New Book: The Closed Case ( First Three Sample Chapters)

Chapter – I

Shimla

16^th April 2005, Sunday

He hurled his backpack across the room, which landed heavily on his untidy bed, and he walked through a small corridor and entered her bedroom, the condition of which was exactly opposite to his. He was surprised to know that she was not in her room. Where could she be at this hour? He thought, pushing a pile of dangerous possibilities that was about to capture his mind. The broken watch on his wrist was still working and many times he felt that broken watch stopped for some time, and started again. Neither he had a cell phone nor did he have a wall clock to check the time. After that day, he had locked himself inside his moderately spacious flat and rarely stepped out. He had appointed a helper to help him in all his household chores. The girl, he had appointed was in her 12th grade, and when Detective Roy was looking for a helper, she happened to be there, and she needed help too. Her name was – Megha and was in need of money to pay for her college and hostel fees. Roy did well to her and gave her both, a place to stay as well as money to pay her college fees. She was looking after him for six months and there was not a single night, he had found her outside the house after 10 PM.

                

But today was different. She was not at home, she was gone somewhere. He tried to remember if there had been any instances when she had left the house uninformed, surprisingly, he couldn’t think of any. Roy glanced at his watch; it showed 11:15 PM. Immediately, he understood it was showing the wrong time. So, he went back to his room, picked up his wallet, and left his house. Outside, he started his car and drove away from his apartment. He was going to his shop to check the right time as in his shop there was a wall clock. He had a small shop where he worked as a typist and typed all sorts of documents. It was one business he enjoyed doing because of his personal love of typewriters. He possessed an old Remington Typewriter on which his speed was seventy words per minute and many told him, his speed was equivalent to a professional typist. He never believed it, but it was true. It enabled him to earn a living and some wealthy customers gave him extra cash in form of a tip, which he kindly accepted. As he speeded his car in the tunnel, he reminded himself of checking her hostel (where Megha lived earlier), even though he knew it’d totally waste his time. Some minutes later, he took a right turn, and a silent, unlit, and bumpy road led him to his shop which was situated just below The Mall Road.

                

He got out of his car and opened the shutter and let the cool air and himself in. He switched on the lights and checked the time on the wall clock. It was – 12.30 AM. He was taken aback. Detective Roy sat on one of the chairs in his office, wondering what was happening. At that point in time, he also realized that he was hungry and his stomach was craving for food. 

                

Before you think of eating anything, find the girl! A voice in him said, firmly.

                

He got up and moved out of his shop. He closed the shutter in one pull and locked it. He got into his car and went in the direction of Megha’s hostel, where she used to stay before. On the way to Megha’s hostel, Detective Roy thought about his messed up life and how terribly broken he was. He couldn’t think of any moment he hadn’t thought of that person, he killed that day. Once he was done killing that person, he disappeared, and his friend, Mr. Gonsalves helped him in doing so. Damn! He missed him and all of it – he missed friendship. He didn’t have anyone here in Shimla with whom he could hang out and have a drink or two.

                

Detective Roy was a tall man with a husky voice and his personality matched one of those people who’d impress you in the first meeting, but you would not be able to meet them regularly. Roy’s childhood didn’t have any major impact on him, becoming a detective. He was born into a middle-class family, but unfortunately, his parents died in a car accident when he was just 9 years old. In a world of endless possibilities, stood a boy who’d nothing to lose, no goal to work on, and no desire to win. In simple words, he had nothing except his own life. All his relatives refused to take him to their houses. By a strange chance, he was admitted into a childcare NGO, where he resumed his studies and stayed there till the age of twenty. There came a time when Roy was not sure what lied ahead of him and truly he had understood that he wasn’t a kid anymore. He was a grown-up and had to work for his livelihood. So, he had two choices ahead of him, one was to help the poor children in the NGO, where he had spent his teenage years and the second choice was to go and face the ruthless world. He spent many sleepless nights, thinking about what he wanted from his life. In reality, he could do two things. Surrender his entire life in helping the poor or resist the brutal side of the outer world.

