Black Clouds

10. Kamla Sharma

There was a short silence before it was broken by the noise of the wooden door which creaked open at a painstaking pace.

The door moved to reveal a middle-aged woman, with a few grey hairs in her otherwise black hair which was tied in a bun. Her black eyes were coated with a fresh layer of tears and worry, while her supposedly once healthy body had reduced to a thin, frail form - like a shadow of her past self.

She looked at us but obviously couldn't recognize us. But, she politely asked us,

"Do you have some work with me?"

"Ah yes. I'm officer Akshay Seth, and this is my friend, Ms. Shreya. We are here regarding the tragic case of your husband, Mr. Ashish Sharma."

Akshay said, in his usual professional tone, completely ignoring the fact that her eyes turned even more sad at the mention of her late husband. Or maybe, he was already accustomed to it as it was part of his job.

"Oh... I don't know what you want to know about this case, as I myself am as confused as you are right now."

She managed to say with great difficulty, words squeezing themselves out of her throat, struggling to enliven themselves.

"Its quite alright. But, you don't have to do anything else but answer some of our very simple questions. Right now."

Akshay said, not really giving her a chance to say no.

I realized then, that the job of an officer is actually extremely hard. They have to be really tenacious and persistent when they are on duty in search of correct answers to seemingly unsolvable puzzles. And here I thought, me giving a 3 hours lecture in a protected classroom to the same people was hard work.

There was a pregnant pause before the wife answered. It seemed like she was debating on whether to willingly answer the questions or dilly dally some more. But then, she sighed discreetly and decided to go with the flow, so as to not get the suspicion on her head.

"Okay, please come inside."

She welcomed us inside halfheartedly.

"Thank you Mrs. ....?"

Akshay asked her her name to which she replied,

"Kamla Sharma."

"Yes, Mrs. Kamla Sharma. Please lead the way."

The woman led us into a simple house with fully equipped appliances and necessities. There was a small couch in one corner of the living room, with a rustic wooden coffee table placed in front of it. On the opposite wall, hung a middle sized T.V. which seemed like it hadn't been operated in months. The scratches on its screen were the proof.

In another corner, was a four seater dining table, again, make of wood. There were windows on either side of the house, allowing fresh mountain air to enter the room. All in all, it seemed like a place I would want to live in after my retirement.

After we were seated on the couch, Kamla too leave to bring some tea for us as she insisted on something and tea is the only thing we could agree on.

Akshay looked at me and asked me from his facial expressions,

"What do you think? Does she look suspicious to you?"

"I can't say for sure. We will have to dig in for some more information."

I answered him by shrugging my shoulders and gestured him to take a look at other things like a small bookshelf which was covered in different kinds of books, and the other rooms in the house.

"You look at these books, I'll go and check in the kitchen."

Akshay instructed me and left for the kitchen.

So you just tell me to do things and leave me alone in a stranger's house, where I can be susceptible to any waiting danger... again.

Great.

Just great.

And here I thought after that cat incident that he cared for me, at least as a partner in the investigation.

Guess I'm all alone again.

And now I have to deal with the wife of a dead man who could possibly be psychotic.

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