A day with Manual

Afterwards Manual and Litha were seen in a police station. Though they were seated opposite Inspector Madhavan, he was not aware of their presence.

Before they could speak, a constable entered that room with a fax message.

 “This came just now. This girl is missing,” said he and handed it over to the inspector who had a glance at it and was lost in thought.

“She is missing from yesterday.  The message has been passed on to all the police stations.  Seems to be from a wealthy family,“ said the constable.

 The Inspector had one more look at it before he said, “Might have eloped with her lover. A rich family, of course! The father and mother wouldn’t have got time to raise their child properly. Screw those bastards. If they don’t have time to raise children properly why did they bear them?”  He threw the paper on the table.

Litha found her photo on it and looked sheepishly at Manual. He just smiled without uttering a word.  The Inspector took that photo again.

“She hasn’t even bloomed fully. Who will gain from this bud?  Ah, today’s generation, they are too fast. How old was that girl whom we caught in that raid?  Hardly fourteen and what did she say? She was in need of pocket money, am I right?” The constable said ‘yes’ in answer to that.

“These kids can’t be put back on the right track even by the Gods,” said the Inspector to the constable and added “But we should enquire if she was abducted. Time is like that. Many are fond of abusing minors. If the case is something like that then I’ll get him. It had been good for that man if he had not been born.”

“This policeman interests me”. Manual’s face lit up as if he had found a person fit to be elected.

The constable saluted the Inspector and went out of the room.  Manual said that they would also follow him and Litha got up and went with him to the next room. As soon as the constable sat on his chair Manual asked him to tell them about the case of a ‘drunken man’s death that they had investigated in the previous week. The constable took sometime to remember it as it was an ordinary case and had nothing peculiar to it. He started saying it in detail on the command of Manual.

“We were on routine duty when we got message that a person was dead. We reached there without any delay and found a person lying on the courtyard, stone dead. I had one look at him and I knew it. A cemented ground, covered with moss because of heavy rains.  Any drunken rascal daring to walk over it wearing a worn-out chappal will fall slipping his leg. There is no doubt about it. If he hits a stone or the edge of a step his fuse will be blown out. One more thing you should note-that courtyard was littered with stones and bricks. Careless beggars.

The stone on which he had hit his head was there. I saw the mark left on slipping and concluded it to be an accident resulting from carelessness. We found no need for further investigation and took the measurements and one of us started writing the report. Our boss also didn’t find anything unusual. So he didn’t bother to pester us.

He has a peculiar habit. He won’t be able to sleep at night if he doesn’t console the relatives of the dead himself. The dead man’s wife was a nurse. When he went inside to talk to her I also followed him. When that woman returned from work she found her husband, the dead man lying on the ground, she said. He was already dead by that time. And their daughter who was studying for exam didn’t hear any sound. That was natural, she has to be focused in her studies as she was in the tenth standard.  Then that woman raised alarm and the people gathered and someone called the station.

I questioned the people who had gathered to get a  clear idea of the dead man’s character. We need to know whether anyone had any motive to kill him. Then I understood one thing-that this beggar had the habit of getting sloshed and beating his wife daily. Never did any honorable work in his life, but drank with his wife’s earnings also.  Then he will beat her after drinking with her own money. One man gave statement that he had tried to molest two women in the neighborhood. And that woman, everyone had a good opinion about her-ready to help anyone. How did that angel natured woman got such a wild  and villan husband-the line on her head was drawn wrongly. It was her fate to suffer.  It was good for her and her child that he was dead.

I was satisfied with my enquiry and waited for our boss.  Sometimes he also behaves as if gone nuts. He came out and walked around the corpse, then he took the stone and looked at it for some time, as if gazing at a crystal ball. Then he started walking across the courtyard. One was lying there on his back, flat dead.  Shouldn’t he be more careful then?  But no. He is the boss. Can we ask him to watch his steps? No. He is the boss. You should remember that always. He was walking as if in a dream.