                

In the thick of surrendering and resisting, he discovered his love for the crime. He got himself involved in reading crime books in his free time. Soon he started to read crime reports in Newspapers and magazines and without realizing, he had delved into the world of crime, which had it’s own pros and cons. One day, there was a murder nearby his NGO, and he saw the cops investigating the crime scene. While they were investigating, Roy watched them with grave interest and imagined himself doing the same some day. After some days, his life changed as he started searching for organizations, who covertly operated as investigation agencies. There are two types of private investigation agencies in presence, registered ones, and unregistered ones. The registered investigation agencies were legal ones and mostly involved ex-policemen and ex-soldiers in their organization whereas unregistered ones, who operated illegally gave every newbie a fair chance. It did not take a long time, Roy to find an unregistered investigation organization. Once he joined it, there was no looking back, and he hugged success in almost every case he was involved in. In a few years, he built a strong reputation of his and found himself demanded by many prominent personalities and handled their work. Soon, people started identifying him as – Detective Roy.

                

At the age of thirty, Detective Roy happened to come across a baffling case offered to him by a businessman. At first, it appeared to be a cakewalk, but a few months later, Detective Roy found himself trapped. And there was only one way to emerge alive out of that case and that was by killing an innocent soul. Detective Roy tried to escape without killing anyone, but he could not, and eventually, he did what he had never done before. He took someone’s life.

                

After he came out of it, he did not love his work anymore and decided to quit.

***

Working Women and Girls Hostel – read the huge board, and Roy also read it in his mind to confirm that he was standing outside the right hostel. The city of Shimla was unplanned and scattered. However, every hilly region has a plain landscape where they plan the city, but in the case of Shimla, it was different. As the only place with even landscape was converted into the city’s biggest market area famously known as – “The Mall Road”. Making of the market was done in such a way that it is situated at the center of the Shimla, but still, many tourists do think that it isn’t in the center of the Shimla and rather toward the start. So, the city’s market is in charge of the city’s only large even landscape, so all hostels in Shimla are not in one place, but are dispersed. 

                

Roy knocked the warden’s door twice and waited for him or her to open it. There was no nameplate attached to the door. After five minutes, Roy repeated his action and stood silently, hoping for a response. This entire situation was unnerving him and he knew it very well that he was not in a position to face anything unpleasant.

                

Finally, a middle-aged woman opened the door slightly to take a peek at who’s there at this hour. Roy introduced him and asked for Megha. Surprisingly, she didn’t know Megha and also said that she was hearing Megha’s name for the first time. Detective Roy threw a suspicious glance at the warden and asked her:           

                

“Are you sure you don’t know Megha?”

                

“I am sure. I have been working here for the last five years and I know each girl who stays here, personally.” The Warden answered.

                

Her answer left him confused. He reconfirmed the name of the hostel and then insisted on her to show him the register of the concerned hostel.

                

“Why shall I show you the register? Who’re you? Police?” The woman asked with gravel in her voice.

                

Detective tried to convince her for some time, but she didn’t give in, at last, he had to do what he hated the most. Roy showed her his old ID card, which was given to him by a registered investigation company that he assumed must’ve closed by now. When he left the world of crime, he promised he’d never return, and also would never use anything related to it. But he had been using it whenever he ran into problems or wanted any information. He did not like it at all, but sometimes he really didn’t have any choice.

                

The middle-aged woman draped a scarf around her neck and got out of her house. She made her way toward a small building, which Roy assumed to be girls dorm. Once she reached there, without making any noise, she inserted one key out the several keys she had in the keyhole and smoothly twisted the key to open the door. She was switching on the lights when Roy asked her: “What’s your name?”

                

To which she replied, “Rosita Fernandez”

                

In a dimly lit room, Roy saw that the hostel’s condition was substandard. It looked like walls were painted years ago, plaster was coming off the ceiling, and wooden table before Roy smelt of oldness. Rosita was shuffling through files, searching for the correct one. A few moments later, the silence was intervened by Rosita’s voice.

                

“Here! You can take a look at this. It has a record for the last two years.”

