Charmaine

Charu was taken aback when Martha shrieked and fainted after calling out “Sherry” as soon as she set her eyes on her. Something was amiss – Uncle Vincent had definitely not gone to Egypt, but why should Ruth tell her so? Martha’s reaction to seeing her was surely triggered by something and Charu wished to unravel the mystery. There was some connection between Sheryl and herself and she was determined to find out what it could be.

On reaching home, she went straight to her grandmother’s room to search for any clues, because it was her gut feeling that if at all anything could be uncovered, it would be in that room. Grandmother lay as still as she had been for the past fortnight. The nurse who had been appointed to look after her had taken permission for half a day and it suited Charu very well as she could peacefully explore the room for clues.

She set about the job straight away, starting with the wooden showcase. Sure enough, she got the first breakthrough – it was sheer luck that it caught her eye! There was a demand notice for renewal of an e-domain MV02FK09, mentioning that as there was no reply to several e-mails sent, the notice was being sent to the address registered with them! The first peg fell into its slot - the inscription on the sword also read MV02FK09 which must be the e-domain! Egged on by this first positive development, Charu looked further for a while. The happenings of that day were intriguing and exhausting and she desperately longed for a coffee break. 

She made her way to the kitchen to make herself a cup of coffee. She had never entered it before as she had left this house several years back immediately after she graduated. Charu had lost both parents in an accident and had to shoulder the responsibility of looking after her aged grandmother who had not been able to get over the trauma of having lost her dear son and his wife. It was Uncle Vincent who took over from day one and if Charu had been able to lead a peaceful life, it was because he had taken charge of the home and grandmother so well. Charu always respected him for that and held him in high esteem as he never ever accepted any compensation for all that he had done. 

Brooding over the coffee, she looked around the kitchen and was surprised to see some cutlery bearing the inscription “MV” – did that mean “Mount Verghese?” As she was pondering over it, she thought of Uncle Vincent. Egypt? Why should Uncle leave for Egypt, if at all he did have to leave the place and that too in such a hurry? It somehow did not gel and something in her told her that Uncle was around close by.

Unable to control her curiosity anymore, she once again made a trip to Uncle’s house. Another surprise was in store for her. She was stealthily climbing down the steps to the house when she heard Vincent Uncle’s voice. So he had not gone to Egypt at all! She hid and strained her ears to listen to what he was saying. It was Ruth’s turn at first to face Uncle’s wrath. He was admonishing him for taking Charu to Martha. Then as Martha came out hearing his abuses, He pounced on her and chided her for having swooned seeing Charu who was a spitting image of Sheryl. Though Charu was bold, she was put off by Uncle Vincent’s behavior – she had never ever seen him in this light. Uncle Vincent then went on: “You good-for-nothing woman, do you know how difficult it was to convince everybody and take control of Mount Verghese? Charu does not know that she is Sheryl’s daughter, Charmaine who is the rightful heir to all this property. You too had helped me with stealing their only child and let her grow up in another family far from her own home?” Martha apologized but said that she had been taken aback by the striking resemblance that she could not react otherwise.

Standing there unknown to the trio, Charu came to know how Uncle Vincent cheated Sheryl and her husband into selling the hotel to him and then faked an accident killing both of them on the spot. Charu was seething with rage but controlled herself to get the full story from Uncle. It was not long before the inebriated Uncle narrated all the happenings.

“What will happen to Charu?” Martha meekly questioned. “Oh, the sword is missing from the museum – but it is with me. I plan to lure Charu to meet me at home in the evening and then get her out of the way”, he chuckled.

Charu realized that it was high time she left the place. She had thoughtfully captured the happenings as a video. Without losing any more time, she went to the nearest police station and gave her statement as well as the video recording on her mobile. The police assured them to lodge a case against Vincent and also protect her.

Sure enough that evening Uncle Vincent called Charu to his home to discuss “something you will surely be interested in”. Charu had tipped off the police and she went to meet him as if she was oblivious to all that had happened.

To cut a long story short, Uncle Vincent was arrested along with his accomplice, Martha, and the process of transferring the title deeds in Charu’s – Charmaine’s name was set in progress.