We heard a commotion and looked. Lo, the boss was also flat on the ground. Is there anyone who won’t laugh at the fall of a policeman? We were so ashamed when he heard the people roaring with laughter.

He went inside the house to clean the dirt from his uniform. He took so much time that we thought he was waiting to dry the wet clothes. When he returned the dirt was still there. Then why did he take so much time?  Can we ask him?  No, he is the boss. You should remember that always. The public were suppressing their laughter when they saw him. They were just enjoying when a man was there on the ground-dead cold.  Shouldn’t they respect a dead body at least!

Our boss asked to send it for post-mortem. He might have been suspicious about something. Otherwise he would have had a prophetic vision when he fell on his back. When the post mortem report came it was a clear cut case that death had occurred from the injury on the head. It also  said that he was drunken when he died. We wrote our conclusion ‘an accidental death-nothing to suspect’ and closed the file.

But why are you so interested in this case? Are you a relative of that dead man?”  He asked. Manual ignored his query and went towards the Inspector, followed by Litha.

“Madhavan,” said Manual, “There is a complaint that you don’t investigate properly, is it true?

“Who the crap are you?”  Inspector raised his voice.  His eyes fell on Litha and a tinge of recognition was seen there.

“Are you the bastard who kidnapped her?  Move aside. I will show you if I investigate properly or not.”  Shouted the Inspector. Manual raised his hand and touched him. He fell into a deeper slumber.

“Mind your language for I wish to talk to you,” said Manual in a serious tone. “Tell us about the case of that drunken man. How did you handle it?”

The Inspector started responding in his normal voice in a proper language.

“That case has become a headache for me. I did the role of judiciary also while handling it. Now I’m haunted with the thought whether what I did was right or not.”

“How many people know what had actually happened?”

“Three, including me.  No one else has any doubts. It would be unjust to expose the real culprits, so I though and decided to let two helpless people go free. I am worried if I have denied justice to the murdered man.”

“Murdered,” Manual showed surprise. “The constable told us that it was a natural death, and there was nothing suspicious about it. Please tell us about it in detail.”

“We got the message while patrolling and reached the spot within five minutes” stated the Inspector. “As informed a person lied there dead on the back courtyard of a medium sized house. He would have slipped on the cemented floor and hit his head fatally on a stone. That might be the cause of death, I felt and directed my team mates to investigate and prepare the report. I went inside to talk with that ill-fated man’s wife. She was in the bedroom and I sent message and waited in the drawing room.

She came with a swollen face, from crying.  I got the smell of dress, newly taken out of a closed cupboard. I have a slight problem of allergy and my nose is sensitive to that smell. I made out that she had changed dress a short while ago. This was strange.  Her husband was dead and she was more interested in wearing fresh dress!  My mind was alerted.  She said that she found her husband lying there when she came from the hospital and she had called out aloud for help.  Someone from the neighborhood had informed the station.

Wasn’t she trying to hide something? If things had happened like that where was the need to change dress?  Her saree was not matching with the blouse. She wouldn’t have noticed it in that state of mind. Or in her hurry she wouldn’t have got time to change the blouse.

It was not a hapless wife lamenting over her husband’s death that stood before me. I should view everything from a new angle, I said in my mind. I had a small talk with her daughter and went out to study the corpse once again. I studied the stone on which the head had hit. There was no blood stains on it. But blood could be seen on the back collar and on the ground. How would have it happened?  I tried the reconstruct the scene in my mind. He would have slipped his left leg and fell down. Though he broke his head he would have raised it immediately. Perhaps he would have sat on the ground for a moment. Then blood could trickle on to his back collar from the wound that was on the back of his head.

He had to lean on his hand to sit on a slippery ground.  The marks of his hand should be there on the spot. Some moss would have been caught under the nails or on his fingers.  But I didn’t find any marks of his sitting there. Wouldn’t he have called his daughter for help if he had sat on the ground?  She hadn’t heard any sound, so had she said. But when I had looked at her face,  I had seen fear there.  Unexplainable deep fear!  I hadn’t questioned the girl in-depth but I had a feeling that she was hiding something.  Either the evidences were not giving the true picture or that mother and daughter were hiding things from me. I examined the stone again.