                

Roy deeply scrutinized the register twice, but couldn’t find a single entry with Megha’s name. He wondered if Megha lived here with a different name. He asked Rosita if there was any girl who left the hostel six months ago due to her deteriorating financial conditions. Rosita said – there hadn’t been any departure since last one year. He apologized to Rosita and left the girl’s dorm. He went and sat inside his car and started to take deep breathes. He took deep breaths whenever he was thinking and this time, it took him a while to digest the fact that Megha had lied to him when she first came to him. But why did she lie?

                

Roy started his car and departed from the spot where the girl’s hostel was situated. He glanced at his broken watch which appeared to have stopped for some time. After driving for a while, he stopped his car near a tea shop which happened to be open. He ordered a tea for himself and asked the tea seller what the time was. He answered – 1.37 AM. This forced Roy to panic. At that moment, Roy was certainly not in a position to take a decision on whether to approach the cops or to find the girl on his own. But before he took his next step, he needed to know two important things:

                

One, the girl’s real identity. Two, what was her real intention?   

                

Roy finished his cup of tea, paid the tea seller, and sped back to his house. While parking his car, he noticed Megha’s bedroom light was switched on. He felt relieved and got out of his car. When he reached near the main door of his house, he saw the door was already open, and the drawing room of his house was filled with an unfamiliar fragrance. He stepped into the house and noticed a bottle of scent was placed beside his bed. He didn’t pick it but bent to see if there was anything printed on it.

                

Welcome – was written on a note, which lay beside the bottle.

                

Roy took a cursory glance toward Megha’s room and noticed her room’s door was shut. He exactly remembered that he did not shut the door of her room while moving out. Suddenly, he sensed someone else’s presence in the house. He felt there was someone else other than him. He looked around to see his backpack, but couldn’t view it anywhere. Barehanded, Roy moved closer to Megha’s room and kicked the door. It opened wide enough to clarify his doubt. He checked the windows and found out they were closed from the inside. When he was walking back to his room, Roy’s eyes caught the sight of a folded A4 size paper that was partly covered with one of Megha’s books. While he was picking up the book, he thought if she really went to her college or not? Was Megha her real name or not? 

                

Roy went back to the drawing room and tossed the paper on his bed and went to close the door. Once he locked it, he tried to divert his mind from Megha to the paper he had discovered a few moments ago. He unfolded the paper and read the typed letter:

Mr. Roy,

Precisely, five years ago I met you. Don’t bother. You’ll not be able to remember me because we never met in person. In reality, we haven’t met each other, but in my mind, I have met you several times. We’ve spent many days together, sitting and sipping cups of coffees in Bombay Coffee House. As I told you above, we’ve never met before. I never had the guts to initiate a conversation with you because I always felt that you’d never become friends with me.

Honestly speaking, the image of yours that I’ve created in my mind is of a hero. To be more specific, a genius hero. Back then, when you were in Mumbai, I thought you make friends with intelligent people only. And I wholeheartedly saw myself as a brainless human being. So, I let go of the idea of meeting you.

But you were much like a drug to me. I wanted to ignore you and forget you, but I couldn’t resist and ended up thinking about you. In a short time, I began to realize that without you, I felt incomplete, and only you can complete me.

I can write a book on you if you allow, but this letter is solely to notify you that – now, I truly believe that time has finally come when we must meet. Don’t worry, I may not be as clever as you, but at least I don’t see myself as a brainless human being anymore. 

I know my invitation seems to be unwanted and you can easily ignore it. That’s why I am taking your girl with me. I won’t harm her if you come to Mumbai within the next two days and if you don’t value her life, you can turn a blind eye to this letter.

Your friend

      Chapter II

Mumbai

17^th April 2005

2 AM

Precisely after four years, he was entering his old, abandoned, and deserted house, where Detective Roy killed his daughter. He pushed the iron gate where a wooden board, engraved with his name still hung with stains of dried blood on it. It was Hilda’s blood on it. As he walked, he crushed dead leaves under his feet that he thought might not have moved in years. Glancing here and there, thoughts of emptiness captured his mind, and desperate sadness caught him. When he reached the main door passing the spacious compound of his old house, he noticed that – nameplate on the main door of his house was still readable.

