A- Z CHALLENGE
Q IS FOR QUIZ TIME
By Neel Anil Panicker
“Wilie, do something. I don’t have much time. The pressure is immense. My boss needs answers on his desk ASAP. I have just about 48 hours to solve this case.”
‘Isaac, pass me that sprinkler, please.’
Detective Willie picked up the sprinkler offered and began to water the flowers.
“Maintaining a beautiful garden is a very meticulous business. As with everything else, one needs to be careful, be always on one’s toes, or in this instance, one’s knees. Looking out for false growths, plucking them out, keeping a hawk’s eye out for prospective buds, constantly watering them so that they finally turn into multi-hued flowers that brighten up the earth and our lives.”
‘Willie, I am talking about murder here. My job, my reputation is at stake if I don’t solve this case’.
Detective Willie got up and signalled Isaac to follow him.
“Ok, Isaac. Let’s get back to work. You see solving a crime is much like gardening. So, let’s see what we have got so far, bounce our thoughts, and then see where all this leads to. To begin with, you need to examine the patch of land on which the crimes were detected. In this case there were two: The first, that of the murdered daughter in law Anjali. Now her body parts were found littered all over town. But was that the original patch of land? I doubt so. I believe she was killed at her house, the ‘Muthuswamy Villa’ and then her body cut into pieces and packed in gunny bags and thrown all over the city.
Now, as to who murdered her we need to first examine how she was killed.
As per the Forensic Laboratory reports, her body contained an unusually high quantity of the highly sedative pain Melatonin. I have her doctor’s prescription that states that she has been taking these as per medical advice, but only once at night, that too only a 5mg tablet. Her post-mortem report also says she was hit with a blunt object on the head, below the left frontal membrane.
That means someone quite stealthily administered a high dosage of Melatonin that knocked her unconscious, and then that person also hit her with a blunt object killing her instantly.
“Who could that be, Willie?”
The two men had reached the corner of the rectangular patch of land that abutted Detective Willie’s house by the sea.
Retracing his steps, Willie continued, “For that we need to line up our list of suspects”.
Well, that’s simple. They are, in the first case, The murdered woman’s husband, IAS Officer Rajesh Yadav, and in the second case, the well known industrialist Prakasham Muthuswamy, the elderly woman’s husband.”
“True, or it could be exactly the reverse, isn’t it, Isaac?”
The Police Chief stopped in his tracks and looked at his friend, albeit a bit stunned.
“You see, when one is dealing with a murder or a series of murders, one shouldn’t be surprised with any development and explore all likely scenarios. It’s my conjecture that either of the two could be responsible for one or both of the murders. Or…”
“Or what, Detective?
Detective Willie looked squarely at his childhood friend turned City Police Chief.
“Or, there could be others, either acting individually, or in conjunction. But then for that we need to find out each of their individual motives for murdering the two women. Come, let’s get inside and figure that out over a cup of strong Portuguese coffee.”
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