There was a growth of moss where the stone lied.  How can moss grow where sunlight doesn’t reach? That implied that the actual position of the stone was not that. It was taken from somewhere else and kept there. I went around and found it. I saw a place where there was no moss and that area was the same as that of the stone and it was about two feet away from the dead body.  Would it be moved by him when he fell?  I asked myself but found no possibility of it.  The position of the stone intensified my doubts that it was a murder.

I studied the mark made on the ground when he slipped. I could clearly see the mark made by the left leg. How can a worn out hawai slipper make such a distinct mark?  I examined the slipper on his left leg and found marks on its outer side. Shouldn’t the dirt be on the inner side when it was the left leg that slipped?  It was evident that someone else had worn it on his or her right leg and dragged it so that a mark was made there. As expected that mark curved towards the left. On closer examination I found that the mark was made clearer using a smaller, but sturdier footwear. None other than a ladies chappal would have been used for that. I added up the suspicious matters of the changed saree and this and the picture became clearer.

I was confronting a wise woman either careless in reconstructing evidences to prove it to be a murder or a cunning murderer who made minute mistakes here and there because of lack of time. I

strolled across the courtyard intending to find a saree hung on a clothesline. But I couldn’t find it. I slipped and fell intentionally near where that man lied. Though it amused the onlookers it served me two purposes.

First, I could go inside the house without arousing suspicion in any. Second, I could see the course of the left leg when it slips. My assumptions were almost correct. I found the saree soaked in detergent in the bathroom. She had tried to wash it clean but a very light stain remained. Perhaps I wouldn’t have found it if she had washed it properly. When I came out I found her chappals under a cot. I was examining it when she came near me.  She couldn’t remain peaceful when I was inside the house.

‘Nice chappal. Is this yours?’ I asked her examining the right one. She turned pale when saw the chappal in my hand.

‘I don’t use it these days.’  She said trying to hide her fear. ‘Aha’ said I and tried to scratch a little moss that was caught on it. I turned to call a constable to beckon the lady police and she fell at my feet, sobbing and pleading for mercy and requested me not to spoil her life. I asked her to reveal everything.

‘Sir, he was a wicked man, my husband.’ started that woman wiping her tears. ‘He has never given us peace in our lives. He made this house hell. Soon after our marriage he stopped going for work. His employer asked him not to attend work after drinking. After that he has never gone there. And I should give him money for his viles. From where, I asked him once and the answer he gave me, I am ashamed to say it it you.  That day my respect for him ended. I could treat him only as a leech drinking my blood. To be truthful, there were instances when I prayed him to be dead.

Sometimes I felt that he had an evil eye on our daughter. But I thought it to be only my fear. Still I dared not leave her alone at home.  If it was a school holiday, I would go for duty after sending her to my mother.  And I used to avoid night duty as far as possible.  Today I had seen him going out and so left for the hospital leaving her alone here.  I was uneasy thinking about her and phoned my mother to come over.  She was not well and I had a premonition of trouble. I took half day leave and left the hospital. When I reached home I heard the sound of something falling on the floor. I heard my daughter screaming and I ran inside, only to see her father trying to force upon her. I tried to stop him but he pushed me aside. He was no longer a human being.  He was a wild beast to cast his evil eye upon his own daughter. I ran out to call for help. He shouldn’t repeat it. I was ready to hand him over to the police, if necessary. I saw a stone on the ground and I was no longer conscious of what I was doing. I took it and went inside. I had only the picture of my daughter screaming for help in my mind and I was not aware of myself when I hit him. He turned his face and looked at me. For the first time I saw helplessness in those eyes.  He moved forward to  grab at my throat but staggered and fell down. And died instantly.

I had no intention to kill him. But it happened. The anger that was suppressed for years was let out for a second. He got what he deserved.  Then I thought about our life.  If I didn’t act fast I would be caught for murder. Then what about my daughter, who was standing in a corner like a hunted deer. Who would look after her? I had done it for her sake, but now! I didn’t want to surrender when I thought about her.