                

Mr. James Mathew – nameplate read. He bought this house after his wife’s death and that was the reason why the nameplate had only his name. Mr. Mathew’s wife died in a car accident when he was living in Goa. After his wife’s death, Mr. Mathew shifted to Mumbai for two important reasons. One, he wanted an escape from the city where he had numerous memories of her, and second, he was a property developer and he had been planning to shift to Mumbai because there was a steady increase in Mumbai’s property rates, which he assumed would benefit him. So, it appeared as a perfect opportunity for him to shift to Mumbai. But it was not easy for him to manage so much because he also had two children; a daughter and a son. A change in schools cost his children a year of theirs in school and in that one year, he felt what it is like to be a single father. His undying love for his wife prevented his second marriage and also kept his children deprived of a mother’s love.

                

Applying thrust, Mr. Mathew tried to open the door of his house and after few lethal tries, the door opened wide enough for him to enter. As he entered the drawing room, the smell of dust filled his nose. He looked around and smiled. He was feeling anger and sadness simultaneously, and he did not know which emotion was overpowering the other. When he was moving toward a room, he intentionally spun around to see if there someone watching him. It was stupid of him to do so, but he was going to do something that was seriously dangerous. As he reached near the door of his daughter’s bedroom, he stopped and thought of something for a while before opening the door. For some seconds, memories of his daughter popped into his mind and the image of her smiling face formed just before his eyes. He didn’t want to open the door, but he had to correct his mistake. A mistake, he made four years ago.  He put the key in the keyhole, and before he could twist the key and unlock the door – biggest shock of his life hammered on him. The lock was broken!

                

In utter shock, Mr. Mathew entered his dead daughter’s room and found all her things were still intact. He moved across the room near to the only window of the room. He tried to look outside, but the window was too dirty and outside view was vague. He drew the curtains and cautiously opened her daughter’s cupboard. He opened the right-hand side drawer, where he had kept a secret key of the bed’s storage lock. Surprisingly, there was no key in the drawer. Instead, there was an envelope in it. It didn’t shock him. When he found the door lock broken, he understood what it was about. Carelessly, he stuffed the envelope in his pocket and moved out of the room.

               

Mr. Mathew decided to go to his home owing to the fact that his son would be waiting for him. He moved out of the house and hurried towards his car. He sat and drove away!

                

Who is it? Who knows it? Mr. Mathew questioned himself before he could reach home and delve into his work.

***

MORNING

On the morning of April 17^th, 2005, two important events happened. One of those two was Roy’s departure to Mumbai and second was even more shocking and dangerous. After returning from his old house last night, Mr. Mathew saw his son was already slumbering in his bedroom and without waking him up, he straight went to bed. His deep slumber was disturbed by the constant banging of the door by his housemaid who came at 8 AM. He let her in and decided to complete his sleep. While walking toward his bedroom, he took a momentary glance at his son, Joseph’s bedroom he found out he wasn’t there. He thought he might be in the washroom, but his expectations crashed when he found the washroom empty. He waited for some time before going out and searching for his son. He couldn’t have gone to school because his summer vacations were going on, all his friends repudiated Joseph’s presence near them, and he couldn’t find Joseph in the park, he always spent time in. Irritated and frightened, Mr. Mathew came home and was lost in thinking where his only son could be. That was when he remembered the envelope he had found last night. He ran to his bedroom and unfurled the pocket of his pant on the bed. In the company of several pieces of paper, an envelope rested on the bed. Mr. Mathew took it and removed the paper that was in the envelope and started to read:

My Dear James,

Four years ago, I suppose you made a big mistake by handing a case (matter) of yours to one of the best detectives in Mumbai – Mr. Roy. You made a mistake dragging Mr. Roy into the dark life of yours and without knowledge, he stepped into it to help you. You and I, both know what actually the truth is, but the sad part is – you only know what the truth is whereas I have the power to change it. 

Well, I have not written this letter only to scare you, but I want to ruin you. Now, let me tell you how easy it is for me to cause your ruination. There’s a dead body of a girl in your old house, to be specific, in your dead daughter’s bed storage. I knew you were going come there to check that thing and now, I have it with me. Your thing is with me. Happy? I don’t think so.

But let’s not make this long. If you try to go to cops and complaint about this anonymous letter, I’ll tip them off regarding the dead body in your old house. If you try to enter your house, get rid of the corpse, you’ll face the same consequences.   

