The Homestay Murder (Completed)

Chapter 2

Viraat gasped with astonishment. He tripped and fell backwards staring back at the dead body on the floor. He seemed to be a man nearing his sixties. He had a thick beard and moustache almost covering his mouth. The man had his mouth and eyes wide open. As soon as Viraat was about to run, he heard footsteps coming towards the room. He believed it to be a dream where everything was happening altogether.
Just at that moment, a beautiful young lady of about twenty of age came rushing into the room. She turned on the other lights and the only thing she did was give a soft high pitched scream. "Who are you? What are you doing here?" The woman asked as she saw the injured Viraat lying on the wooden floor next to the dead man on the bed.

"Ma'am, it's not how you think it is." Viraat nervously replied. "I'm Viraat Nair. A novelist from Cochin. I've just met with an accident and came here for help. Ma'am please trust me. I don't know anything about this." He pointed to the dead man on the bed. The woman grabbed hold of a flower vase as approached the novelist.

"Ma'am, trust me. Please." Viraat looked into her eyes. The lady ignored him and just stared at the dead man. "How did this happen?" She sobbed and kneeled down next to the body. The novelist just shook his head. The lady started to tear up as she went closer. "Daddy." She spoke to the dead man.
"Ma'am p-please understand. I-I don't know anything about this. He was already dead when I came in. Please ma'am, p-please." Viraat's voice became more shaky in pain.
"Alright Mr." The lady replied wiping away the tears. "I'll get some first aid. But this doesn't mean I believe your story." She added.

"Thank you ma'am." Viraat replied softly as he sat on a wooden chair next to the bed. It was almost midnight and the novelist unexpectedly had fallen into an unwanted problem. The novelist first dried himself and then wiped the blood off his forehead and arms. A bandage helped him to heal the several cuts and wounds.
"Ma'am." Viraat called the lady who was sitting near the body. "You better not disturb the dead body before the police investigates." He suggested.

"Now how are we going to call the police?" The lady thought out loud.
"Why ma'am?" The novelist asked.
"I have people staying here. I don't want to disturb their visit. The police are even useless in this place. They won't come at this time. It's almost midnight." The young lady replied.
"You want to find who's behind this, don't you? You can call them tomorrow morning." Viraat said sitting next to the lady.
"Right now you're the only one who's in my mind." The lady started to sob once again. Viraat got up in frustration, though the pain refused him to do so. "Ma'am, how many times should I tell you? I don't know anything about this! I-I came here to get some help. Little did I know there was a dead body here."
The lady gave a short stare to the novelist. Viraat didn't know whether it was anger or depression. Must've been both, Viraat thought.
"You better get some sleep. I'll give you a room. But by tomorrow, you must be gone. I'll call the police tomorrow morning. We'll see what happens." The lady replied softly.
"Thank you ma'am-" "Seema." The lady interrupted. "Don't call me ma'am. My name is Seema." She seemed to be highly depressed by the unexpected loss.

With that, both exited the main office leaving everything how it was. Viraat was given a room for the night. He found it tough to sleep in such a condition. He felt like his head was still banging on the tall tree. The cuts and wounds prevented him from sleeping in his comfortable position. Despite the pain, he managed in a new position and eventually fell asleep almost after an hour.

It was a cloudy morning and the rain had stopped overnight. Everything was clean and wet outside without a single dust particle in the air. Viraat woke up feeling much better in the morning. He could hear voices outside and sensed that the police had already arrived. He glanced at the clock which just struck nine. The novelist slowly got from the bed and freshened up quickly.
Outside, there was a totally different atmosphere from that of last night. The surrounding was filled with greenery. There was a open dining hall where two hefty men, a pretty teenage girl and two elderly woman nearing their fifties were having a hearty breakfast. Being a Wednesday, the visitors were less. It seemed the guests were still unaware of the murder.
Before having his breakfast, Viraat rushed to the crime scene where Seema and the two policemen were having a chat.
"Who's this young chap?" The inspector asked.
"Viraat Nair." The novelist shook hands.
"Seems you've got into something." The inspector noticed the bandages.
"Unfortunately yes sir. Met with an accident yesterday night. I'm much better now though." Viraat replied.

"This young woman here," The inspector pointed towards Seema. "thinks you're behind this act. What do you have to say to that?" He asked.
Viraat gave a sharp stare to Seema and replied, "I would say that it's just a blind suspicion of her to do that. There's no proof that I've done so, is there?"

"Let's sit. It would be easier to talk." The four sat inside the room on pure plywood chairs. "So Mr. Nair, Ms. Seema says that you were spotted next to the body. She also stated that you were badly injured. The time was about eleven thirty when you came here, right?"
"That is true sir. But I don't see how that proves for me to be the murderer." Viraat replied.
"We never stated that. Well, in such a situation anyone would suspect you. Don't you think so?" The inspector asked. Viraat kept quiet. He felt that the inspector was right on that part.
"Anyways Mr. Nair and Ms. Seema, we'll take the body with us. We've examined it already. He's been shot three times in different places on the upper part of the body. My partner here says that the body has been dead for at least ten hours. It's close to the time when Mr. Nair was first seen here. But I don't think so it's close enough." The novelist smiled back. The inspector turned back to Seema. "We've also found a pistol under the bed. It's most likely to be the murder weapon. We'll get the fingerprints on the pistol by evening. Anyway, I request you to not let anyone leave the homestay at least till today evening. I'll come back at about eight at night and question the guests. Hopefully we'll have the fingerprint with us. We have more important stuff to do." Saying this, the two inspectors left the homestay.

Seema had not spoken for the entire time. As soon as the inspectors left, she buried her face into her hands and began crying. Viraat went towards the young pretty woman. "Seema, crying won't help." He said, trying to calm her down.
"What else do I do?" She replied sobbing. "Didn't you just see? They just said they have more important work to do. What can be more important than solving a murder case? Trust me, they won't come back tonight." She just continued to cry.
"Can I be of any help?" Viraat asked.
"If you can. What can you do? You're just a novelist! I think it's better for you to leave now. Please." Seema replied, wiping her tears.
"I can help and I will. I promise I'll find your father's killer."
"He- he's not my father. He's my legal guardian. It's been twenty years since he took care of me. He was like my father though. His name was Vipin Varier. He didn't deserve a death like this." Seema started sobbing more and more as she spoke. "He started this homestay in 1998. It's been almost twenty years since then." She looked back at the novelist. "Are you sure you can find the killer?"

Viraat nodded positively. "Yeah. I'm sure he or she is in this homestay right now. We'll first have to talk to the guests. I need all the information about them."
Seema got up from the chair and immediately rushed towards the main desk. She got a thick book having the names. "By the way, did your father say anything whether he had a pistol in his possession?"
"That's what I'm confused about. He never used arms." Seema replied, still sobbing.
"The guests still have no clue that a murder has happened here. I think it's the right time to tell them. Tell the guests to come to the dining hall according to their rooms.." Viraat said softy as Seema nodded. Before going outside the room she said, "Viraat." The young lady called. "I'm sorry for suspecting you earlier. I wasn't myself. You're actually a really nice person." Without expecting a reply, she ran outside.