Dreamy Red

Episode 10 - Twin Trouble

It was almost the end of the day and we did not show any progress. No one present in the ceremony helped us in any way. Karthik turned us down too. The search for Naveen was still on. Although posters regarding Naveen were distributed all over the town, the response was minimal. A ransom of ten thousand rupees was announced but in vain.

Everyone in the family was busy with the puja for the attainment of peace for the dead soul. Karan surprised me by doing some random chores like helping clean as though it was his own family function. As I was watching him, I noticed four kids having an intense argument in the corner of the hall. Seemed more like a fight. I got closer to them. They were two pairs of identical twins. Two cute twin boys and two pretty twin girls. The girls were skinny and tall and looked like teenagers whereas the boys were shorter and looked more like primary schoolers. I couldn't restrain myself from eavesdropping. I stood nearby the stairs and heard the boys speak, "Nishu didi was attacked by Spiderman only..." They were talking of Nishanthi. They must have witnessed something or maybe they were just making up stories. But seriously, Spiderman?!

A beautiful fair woman in a blue floral saree approached them out of nowhere. "Ananth, Vanith, don't keep saying those to everyone!", she shouted at the twin boys. She must have been their mother. "Look, there are people from the police here. They might hear you and call you for an interrogation. And it will get very difficult for all of us if it happens so", she told them with concern. She looked at the girls, smiled at them and said, "Sorry girls. I know these buffoons are disturbing you. You girls carry on." The girls giggled and left. "Behave yourself, boys. Naman's daughters are elder than you two. Don't try to lure them with these fake stories!", she scolded them. The kids rebelled, "No, mamma. We saw Spiderman on their roof!" Their mother shushed them and the girls once again giggled looking at them. The boys felt ashamed and ran away at once.

Before the mother could leave, I approached her. Her name was Mrs Mallika Kundra. I talked to her casually and didn't mention that I was a detective. She said that they were just trying to impress the girls. I also approached the girls, Karishma and Keerthana and asked them what they had discussed. But they too thought that the boys were naughty and silly. Well, I had a different opinion.

*****

Though the family was fasting, food was being served. The feast was of non-rice dishes such as chapati, paratha, kurma, salads and beverages. Though I expected it to be subtle, it was quite overwhelming. Men of the family left for cremating the body at the graveyard in Shipra Path while the ladies were cleaning up.

It was almost 7 in the evening and I had nothing to do. I was sitting on the park bench and fiddling with my phone. Karan walked to me and said, "I went to Chirathu Gupta's home and found out that the family has gone out of town." He told me that Chirathu Gupta, his wife Hemavathi, Sidhanshu and his wife Christina, all four had been away in London for the past week as reported by their neighbours. "The gates were locked", he added.

In that case, why did Sid call Naveen for meeting up? Either Sid's phone was also misused or Sid hadn't really gone to London. "We need to break into their house to find clues about whether Sid has gone to London or is he hiding at home", I told him ingeniously. Karan gave a bewildered expression. "Are you sure? They might have booby traps there, not like the middle-class houses that we used to break into", he asked in an anxious tone. "Yep", I nodded. "What is the fun of being a detective without breaking into a house?", I remarked. He shrugged, nodded in agreement and asked, "When?" I told him, "Tomorrow". He nodded and left.

I heard the twin boys playing behind the banyan tree. It was the perfect opportunity to question them. I went near them and waved to them with a smile. They waved back with excitement. "Hi", I said. "Hiiii", they replied together with delight. They were fair-skinned with small eyes, rounded noses and rosy lips. They were like two china dolls of the same model. I couldn't find any difference between the two. I asked them out of curiosity, "I'm just curious. How does your mother differentiate between the two of you?"

They laughed and one of them replied, "I'm Vanith" and another said, "And I'm Ananth" Though their voices were similar, there was a little difference in the pitch. Vanith's voice was sharper than that of Ananth's. "So your mom finds you by your voice?", I questioned. They laughed again and Vanith said, "No. See", he showed a small nearly invisible light brown mole on his cheek. "I have a mole on my cheek while he doesn't", he said pointing at Ananth's cheek where there was no mole.

"So, who are you?", asked Vanith boldly. I smiled and told them that I was a detective. "I have to find the Spiderman who killed Nishanthi didi as soon as possible", I said sceptically. The boys exchanged surprised looks. "Boys, no one is believing you, right?! Why don't you share with me whatever info you have and you each get a bar of chocolate?" I was not at all good at tempting kids to reveal secrets and rather did I have any chocolate to offer them.

Ananth spoke wisely, "Ok. We are ready to share the information with you only because you are a detective and not because of chocolate. Mamma says that we should not accept food from strangers." Thank god, I thought. It was actually nice to see such obedient kids in this corrupt world. "Now, coming to the story", said Vanith hurriedly. "After mamma asked us to sleep yesterday night...", before he could even complete it, Ananth interrupted, "I will continue, Vanu! You go to mamma or she will be searching for us." Vanith scowled, "What if you don't say it properly? You go to mamma!!" And they began to fight.

"Ok. Ok. Why don't you both explain in turns?" I suggested. They nodded. Vanith spoke first, "After mamma asked us to sleep yesterday night, we silently sneaked to the balcony to catch fireflies." Ananth continued without a pause, "At that time, we saw a red-coloured supercar coming near our house. It was parked right in front of our gate. A man wearing a black mask, a blue shirt and funny red pants came out of the car." And they started to laugh out loud clapping their hands. Children can be weird, I thought. The chaos made Mallika approach us. "What are you two doing here? Not finished with your playing?! I was searching for you guys everywhere!!", she shouted at the two.

"Calm down, Mrs Mallika. These kids were just talking with me. I will drop them home on my own asap. Don't worry!", I said in a pleasing tone. Her tone changed and she advised, "Ah. Don't listen to these kids." "No No, Mrs Kundra. Do not demotivate them. I want to hear what they have. They are telling me what they have seen or what they might have thought they had seen. We can't neglect those anyways. I'm sure it would be of great help if you would cooperate by allowing me to speak with them. I mean no harm", I said trying to convince her. She agreed and left home leaving the boys under my custody.

Vanith spoke excitedly, "Wowie, didi. Mamma just listened to you! You are great!" And he gave a high five. I actually enjoyed being with the kids. Ananth smiled and continued narrating, "We thought he was our guest. But instead of coming to our house, he went straight to Nishu didi's house." He looked at Vanith to continue. "The mask man entered the villa through the compound wall and vanished", Vanith said with expressions.

Ananth intervened in an excited tone, "But the thing is, Twinkle didn't bark at him at all. She is always shy around strangers. But we saw her play with that strange guy." "Her?", I asked stupidly. "Twinkle is a her!", said Vanith and once again, the kids burst into laughter. I hushed them with difficulty.

The dog must have known the person which is why it didn't bark at him. So he must have been a regular visitor to the villa because I remembered Armaan saying that Nishanthi never let the hound out. Ananth interrupted my thoughts, "The next moment he was on the roof. And he walked on the walls like Spiderman carrying something in a gunny bag!" Vanith remarked, "I'm sure it was he who killed Nishu di!" The kids were too smart for their age. They were the most helpful in the entire crowd that attended the funeral. So I thanked them, walked them to a nearby tea stall, bought them chocolates and dropped them safely over at their home.

The kids couldn't have lied because some of their facts were right, like the shirt colour and the place where the car was parked. The most intriguing fact was that the CCTV was not working that day. It was the perfect opportunity to murder and escape without getting caught. The CCTV was off, the streetlights were off and no one was at home. So the killer must have been keeping a close watch or he must have been someone in the known circle.