I: The Maniac
On a no moon night, in Flint’s city, Elieen served supper in the dining room while informing her husband, “Jen! Dinner’s ready!”
When she heard no response, she shouted again, “Where are you?”
While walking towards the stairs that led to their bedroom, she heard water leaking from the washroom. “Hoof! I’m vexed with this man”, she said to herself as she reached the washroom to tighten the tap.
Soon, she started walking towards the bedroom by crossing the living room and everything around was unusually calm. Unable to bear this distinct silence, Elieen shouted, “Jen! Are you there?”
Midway through the stairs, Elieen could feel a liquid touching her feet. Looking down, she saw blood flowing on the steps. At once she shouted, “Jen!” before rushing to their bedroom.
When she opened the door, she could see the man she married lying at the feet of her brother resting in Jen’s rocking chair. His tooth is broken, nose smashed and with his eyes wide open, he lay on the floor dead.
Gawking at his sister for a moment, Elieen’s brother shot her on the forehead with his gun attached with a silencer. As she crashed, the lean slick man just stood up and left with no remorse or fear of being caught.
The next day, early in the morning the maid found the dead bodies and called the police. In an hour, reporters got onto the site to inform about how Richard Samwan’s only daughter was murdered in her own home and the two guards who protected her personal residence in the ten-acre estate were nowhere to be found.
Inspector John was with the forensic team as they collected fingerprints and moved the decomposing bodies. Beside him stood the maid describing how the house reeked as soon as she entered and John suspected the guards might also be dead and instructed the policemen to check the surroundings.
From how she spoke without hesitation, John didn’t suspect the maid for a moment and after taking her statement, he walked out of the mansion before a news reporter shoved her mike towards him asking, “This certainly seems like a ploy by someone against the members of Mr. Richard Samwan’s family. Last year, Mr. Richard Samwan killed himself and now his daughter was murdered. Care to comment?”
Noticing the young reporter trying her best to make a name for herself, John carelessly replied, “The investigation has just begun. It’s too early to connect any dots and jump to conclusions. If we find anything, we would definitely inform the people of the Carsaw Country.”
Leaving the ten-acre estate that was managed by fifty servants, John soon realized that he had to find the security for Elieen’s personal residence and take testimonials from the others. Thinking about this unending process of eliminating each of them as a suspect, he reached the police station located in the centre of the city.
As he walked into his room, he could see an officer waiting for him. Noticing him, he stood up and saluted before both of them settled. Realising who he was, John assured, “We will certainly find whoever killed your sister, Mr. Tinkron.”
Knowing the truth as to how the police department worked in the Carsaw Country, Trinkron replied, “Can I be a part of this investigation, Mr. John? I’ve lost two of my family members to this unknown killer and my mother and brother are all that I have right now. It would be a great help if you could rope me in for this.”
Thinking about it for a moment, John replied, “You are related to the victims, Mr Trinkron. I’m sure you are aware that we cannot involve you in the investigation. It would be against the law.”
Glancing at the middle-aged man, Trinkron suggested, “Alright, I understand the limitation but if I’m just helping without getting involved in the case as per the official record or the on-paper report. Is it acceptable?”
Presuming he wanted to bring the killer to justice, John casually stood up before saying, “Let me show you the case files...”
II: The Suspect
Flipping through the pages of the case, Tinkron could see the old documents where he was a suspect when his father killed himself. If not for his alibi, Tinkron would have been arrested on suspicion of killing his own father. As he continued flipping pages, he saw his lean elder brother James Samwan’s photo.
Standing beside him, John asked, “Though you and your sister were cleared of your father’s case, James is still a suspect.”
Without a moment of hesitation, Tinkron replied, “James would never hurt my sister. He loves her too dearly…”
Interrupting him, John pointed out, “If I’m not mistaken, he loved your father in the same way Tinkron and no one believes that your father killed himself.”
That statement reminded Tinkron of his late father, the strict disciplinary man who punished his children at the slightest misconduct. Richard Samwan was the third richest man in the Carsaw Country. He supplied oil, iron and food for the country and nearly owned half of the politicians through influence and money. He was so powerful that Flint’s city never even had a candidate in the elections and Samwan’s family always won making Flint city, Richard’s kingdom.
No one ever expected that such a powerful man would kill himself. When the police confirmed that he didn’t kill himself and that it was a clear murder, everyone jumped onto the family members claiming that they killed him for his wealth. Even though many people knew Richard’s terrible nature of buying off his competitors through hook or crook, he genuinely cared about the people of Flint city.
During the investigation, Tinkron was eliminated as a suspect after he showed he was in a delegation with many politicians while Elieen and James were still accused until Elieen was killed yesterday. Turning towards John, Tinkron replied, “I know it is easy to jump onto my brother but he isn’t stupid enough to kill my sister just a year after my father especially when he is accused.”
With a smile, John asked, “If you are so certain, can we go to your brother right now and ask him a few questions? I would like to know his opinion on your sister’s murder. After all, he loved her dearly...”