That is all I have to say. I am stopping here, but not before giving you a hint about what’s coming for you.

Well, here is a hint – “He’ll meet you in a place where the brightness ceases to exist”  

Your friend

“He’ll meet you in a place where the brightness ceases to exist” – this last line kept echoing in his head. Whoever, it was, who wrote this letter knew a great deal about Mr. Mathew and was aware of every secret in existence related to him. Mr. Mathew didn’t know how to go about it and for now, his chief concern was his son, Joseph, who was missing since last half an hour. Mr. Mathew was thinking whether there was any connection between the letter and his son’s disappearance when he heard the doorbell ring. He went and opened the door and saw his son standing outside with a white pizza box in his hand. First and foremost, Mr. Mathew asked Joseph where was he all this time. Joseph informed Mr. Mathew that he went to a toy shop to buy a toy for himself.

                

“From where you got this pizza box?”  Asked Mr. Mathew.

                

“Yeah, dad! Your friend gave it to me while I was climbing up the stairs. He said it is a parcel for you.” Answered his son.

                

Mr. Mathews took the parcel from Joseph’s hand and told him to go to his room. Perplexed, he removed the sticky tape and opened the pizza box. The box was entirely empty, but there were three words written inside it in bold letters:

HE IS COMING

                Next minute, Mr. Mathew tore the box into pieces and tossed those pieces into the dustbin.

Chapter III

18^th April 2005

Night

Fear – is something, which no one can escape from. There is no human being alive in this world, who does not fear anything. There’s one or the other thing that scares each one of us. Out of the limitless list of things people could be frightened of, there are two special fears to which each one of us is known to. That is – fear of living and fear of death. Every human being may not fear both, but at least one. As Roy deboarded the train, he felt fear. Neither it was fear of living nor was it fear of dying, it was fear of losing Megha. It occurred to him as impossible to endure such kind of pain (caused by guilt), again. 

Roy looked around the Victoria Terminus. Like any other junction in any city of India, V.T station seemed vibrant as ever and as Roy observed everything from his own eyes, he sensed the familiarity that connected him to this city of dreams. With immense interest, Roy watched the crowd walk, talk, and work tirelessly till he was knocked down by a wooden carrier, which was driven by a man, whose major work was to transport hefty luggage from luggage compartment to trucks that waited outside the station.

                

“Are you blind?” The man who was pushing the wooden carrier howled at Roy.

               

“I am sorry. Go ahead.” Roy apologized, immediately and made way for him to move ahead. 

                

After this incident, Roy perceived it was unsafe to stand in the middle of the platform and invite unwanted dangers. So, he moved out of the station to find a telephone booth. While walking Roy observed his surrounding to check if there was someone keeping an eye on him, but he could not locate anyone. Also, before coming to Mumbai, he questioned his neighbors – had they seen any stranger near his house?  But he didn’t get anything from it. Throughout his journey, Roy analyzed the letter, which he got from his house and tried to understand the hidden meaning behind it if there was any. But it seemed, there was no hidden meaning at all, and it was not a good sign.

                

If this letter doesn’t have any hidden meaning, it means only one thing – it is written by a psychopath and it is not a good thing, Roy said to himself, realizing the gravity of the situation.

                

According to Roy, the person who wrote this letter had admired Roy all his life, have been obsessed with Roy and his ways of solving crime cases. The writer of the letter always wanted to meet Roy but was shy and timid, and when he could not make up his mind to approach and meet Roy, he started imagining his meetings with Roy. Although, this obsession did not end there and went on to another level, where this anonymous person, who used to define himself as the most stupid person on planet earth, started to think, act, and behave cleverly. As time passed, he thought of himself as an intelligent person capable of understanding almost everything. So, one day, he tries to challenge Roy, his hero with a secret motive of defeating him. He wanted to defeat Roy and that was why he took Megha with him otherwise why would he take her with him? And it was extremely dangerous, as there is no guarantee of a person who is mentally unstable.

                

Roy reached the telephone booth and made a call to his old friend, Mr. Anthony Gonsalves, a Senior Police Officer. “Hello,” Mr. Gonsalves answered the call.

