didi!!", another voice sounding excited came from inside. Didi in Hindi means elder sister. It was Sashwath, my cousin, my mother's sister's son. He was a medical student enjoying his summer holidays at his grandparents' place. He usually either visits us or Shamesh Chacha's house in Chennai. By us, I meant me and Dr Vidhwaan, who was actually my mama, my mother's brother. I used to call him mamu. He was the pathologist at the local mortuary who also worked for the Ajooba Detective Agency. Shamesh Chacha was also my mama, my mother's brother, but since I didn't want to call them both mama, I used to call him Chacha.

"Did Karan bro tell you that she was pregnant?", asked Sashwath excitedly when he came out. He was fair-skinned and short with a pretty face and spectacles. He was wearing black and white pyjamas. He seemed enthused just like Karan. Well, I was not going to be part of any exhilaration or any stupid conversation as I was about to blackout any moment. "Shall we have this discussion a little later in the morning, I mean after a few hours of sleep? I am very, very tired", I pleaded. The time was almost 4 AM. Both of them understood and went inside and left for their rooms without a word.

I went inside and closed the door behind me. I heaved a sigh, drank some water and sat down on the sofa. But the guilt of disappointing Mamu and Sashwath took over me and I called them back. They knew I would be doing it which was why they didn't even protest. I was damn predictable.

Mamu bestowed a cup of hot and strong tea in my hands. I felt relieved after having just a sip. Then I handed him the fingerprints, the vase pieces, the blood samples and the fur that I had collected for testing from my sling bag. He took them and went to his room to keep them in his bag. I didn't mention the chest or the mala to anyone because I thought they were not of much importance in the case and I'll seem like a psycho if I told them my dreams were coming true.

Sashwath showed me the images from the sonogram of the embryo. It was unclear and I had no idea what was what. There was a small black hole like an eye in a mass of what looked like flesh. Sashwath in a dejected tone told me, "You know the baby's heart was developed too. It is such a pity that she had been killed at that stage, she couldn't even experience her pregnancy." Mamu came back from his room and sighed. He said, "Bibbi, I have collected some samples of the embryo's albumin and will soon get a chromosome strand from it. All you have to do is, collect the blood sample and fingerprints of Armaan. I will prove to you that he is innocent."

"Why are you so desperate in proving him innocent anyway?", asked Sashwath quickly. Mamu's face turned red. So I beckoned Sashwath to leave at once. He left the room without a question as he knew the reason behind my doing. Without another word, both of us left the hall too.

*****

I should have slept but the strong tea kept me going. I placed the mala on a hook on my dresser and then jumped onto my bed with my diary in my hands. I took a pen and started noting down the happenings. I wrote up to where I found the chest. Then I found myself on the median of a busy road. Cars were hustling past me. It was as though I was invisible there. There was a beautiful flower shop nearby. Colourful fresh flowers were placed in attractive vases on the window sill. I took a step to go near the flower shop, but my heart suddenly began to beat heavily. I had a perturbation of something wrong about to happen. I couldn't move an inch. When I was about to turn around, a steel bullet from a rifle far away viciously flew across me and hit someone behind me. It was all smudgy. Without even thinking, I randomly started chasing a speeding red car on the road. All the other cars on the roads were passing right through me while I was running behind the car. I ran and ran behind it, as far as possible.