Murder In The Garden

Chapter 2

Next Morning

As the Sun rose in the sky, the birds left their nests and soared in the sky, chirping happily. But the atmosphere in Aalayam was different. The birds were not chirping happily. Instead their voices indicated fear. They seemed to be warning about the wrong that has or was about to happened.

Amidst all this, Ramesh, the house-servant, walked into the garden, humming a song to himself. He inhaled the fresh air and moved towards the flower that he had grown in the house.

Ramesh was a fifty year old man. He had dedicated half his life to the family and was extremely loyal to them. He had no one in this world apart from his employers and treated their home as his own. The family never found any reason to complain and were extremely satisfied with his service.

Humming to himself, Ramesh reached his precious plants. And the scene in front scared him. He screamed as loudly as he could.

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"Yes. We succeeded. Aalayam should also experience pain. Don't worry. No one will suspect us. Just act normal," said the man with hooded jacket.

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Listening to Ramesh's scream, everyone came running into the garden. Yakshit looked at his horrified face and asked, "What happened?" Ramesh pointed towards something. Everyone looked at it and gasped. 

On the grass lay the dead body of Indali Verma, a small knife stabbed right into her heart. Yakshit immediately collapsed. Jatin held him and said, "Call the police and don't touch anything." He carried his father into the house.

Living Room 

Yakshit and Advika were sitting on the sofa. Yakshit was grief-stricken. Ramesh and Suneeta were standing at the door. Tears were flowing down Suneeta's eyes while Ramesh was still horrified at the sight he had seen. Jatin was holding Jheel as she sobbed. Jwala was standing expressionless. 

The door bell rang. Asking Jwala to take care of Jheel, Jatin went to answer it. Soon, he entered with Assistant Commissioner Of Police, Abhijeet Singh, Inspector Dinesh Kumar and a few more officers. 

Abhijeet looked around himself and said, "I am very sorry for your loss. I promise to try my best to punish the person who did so." He looked at Jatin and continued, "Please give the introductions of all the family members. And we would need to look at the dead body." Jatin nodded and said, "If you move out of the house to the garden, you will find my grandmother lying de...dead." He took a long breath to calm himself and said, "She is.....was Mrs. Indali Verma." Pointing towards his parents, he said, "They are her son and daughter-in-law, Mr Yakshit, owner of Passion, and Advika. I am their son, Jatin Verma. These are my sisters, Jwala and Jheel."

Abhijeet observed everyone's expressions and finally, looked at the two un-introduced people. Jatin spoke, "They are Ramesh Kaka and Suneeta Kaki. They have been with us for years."

Abhijeet nodded at them. He looked at Dinesh and ordered him to go and investigate the dead body. As the Inspector left, Abhijeet once again looked at the family and said, "Do you people suspect any one?" 

All of them shook their heads in no. Everyone except Yakshit. Abhijeet looked at him and said, "Mr Yakshit?"

Yakshit looked at the officer and said, "Yesterday. It happened yesterday. Passion won another project and my competitors, Vishal Singh and Ajeet Rathore, they threatened me. Threatened me to take away my most precious thing. They took away my mother. Officer, they took away my mother."

Abhijeet looked at Yakshit sympathetically and assured him, "If they have done wrong, I promise you that they will face the consequences."

Saying so, he moved towards the crime scene, followed by Jatin.

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So, how is it?

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