                

“Am I speaking to Mr. Anythony Gonsalves, Senior Officer in Mumbai Police?” Asked Roy to confirm if it was Mr. Gonsalves speaking. 

                

“Yes, you’re talking to the same person, but regrettably, he is not a Senior Officer anymore.” Answered Mr. Gonsalves.

                

“Why? What happened? There are still five years remaining before your retirement, Robin!” Roy said using Mr. Gonsalves’s pet name.

                

“Wait! Who’s this? Who am I speaking to?” Mr. Gonsalves asked, suddenly alarmed.

                

“You’re speaking to the man who gave you this name, Gonsalves.”

                

“And I still hate this name as much as I love the man who gave it to me. Roy, I can’t believe you called. So many years, man. Where are you? What are you doing after quitting that investigation work?” Mr. Gonsalves said on top of his voice in happiness. 

                

“Right now, I am in Mumbai and I need to see you urgently”

                

“You? In Mumbai? Is everything fine?”

                

“It doesn’t get better,” Said Roy and fixed a meeting with Mr. Gonsalves.

                

After making the call, Roy stopped a taxi and told the taxi driver to take him to Colaba where his old friend, Mr. Gonsalves stayed. Sitting in the taxi, Roy pressed himself to not to think anymore about the psychopath, who sent him the letter. He was extremely tired and his mind demanded nothing, but rest. Still, something in him was unsettling. A part of him was enraptured, just happy to be back. As taxi driver sped his vehicle up the bridge, streetlights cast a shadow of the taxi he was sitting in on the road, and Roy gazing at it, realized where his happiness lies.

                

Quietly, he looked up to see the dark, moonless sky and questioned himself:

                

This sea of darkness has an ending and it’s called dawn. Is there an ending to the darkness that lies within me or is it never-ending?

***

During his prime years in detective business, Roy faced many complex cases and solved them, but among them was a murder case of a local politician. The murder case of a politician involved high stakes and no private investigator wanted to take the risk. But Roy stepped forward to take on the politician’s case. When his friend, Mr. Gonsalves got to know about his decision, he quickly asked Roy to step out of it because failing would’ve only one result – death. If they come after you, they’ll come in many, and I’d like to add – police can’t save you from a mob. We just can’t control them. ­– were Mr. Gonsalves’s words in his last try to induce Roy to not to take the case. However, Roy took it and went on to prove that it was not a murder, but a suicide. Not a single person in the entire police department was able to reach this conclusion, but somehow Roy did it. And after solving that case, the entire police department saw a change in Roy. Detective Roy started to smile more, not because he solved another mystery, but he had found a true friend in the form of Mr. Anthony Gonsalves.

                

The taxi driver stopped exactly outside Gonsalves Mansion. Roy paid him and stood outside for a moment to take a quick view of his either sides to catch a sight of a car or man. When he could not see anyone watching him, he entered the gate and rang Gonsalves Mansion’s doorbell. An old man, mostly in his fifties opened the door and asked Roy;

                

“Yes?” 

                

“I am Roy. Is Mr. Goansalves there?” Roy asked.

                

“Oh! Yes, come in. He is expecting you.”

                

As Roy stepped into the Gonsalves Mansion, he couldn’t stop himself from admiring the beauty of the place. The impeccable beauty of the Mansion lay in its simplicity and artistic nature. From where Roy was standing he was able to see a large five glass ceiling hanging lights that illuminated the entire drawing room, quotes of various legendary personalities hung on the wall, two simple yet attractive paintings stuck on side walls, furniture consisted of two truckle beds on each corner, and there was a wooden staircase just a few inches on Roy’s righthand side. Roy’s attention was hijacked by the noise of footsteps that were approaching him from the next room. A few seconds later, Mr. Anthony Gonsalves entered the room with his dog, whose breed Roy guessed was Great Dane due it’s tall and lean physique. Its coat was Harlequin, white with torn black patches. At one moment, Roy was dumbstruck because as far as he knew, Mr. Gonsalves was afraid of dogs.

               

“Roy, my friend. It is a great joy to see you after so long.” Mr. Gonsalves said, dropping the rope from his hand. He came forward and hugged Roy as tightly as he could. Suddenly, Roy heard Mr. Gonsalves sobbing.

