Index:Page1,OS: Young Love (NI)-127,Our Miss Daggers(P)-125 - Page 22

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The Artist

It was a normal day in the bureau...that is a strangely silent day. Somehow the chairs screeched no more and Daya's humming was not even heard far. Freddy slightly snickered reading some jokes and Abhijeet sat polishing his new watch. The only person who was close to busy was ACP sir, who was arranging all the files in neat ordered piles. And a loud shrill of the telephone pierced the air.

"She has found us Sir!" someone screamed on the other end. The other end must have been quiet too as all could hear the raspy breaths coming on the loudspeaker."She will spare none of us .She is mistaken" he screamed, as if defending in the jury. But before he could continue, the line cracked and shut.

"Who can this be sir?" Abhijeet enquired. But action was hi agenda. He and Daya immediately checked up on the location of the phone and Daya pointed out "He mentioned us...so there must have been more people right?" and consequently as per Abhijeet's idea , traced the other phones at the same location. And unfortunately they were at wits end when they found 180 people on the list.

The watchman outside chewed his gutka hard to stop himself from drowsing. And the man inside was not an ordinary man, a dancer he was , of reputation. But somehow the impending sleep was torn by a high pitched scream of his sahab.By the time he spit the gutka out and ran in , there was the master and around him, a pattern of feet in rhythm.

And for the second time but not the last, the telephone rang at the CID bureau...

The location of the man's phone had been traced to a very famous auditorium in the city- Nritya Sabha. And on entering the place , all the officers , especially Tasha, being a woman, sensed the calm of the place. it was in the least likely for murder, but it was all perception. They enquired if there were to be a program tonight to which the secretary replied in the affirmative. There was to be a dance performance by a group of male dancers- five of them in particular who performed for the five elements- Fire, Wind, Water, Earth and Space. And all of them were to appear for rehearsal but weren't here yet. Except one of the attendants said he had seen one of them here.

"Daya tumhe yaad hai? Jab who admit bat kart rah that who bilked silent the...jaise ki itni bheed bhaad waali jagah main hoti nahi hai...kahaan ho sakta hai? Kahinn... "Abhijeet left his sentence half finished only to be completed by Vivek.

"Jaise ki recording room main hota hai..."

"Bilkul Vivek ho sakta hai...chalo boss chalkar dekhte hai .."Daya urged.

And in the first floor soundroom , a corpse lay dead of asphyxiation, the man who was supposed to symbolise wind.

"Body to forensic lab bhejte hai" said Abhijeet. There was nothing new about the case that lay ahead , except nobody guessed where it was headed to...

Somewhere in the nearby locality, a very famous dancer preened in the mirror in pride before her left for the rehersal.His face seemed young and resplendent and he thought he was perfect to represent the role of the fire element. Somehow harmlessly , the new gardener who turned up unexpectedly this morning was going round and round the house with an ugly yellow pipe.He should change that he groaned . Somehow minutes later, he was on the barbeque, his house in flames and in the distance , a fire engine burst in full speed..

Somehow Charandas felt at par with the cool water when he finished his 200 laps in his pool at home.Being a dancer , it was impossible that he let age takeover his fitness levels. And yes today he was going to play water.Cool , calm and pure.In that thoughts that flooded his mind , he failed to notice the oozy purple liquid that crept in from the corners and he was put to sleep in his favourite place - water.

And maybe the phone rang for the last time when Shaila found her husband suspended from a fir tree , hanging mid air.The director did call too , for no one turned at the rehersal, but there was no more to be a program, for there were no dancers left.

Dr.Salunkhe , in reality , never felt stressed and worked with ease as a professional.But somehow , the five bodies that had been huddled in a single day, all with different methods of murder, no apparent clues and no clear connection between the cases , he felt he had lost the headstart.Wouldnt be long before the five members strode in to ask the progress.They waited for him to succeed to take a lead.And the reports came in just then. It was no big clue, but they had found the same sweat traces on the victims clothes.