Noticing that he was serious, Tinkron agreed. On their way to Richard’s residence on John’s jeep, Tinkron made a phone call to one of his friends before feeling the cold wind. Driving through the dense evening fog, John asked, “I’m just curious, what happens if all the children of Richard pass away. Who would take his wealth?”
Looking suspiciously at John, Tinkron answered, “It will certainly not be given to the government. That much is for sure!” and both the officers laughed.
III: The Conspirator
That night, two female officers reached Mrs. Richard Samwan’s estate and after seeking approval from three sets of guards, the officers reached her. Resting on her bed in her massive room was Mrs. Samwan reading a book.
After being informed that two police officers were waiting for her, she instructed, “Do not send them in unless two guards are accompanying them and take their guns from them before you send them in.”
Nodding in agreement, the maid left and Mrs Samwan put her book aside and adjusted her glasses from the reading position. The cold night was pleasant until the officers entered holding their caps in their hands.
Mrs. Samwan was not naive to not comprehend what happened and she simply demanded, “Please do not play around with your words. Tell me why you are here in a single sentence.”
Both of the officers were surprised to see the seventy-year-old woman being so bold. They thought she would be just two steps away from death and their information might possibly break her but seeing her, they understood that they presumed her wrong. So one of them straight out said, “We are sorry to inform you that your daughter was killed yesterday night.”
Picking up her book, Mrs. Samwan just waved her hand to make the police leave. When they left, the maid was as surprised as the police at the lack of any emotion but realising it was not in her best interest to ask any questions, she left and brought dinner, an hour later.
As she placed the tray table on the bed, Mrs. Sawman asked, “Do you think it would have been better if I pretended I cared?”
Placing a bowl of pumpkin soup and baguette beside it, the maid asked, “Why pretend madam? Shouldn’t you genuinely feel bad?”
Laughing, Mrs. Samwan asked the maid to sit on the bed. Sipping water from the glass beside her bed, Mrs. Samwan said, “Why should I feel sad or for that matter even care if a maid’s daughter is dead?”
Noticing her twinkling eyes, the maid asked, “If she isn’t your daughter, why did you raise her?”
Tearing the bread, Mrs. Samwan answered, “I had to… You see, my husband cheated on me at every possible moment and I had to bury the people he cheated with and raise their kids as my own. These women knew what they were getting into but they didn’t bother. More than the cheating, their attitude bothered me.”
When she heard the word buried, the maid realised the rumours she heard when she first started working for the Samwans were actually true. As she hesitantly asked, “So is it true that you buried people alive, madam?”
Tasting the sweet pumpkin soup, Mrs. Samwan replied, “Of course! Can you imagine, their mother had the audacity to have two kids with my big-headed husband?”
Looking at the terrified maid, Mrs. Samwan chewed before continuing, “So after Elieena was born, I ordered four men to bury the mother in the backyard alive. I wanted her to feel the suffocation I felt when she bore my husband’s children while I, being his lawful wife, didn’t yet have a child. I later gifted the same estate to Elieena after her marriage.”
The maid could no longer sit before her. She stood in fear and Mrs. Samwan just smiled. Finishing her dinner while the maid waited, Mrs. Samwan gave the maid yesterday’s paper. Reading the headline, “Samwan’s estate likely to transfer to Allied Charitable Funds.”
Pointing to the headline, Mrs. Samwan stated, “My late husband was so angry with me for ending his true love that he promised to give me nothing. He was kind enough to give his bastards some money but the rest, he just dumped it into charity.”
While the maid realised who now owns the charity, Mrs. Samwan happily confessed, “So I instigated James to seek revenge against my husband for giving up a lot of his wealth to charity while my son, Tinkron, swayed the politicians to give him complete control over the charitable estates throughout the country.”
Unable to bear her cruelty, the maid warned, “But if the other two children are killed, Tinkron will become the prime suspect being the only surviving sibling with loads of wealth to his name. I’m sure his days will be numbered.”
Asking her to come towards her with her index finger, Mrs Samwan whispered, “If you, being a nobody, could think of it in a second, don’t you think we would have thought about it years ago?”
IV: The Successor
At night, both the policemen entered Richard’s estate to meet James Samwan and the guards bowed, noticing Tinkron. Parking the jeep, both the officers walked into the mansion as two guards opened the doors.
When they entered, they could see James’s body rotting after being tied to a chair at the centre of the main hall. Turning to Tinkron, John exclaimed, “God!”
As he was about to turn on his radio to alert the police, Tinkron took out his gun and shot a bullet into John’s head killing him in a single shot. Walking out of the mansion, he signalled to the guards and they threw in a couple of decoys before blowing out the entire mansion.
The next morning, sitting beside his mother, Tinkron read the headline, “The bomb that killed the successors of Richard Samwan”
Learning of his mother’s soldier, Tinkron asked. “So what happens now?”
Taking a deep breath, she replied, “You will not be seen in the world for a while and then we will introduce you with an alias name and your children will be adopted by me and our legacy will continue…”
Credits
This contribution is edited by Edlyn D’souza & Tarun Chintam & photographed by Pankaj Tottada.
Product
This short story is also available as paperback & ebook.
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