                

“Hey! You alright?” Roy asked releasing himself from Mr. Gonsalves’s hand's grip.

                

“Yes! I am absolutely fine. All these years, I didn’t think of you much, but whenever I did, I felt like going out and searching for you. Roy, my friend, I lost hope of seeing you again and I was nearly convinced that you would never return to Mumbai ever again. Unexpectedly, today, you called me and now, you’re standing right in front of me. Thank-you, Roy. You’ve rekindled my life.” Mr. Gonsalves said with wetness still visible on his cheeks. Roy offered him a handkerchief that he accepted without a word and silently wiped his tears.

                

“Have you got something to say?” Mr. Gonsalves asked, hoping Roy would say a few nice words regarding him.

                

“Get me a cup of black coffee,” Roy said with a smile on his face.

               

“Bastard! I praised you so much, can’t you say a few nice lines about me.” 

                

“Gonsalves, there is no time for nice words. I’ve got a task to do.”

                

“What is it?”

                

“Do you have a workroom?”

                

Mr. Gonsalves nodded and gestured Roy to climb the stairs. “Is there anything else you need, Roy?”

                

“Nothing. Get yourself a coffee too. It’s going to take time.”

***

With seriousness discernible in Roy’s voice, he profusely explained every single happening to Mr. Gonsalves, who quietly sat in his chair, listening to Roy and sipping his coffee. In the middle, Mr. Gonsalves asked questions regarding Roy’s after retirement life to which Roy gave his staple answers. He prepared for it before coming to Mumbai. Once Roy was done narrating, he sat parallel to Mr. Gonsalves, waiting for him to react or respond. Until now, it was Mr. Gonsalves who had asked about Roy’s personal life whereas Roy seemed to uninterested in Mr. Gonsalves. Still, there were questions darting in Roy’s mind, but right now he was in a hurry to save Megha. Mr. Gonsalves placed his cup on the table, cleared his throat and spoke:

                

“So, your helper is gone missing. By the way, how many months ago you hired her?”

                

“Six months ago. She needed money to pay her college fees and a place to stay. I offered her the job and she took it without hesitation.”

               

“Roy, why are you here? To search for that shameless girl?” Mr. Gonsalves asked 

                

Roy lowered his gaze and looked at the corner of the table. The question which he asked himself uncountable times before catching the train, and didn’t get an answer for was again thrown at him and this time, he needed to answer it.

                

“Answer me, Roy. It can be a trap set for you. When you discovered the truth, you must’ve stayed back instead of coming here. Didn’t you suspect that she could be a trickster? Don’t tell me, you did not!” Mr. Gonsalves shouted at Roy. As a true friend, he didn’t want Roy exposed to danger. “Explain brother”

                

“You know it, Gonsalves. Four years back, I took her life. I never wanted to, but circumstance made me do it.  After that day, things changed. It changed in such a way that whenever I look into people’s eyes, I imagine what they think of me? Do they recognize me as a murderer? After all, it was not her mistake. We all know about it. All these years, I have lived in guilt and dismay. It has been tough and now, Megha has been kidnapped because of me and only I am to be blamed for it. Gonsalves, you know it hurts, but you’ll never know how much it hurts.” Roy paused and looked up to face Mr. Gonsalves, whose gaze was fixed at Roy. Both men maintained silence for some minutes before Roy changed the course of the conversation by saying:

                

“Do you want to read the letter?” To this question, Gonsalves nodded his head.

                

Without uttering a word, Roy handed the letter to Mr. Gonsalves. After putting on his glasses, Mr. Gonsalves studied the letter. “He’s smart. Not a handwritten one.”

               

“It’s typed on Imperial Typewriter.”

                

“How do you know it, Roy?”

                

“I just happen to know it,” Roy said, smiling.

                

Mr. Gonsalves gave him a suspicious glance and said, “You got anything else?” Roy shook his head.

                

“Right now, we only have this letter typed by an unknown person, who happens or acts to be a crazy admirer of yours. With this, we aren’t going anywhere. We need something else, something that’ll help us get a lead.” Mr. Gonsalves said and slammed the letter on the table in frustration.            

