The Joke (continued)

Sundarbabu and co enter the room with a few police guards. The room contained eleven men and two women. They were neither surprised to see the police, nor scared. Everyone remained seated in their own places calmly.

Sundarbabu cast an authoritative glance over everyone and said, “Whose name is Birendralal Chowdhury?”

One of them said, “No one’s.”

-“Meaning?”

-“Meaning, Birendralal Chowdhury isn’t present here.”

-“Where is he?”

-“Outside Calcutta.”

-“Where outside Calcutta?”

-“That only he can tell.”

-“Why has he gone outside Calcutta?”

-“That only he can tell.”

-“When will he return?”

-“That only he can tell.”

-“Oh you’re a sly one!”

-“I am not sly; I am the Assistant Secretary of the Association.”

-“And Biren is what here?”

-“The Secretary.”

-“Oh, so you are Biren’s right hand?”

-“As you can see plainly, I am neither a right hand nor a left one. I am a complete, entire human being.”

-“Hey, don’t be cheeky with me!”

-“I am not cheeky.”

-“Hm!”

The two women present in the room tried to cover their sniggers with hankies.

Jayanta said softly, “The thing is rapidly turning into a joke, Manik. The wise thing would be to disappear from here.”

Manik said, “As you wish.”

After returning home, Jayanta said, “I knew it would all come to naught! Crows don’t step into snares as easily as pigeons do. Biren is like a crow.

Manik said, “Achhchha Jay, do you really think Biren is Mukundababu’s murderer?”

“It’s not impossible. But Biren definitely has something to do with Mukundababu’s murder.”

-“What proof do you have to support your statement?”

-“Take that handwritten letter written by Biren. Why would the murderer covet that letter? He must have thought that if the letter was not removed from the scene of the crime he could get caught. Now who would think like that? It must be a person who is either the murderer himself, or his accomplice. So, from both perspectives, it looks like Birendralal played some significant role in Mukundababu’s murder. Manik, had we got a hold of the entire letter, it would have solved all our problems. Sadly, we don’t have that.”

Manik asked, “But why are both his sons absconding?”

-“Out of fear, Manik, out of fear. Not fear of the police, but the fear that drove Mukundababu to hide his own identity, that same tormenting fear has now pushed the sons into hiding. They’re not murderers.”

-“How can you be so certain?”

-“I am not certain; this is merely my common sense making an assumption. Firstly, patricide is unnatural. Two brothers getting together to murder their father, that is especially unnatural. Secondly, if you recall, Mukundababu’s drawer held two one-hundred-rupee notes and twenty-five ten-rupee notes. Had Sanat and Ashok killed their father, they wouldn’t have left so much cash behind.”

“But if someone else is the murderer, then he has also not taken the cash.”

-“He must have come to Mukundababu’s residence looking for something even more valuable. And it is also possible that, as Sanat and Ashok found out that their father was murdered and ran in fear, at the same time the murderer left in a hurry fearing discovery, and didn’t have the opportunity to take the cash with him. Anyway, let us not bother our heads about this any longer today, and play the flute in peace instead. And you can keep the beat your tabla.”

The next day Jayanta and Manik returned from their morning constitutional.

Manik entered the drawing-room to read the papers, Jayanta went upstairs to change.

A little later, Jayanta shouted, “Manik! Come upstairs at once!”

Manik reached upstairs and found Jayanta standing with a piece of paper in his hand.

-“What’s the matter, Jay?”

-“Read this paper.”

On the piece of paper, it was written : “Tonight at ten p.m. we will take your life. Even God will not be able to save you.”

*

(to be continued)

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