I asked her for assistance and we brought the body outside.  And kept that stone nearby. I made the mark of slipping with his slipper  for the people to think that he had slipped and fell. But it was not clear, so I used my own chappal for that. Then I gave my daughter confidence and asked her to go inside.  Then I shouted for help and people came.  This was what happened.  He has neither given me justice as a husband nor to my daughter as a father.  Will you also deny us justice?  She asked and started crying again.’

The Inspector paused for a moment and continued, “I told her that she was a culprit in the eyes of the law and her husband’s evilness was not a justification for her crime. Then I thought about her situation. Didn’t she commit the crime after suffering the punishment from her husband?  How could I punish her again?  If I turn a blind eye that mother and daughter would be saved.  After all it was not a pre-planned murder.  Any other woman in her position would have done the same.

Still she tried to fool the police by destroying evidences. The policeman inside me accused her. But she had confessed everything.  But that was only when she had no other options.  But still…

In what state of mind would that daughter be?  If I arrest her mother, she would lose both her parents. In one instant she had everything and the next instant she would have nothing! If there was no one to take care of her, wouldn’t her relatives or some other miscreants try to take advantage of her?  How would her mother, who saved her from her father, save her then?  My conscience advocated for that mother and daughter.  How can anyone help a helpless girl who can’t save herself?  The policeman inside me was unrelenting.

Then I decided to remain silent if my subordinates didn’t find it out. I decided to give that mother and daughter justice if the autopsy didn’t pinpoint it to be a murder. Both were to their advantage.  I closed that file as a natural death caused by fall.“ The Inspector stopped and looked at Manual.

Manual, unable to take a decision, turned to Litha and found her lost in some other thoughts. “You closed your eyes as per your conscience. Now what’s troubling you?”  He asked finally.

“I didn’t give justice to the deceased, that feeling is worrying me?”

“Give justice to those alive first.  Only after that think about the dead.” Manual gave out his verdict.

“No body will ask for a re-investigation as the deceased was a public nuisance, hated by all. But if the file is reopened I will be in trouble. They won’t get the evidence of the saree or the dirt on the chappals, but that girl will sing like a bird and that will harm my career.”  He was uncomfortable with the prospect of a promotion delayed or denied.

“How far will you go up in your career?  I don’t know how man and his law will judge you. But I don’t judge you for treating a woman and her daughter with righteousness. Continue your job with sincerity and honesty. You will attain a much higher position than you can imagine.”  Manual imparted him with confidence and continued. ”I have come to hand over you a case where justice has to be done.  This girl, a minor, was subjected to an atrocious act. There was an attempt on her life too.  The culprits are two influential men, well honored in the society. You should arrest them and punish them as per your law.”

He described to him where her corpse was lying and how to reach there. The Inspector agreed to do all that he could, though that area was beyond his territory.

”Madhavan,” said Manual, “when you wake up you will remember only this duty that I have given you now.  The rest, you will forget.  As soon as you wake up start immediately to that cemetery. The culprits are on their way towards it already. You can nab them easily.”

“Even if I arrest them, they will be let off by the court. They have enough contacts at higher places and enough money to flow like water.” The Inspector said in a depressed voice.

“If they escape, bribing those concerned, they will be denied the chance to repent and remit their sins. They will be handed over to those capable of destroying their souls and flesh. Those who take money from them will be made to answer for their souls.”

The Inspector looked at his watch and said, ”It’s quarter to ten already. I don’t know whether there will be anyone in that station now.”

“Quarter to ten!”  Manual and Litha leaned forward in surprise.

“Is it correct?”  She asked in disbelief.

“Correct, but for a few seconds.”  The Inspector woke up.

Manual and Litha rushed out without uttering another word. Only fifteen more minutes were left to complete the stipulated time. They had succeeded in finding only eight people including that Inspector till now. In fifteen minutes they had to find two more people and reach that church on time to meet Sanpo.