                

He never gets irritated so early. Something is wrong with him – Roy thought considering Mr. Gonsalves’s strange behavior.

                

“Our condition is not that bad. I have something to tell you, Gonsalves,” Roy beamed.

                

“Spill”

                

“In my career span of seven years, I solved several cases, some murder, some half-murder, some robbery mysteries, and whatnot. The duration of imprisonment may vary from one crime to another and I guess there were four to five criminals, who have been sentenced to life imprisonment and only one was put to death.”

                

“So, what does that prove?”

                

“Wait! Let me come to the point. There were criminals, whom I caught that have been sentenced to seven or fourteen years of imprisonment. So…” Before Roy could continue, Mr. Gonsalves intervened:

                

“You mean to say, criminals who were sentenced seven to eight years ago from now are taking revenge on you?”

                

“Exactly! Anyone of them. While I was on the train, I was trying to recall the names of criminals I encountered, but I couldn’t recollect any names.”

                

“Leave it to me. I’ll find the names along with dates of arrest.” Mr. Gonsalves said and lit a cigarette for himself. He didn’t offer it to Roy completely aware that Roy would never smoke and drink.

                

“I suppose you said you’re not a senior police officer anymore,” Roy said with a puzzled expression on his face. He was confused about the work status of his old friend. 

                

“Oh! I forget to explain to you. At present, I am not a senior police officer, but I am a secret agent of Mumbai Police.” Mr. Gonsalves said, reclining on his chair with a smile on face.

                

Roy grinned and asked: “What’s the job of a secret agent?”

                

“Before I could tell you regarding my job, you need to why Mumbai Police has taken this step. A lot has happened after your departure, the entire Police Department has become dysfunctional, disorganized, and corrupted. Over the years, Mumbai Police is ranked amongst top ten forces of the country and suddenly, there were reports of internal corruption and bribery. In the last few years, due to inapt occurrences in the department, we lost respect in people’s eyes and it led to the loss of reputation. At last, Mumbai Police decided to set up a secret department, who’ll covertly work and directly report to the commissioner.”

                

Upon completion of Mr. Gonsalves’s explanation, Roy said, “That’s great! You deserve to be appointed for this noble work. What really you’ve to do?”

               

“I am sorry, but I may not be able to disclose the functions of our secret department.”

                

“Who am I going to tell, Gonsalves?” Roy jested. 

                

“I know you’re curious, Roy. But I cannot. It’s an order, boy!” Mr. Gonsalves said in a firm voice.

                

Roy looked deeply hurt. He expected Mr. Gonsalves to trust him and tell him how the secret department works. But…

                

Times have changed. He doesn’t trust me any longer.

                

“Look at your face, Roy. It seems you’ll cry if I do not tell you!” Mr. Gonsalves said and chortled. Roy made a face and waited for Mr. Gonsalves to get over his laughter.

                

“Our work is simply to gain knowledge of malapropos activities, secretively. Until I am in the secret department, I am not supposed to be on duty. It is quite hard to keep watch on people, but we are assigned an assistant each, who helps us in procuring information. So, right now, my life is not so bad, not so good either.”

                

“It’s nice to know your life is balanced unlike mine,” Roy sighed.

                

“Everything will be fine. By tomorrow, I’ll make sure we have the necessary information. Don’t worry. We’ll catch that bastard soon.”

                

“It is not simple as it seems. Things are going to get nastier, Gonsalves.”

                

“Why do say that?”

                

“He didn’t take only Megha. Something else is also missing from my house.”

                

“What else is missing?”

                

“My revolver,” Roy whimpered.

                

“Do you mean to say…?” Mr. Gonsalves did not complete the sentence, but both of them understood what it meant. Fear hung in the air, they could feel it, and it reminded them of – uncertainty. Nothing was certain, nothing.

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End of sample chapters. Did you like them? If yes, don’t hesitate to buy the book. It’s available at a very low price. Here's the link: The Closed Case 

If you’re from a country other than India, contact the author for the link of the book or if you’re able to find it by yourself, it’d be very much appreciated.

Thank you for reading!

Amay Saxena!