Abhijeet and Daya bent down to inspect a spot of blood near the window.They had reached there as soon as the watchman called them.And the pattern of feet around the man, identified as Shashi Raj , a famous dancer were undoubtedly professional .

But something about the patterns is unreal they observed.Rather than the heat patterns , they were tiny scratches as can be produced by a metal surface.They wondered what it could be.But had not much time, they had to visit the other three locations also.

Freddie and Vivek had entered Chandradas' mansion long time ago after a worried call from servants after breaking the door and finding the master lifeless.No unusual prints, no breakage or no signs of stuggle.If he did die of poisoning, how was it possible that no one's footprints were found near the tub except Chandradas' own? Moreover , there was no separate liquid layed but mild purple stains on the sides.As they had to wait for the analysis report, they decided to inspect the water pipes as that was the only way the poison could have entered otherwise.As they were about to walk out they saw a tiny fibre strand sticking to the tub.To a naked eye it was almost a string but when vivek picked it up it was a narrow capillary tube with one if its ends lying outside the room and in it oozy purple gel...

The last place to be investigated was covered by ACP sir and Tasha.The house of Rajesh , a famous dancer, had been up in fire.The whole place was filled with chars and now cooling pieces.Amidst all that to find clues, they began a tedious search.According to the reports , the fire had been caused by a highly inflammable liquid, petrane- A newly developed mixture of petrol and ethane. There would be obviously traces of the liquid , but to find its source, ACP considered, would be a tough task amidst the charred materials.He remembered Salunkhe telling him that the liquid was very sensitive to temperature changes and would have to be transported in a very thick insulated environment,And then his eyes fell on the mortal remains of a thick, ugly yellow pipe.

The evidences recovered from all the victims' houses were lying in a heap in the forensic lab. Now they knew how each murder had been committed.A capillary tube, a water pipe, both devoid of finger prints is all they had.But the metal scratches, however hard Dr. Salunkhe tried, he couldn't convince them to believe that they were from a rod or so. And suddenly it dawned on them- Iron legs.

It wouldn't have been hard to find that one person who lost their legs in a dance class.And at last they were at Sakshi's house, the person the whole batch had described as a wonderful woman , a beautiful dancer and a target of a misfortunate accident twelve years ago. Also , an eligible doctor .No wonder the whole case had been done so ingeniously and with expert knowledge of chemicals. And then among her belongings, a group photo of hers with the other five dancers who had been victims. And then her diary...

No escaping , no slaps no tears.She just gracefully accepted defeat , almost as if she were waiting for it.

"Where shall i run? " she asked...I have nowhere to go." If there is something you haven't understood, ill explain it for you. I got them to arrange the event.All of them, I wanted to kill them just minutes before their dreams got satisfied, just like mine.And then Im done. I have no life without a passion to pursue.And my dreams have died too early to be reborn. And with the same grace of an artist , she lent her hands forward for the handcuffs to be slipped through.

It would have been over then , hadn't a old frail man entered the room.He said with great contempt

"Where are you taking my daughter?"

Daya and Abhijeet replied that his daughter had murdered five people and had been arrested, and that she will get a severe sentence.They expected him to be shocked, or maybe a totally different reaction.He just laughed wildly. He said

"You might as well arrest me"

Sakshi took a step back as if to make sure if he was all right."Dad" was all she could say.

He rambled on "Twelve years ago, when my daughter wanted to perform and make dance her profession.And we tried our best to convince her, but to no effect.And then I decided that if he scared her, they could keep her away for atleast sometime till she got married.She could have been a doctor by then. But somehow Shashi Raj and Chandradas had known about my intent .They followed me in the auditorium and at the critical moment when i was supposed to shoot her ankle, Shashi Raj shot me. And as a consequence, the gun misfired. I lied that the wound I had was from an accident."

Sakshi somehow hadn't yet reacted.And then words came out , almost mechanically " I spent so many years to fulfil your dreams and you took only a second to destroy mine Dad. And yes , I know, I loved Shashi Raj. They had loved me more , but in my blind fury did not understand them,"

And somewhere in her heart , a last holding string snapped and she cried in anguish as they led her away to a dark future.