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| Sunday, 14 July 2002 |
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Short Story: Murder most foul Nelum watched the cool mist slowly coming down blocking the beautiful view. She didn't know why she was always being pulled out of the good things in life so soon. She remembered Tilak........... They had a beautiful marriage. But, only for a year. He went missing one Sunday. The following day, his body was found in a ditch at a nearby tea-estate. It was like a nightmare! She had to go through rigorous interrogation by the Police, as if she was the murderer. "Mrs. Wijerathne, tell me exactly what happened that night". Tablets "We were watching television as usual, when my mother told us that her pressure tablets were over...... She has been having high blood pressure for quite sometime and had a mild heart attack about six months back. Tilak went to the town to bring them....But, he didn't return at the usual time......We waited and waited, but he never turned up. I didn't know what to do. My mother advised me to go to the police the following morning......." Nelum said sobbing. Police "Why didn't you call the police that night and why did you wait till morning ?" "We never thought that he was in danger. We thought that the car had broken down as it had many times before. "When such things happen does he call and inform you?" "Yes, when he had his mobile phone......But that night he had forgotten to take it." "Did you two have a fight that evening?" "No Inspector, we never had arguments or fights. He was a very caring husband. We never had a cause to fight. I can't imagine who stabbed him. To my knowledge he had no enemies." "How long as your mother been staying with you?" "About six months. When she got her first heart-attack, Tilak insisted that she stay with us for better care. He always treated my mother as his own." She said with a deep sigh, tears trickling down her cheeks. "Are you working somewhere Mrs. Wijerathne?" "No, Tilak never liked me working. He wanted me to stay at home and look after the family.He provided with everything." "Does he have a life insurance policy?" Nelum knew what the Inspector was getting at. He was questioning to find an opening to accuse her of the murder. It was easy. Wasn't it? To accused the dead man's wife and escape from exhaustive investigations. "No, we never believed in such things." Hidden The car was found hidden behind some shrubs not far from where the body was. A thorough inspection of the car and Nelum's house didn't give any clue except that he had been killed while on the way to the pharmacy. No medicine was with him; only the prescription. The postmortem revealed that Tilak had died somewhere between eight and nine thirty on Sunday night. Nelum did say that he left just after eight o' clock, while the Rupavahini news was on. Inspector Welgama had to abandon his first theory, that Nelum had a hand in the murder. She was a broken woman. He knew she didn't have a proper income. When he remembered the beautiful lonely woman, he pitied. He made up his mind to help her. Nelum suspected the Inspector's intention. His constant visits were a big headache. But, she was afraid to ask him to stop coming to see her. She knew that if he got angry he wouldn't hesitate to make life miserable for her. Most men do dirty things in uniform. "Sir, the Government Analyst's report on Mr. Tilak Wijerathna has come." Sergeant Aponsu handed the Inspector a manila envelope one Tuesday afternoon. It was what Welgama had been waiting for all those days. He grabbed it and went to his office giving orders not to disturb him. Visitor When Simon was told that there was a visitor, he was thrilled. It was his eleventh year in prison. No one came to see him during that period. Not even 'Loku Nona' or 'Chuti Baby' because of whom he was sentenced to life imprisonment. He knew they couldn't visit him. Didn't he kill their bread winner? But, it was a long time ago. They must have come to see him because he had no one else other than them to visit him........ Stranger But, the person who was waiting for him was a stranger. The old man was puzzled. "Are you Simon who worked at 'Nelum baby's' house?" "Yes sir, yes... Did they send you to see me? How are they now? Chuti baby must be married by now and must be having children...." The old man's eyes were filled with tears. He had a remote look. "I'm her husband. She told me everything that happened. You are a saint to take on the blame for something you didn't do. Nelum now regrets what she did." "But, Chuti baby is innocent. No one can suffer the way they did for long. How can a daughter watch her mother being beaten half naked every day? 'Loku Mahattaya' was a real monster. What surprises me is how he did all that being perfectly conscious of what he was doing. He never drank or had any other fault except beating 'Loku Nona' mercilessly." "Can you remember what exactly happened that night?" Simon related the whole story not knowing that Inspector Welgama secretly recorded him. He believed, that the man in front of him was Nelum's husband, not a police Inspector in civil. As Simon said, Nelum hated men who beat their wives. Perhaps, Tilak too beat his wife...... The breakthrough, to the case came, during a conversation, Nelum revealed that her father was stabbed to death by their servant. When Nelum heard Simon over the tape-recorder, she broke down and confessed. She told him how Simon took the blame after she stabbed her father to death while he was sleeping. "Did Tilak beat you like that?" Last "No, he was not a brute like my father. That night was the first time he slapped me for quarrelling with him. I wanted it to be the last! I didn't want to go through the rest of my life being beaten by my husband and suffer like my mother did. I wanted to stop him then and there. I put poison in his coffee. When he fainted vomiting, I stabbed him with the kitchen knife. Mother helped me to put him in the car and the rest you know." "You planned the murder very well. You didn't even forget to put your mother's prescription into the car. Normally, a person forgets such trivial things when committing a crime." "I had to be careful. There was nobody like Simon around to take the blame this time." "The way you kept hold of yourself under my interrogation still puzzles me, even a mass murderer would have broken down under such a gruelling cross-examination". "Fear!............It was fear of going to prison." "No one can get away with murder; You very well know that." "But, I did.......Didn't I?" "Yes. Because Simon was there to face the blame." "Even if he wans't there, I would have managed. Unlike you, most in the Police force don't bother. If we go to complain about a robbery, they want us to catch the robbers and bring them. If the Police is impartial and efficient, there won't be crimes as there is today. But, instead of giving protection, they allow contract killers to terrorise society. Some even hide them under their sleeve." He knew she was correct. Though he felt sorry for her, he knew a shrewd murderer like her had to be punished. Such persons were a threat to society. He watched her being taken to remand prison with her mother, secretly thanking the Government analyst's report. If not for it, he wouldn't have had a way of solving the mystery. Tilak Wijerathne's murder would have been another unsolved case. When, he discovered that Tilak had died poisoning and not from stab injuries, he was sure it was foul play! Inoka Makalanda ,Mt. Lavinia. |
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