Forty Years Ago

It all happened some forty years ago. Ramnath was a junior clerk in Seth Manikchand's office. But this story is not about Ramnath. This story has nothing to with Ramnath, except the fact that the concerned individuals were living on the floor above Ramnath. The story will be narrated by him, as he knows it.

On a rainy night, Sameer knocked on my door. It was late and we had already gone to sleep. My wife panicked, as she always does when someone calls at odd hours. She feels it's a bad sign, that something untoward will happen. Anyway, keeping aside my wife's beliefs, let me continue the story. So I got up and opened the door, and found Sameer in a state of panic. His eyes wide with dread, he mumbled something about Raja. Though it was a blur, I could fathom from his manner that something had happened to Raja.

 I tried to calm Sameer down and asked him what was wrong with Raja. In reply, he muttered something about being angry, though who was angry, I failed to understand. I thought it best to go up and see for myself rather than make a wild guess about the matter. Sameer and Raja, both students, lived on the first floor. There was just one room above, and the young men shared it. "Let's go up," I told Sameer and moved past him. 

"No, no, you don't understand..." began Sameer. He followed me up the stairs, "...Raja isn't here." I had reached halfway up the stairs and I could see the door of the first floor. It was locked from outside. "The door is locked," I said. 

"I'm trying to tell you the same," Sameer nodded his head, "No one's at home." I could make neither head nor tail out of this. "Sameer, tell me clearly, what is the matter?" Sameer collapsed on the steps. "I don't know what to do Ramnathji," he was dejected. He covered his face with his palms, "I don't know what to do," he cried as he shook his head and let it droop down, his chin touching his chest. "What is the matter Sameer? How can I help you if you don't tell me what happened?" I was on the verge of tearing my hair. 

 "Raja and I went to lawyer Tilak's office. We heard he had a part-time job as a stenographer. We thought at least one of us will get the job. You see, money is always in short supply. A little more extra will make it easy for us, especially towards the end of the month. Last month we were so short of money that..." I cut him short. Sameer has a tendency of going on and on, and he rather strays from the main point. He continued, "Oh! Ok, so we went to lawyer Tilak's office. We found the door ajar. We assumed he was working and wanted to block the noise from the street, so closed the door. Raja called out to lawyer Tilak and simultaneously pushed the door open. I followed close behind. 

"I stood on the doorstep while Raja went into the room. From where I was standing, I could see the room was empty. I could see the lawyer's desk piled high with papers and files, and the bookshelves behind the desk packed with books. There were two chairs for visitors, but the lawyer's chair itself was missing. I found it odd. How does the lawyer work, does he stand? I was wondering about this unique problem when I heard Raja call my name. He ordered me to close the door and lock it from within. I was further puzzled. "Do it," he shouted. I did as told. Then I rushed towards him. It was then I saw that the chair had fallen down, that's why I couldn't see it from the doorstep. And lawyer Tilak too was lying on the floor, The desk was big and had panels all around. Tilak was lying under the desk as if someone had pushed him under it. 

"Raja was bending over him. He shook his head as he got up. "He's dead," he said, in a matter-of-fact manner. I panicked. Though I had nothing to do with his death, yet I felt scared. Police, handcuffs, jail, noose began to swim before my eyes. I asked what should we do now. In reply, Raja simply pointed a finger towards a bag next to Tilak's body. It was open and we could spot money in it. Raja pulled the bag towards him and put his hand in. When he pulled it out, his palm was full of hundred rupee notes. "The bag is full of money!" I couldn't believe my ears and eyes. Raja quickly closed the bag, picked it up, and said, "Let's go." He pulled me towards the door and we walked out of there." Sameer paused with a sign. 

I couldn't believe what I just heard, "And you both walked out of there? With the bag of money? Leaving Tilak dead on the floor? Just like that?" I was almost screaming my head off. "Yes, just like that," Sameer said quietly. He himself seemed shocked. "Then what happened?" I was half curious and half alarmed. Sameer continued his narrative, "Raja practically dragged me out of there. After we walked a bit, he hailed an auto. I said that we don't have money for auto. He smiled, tapped the bag, and said, "Of course, we have." When I asked him what he planned to do, he said we shall talk later. We drove halfway across the city, changing autos at three places. 

"Raja said we should first have dinner. He picked The Platter. When I said it's expensive, he again smiled, "You keep forgetting that we have money." We got a corner table and ordered food. Seeing the delicious food, I forgot all my anxieties. We ate heartily. Somewhere in the back of my mind, I had a thought that this might be the last good meal I will be having. While having dessert, Raja outlined his plan. "I will leave for my uncle's town by the night bus. You too go somewhere. We will lay low for a few days." He could sense that I had a lot running in my mind. "Don't you worry Sameer? We will share the money. There's a lot in this bag. You take your share, I take mine and we will disappear." I felt as if a bullet train was rushing through my mind.

"I told Raja that he's being an ass and that we should have gone straight to the police and have reported this, and we should also hand over the money bag to the police. Raja replied that I was a dumber ass to push away the money. "You know how much we need this money. Just think, both of our families have huge debts, and we can clear it all off in one shot. And there will still be some left." I won't lie, I was tempted. Raja paid for the dinner from the money of that bag. We came out of the restaurant. Raja said we would come to the room, count and divide the money, then go our separate ways. This time we took the bus. All the way back I kept thinking about what Raja had said. 

"It was the last bus of the day. The shops were closing and the streets were near-deserted. As we walked back from the bus stop, it started raining. Raja was anxious that the bag shouldn't get wet, so we took shelter under the roof of a closed shop. I again asked him to think about his plan of his. I also told him I was apprehensive about the whole scheme. He disagreed and said it's foolproof. I rattled off my list of police, lockup, handcuffs. He laughed and said I am a coward, and I don't know how to take advantage of a situation. I lost it then. We had a row. I said we go to the police, he refused. I said we return the money, he said no. "You don't want anything to do with it, fine. But I'm leaving with the money." I pleaded with him to be rational. He was getting impatient. With word of mine, his temper kept rising. Finally, Raja pushed me away, told me to go home and continue living the pathetic life, while he himself was going to enjoy the money that Lady Luck presented him with."

Sameer couldn't say anymore. He was on the verge of tears. "So he left?" I asked. "I don't know what he did, but I came straight to you," Sameer replied. He looked at me, fear and uncertainty in his eyes, "What do I do now Ramnathji?" I was lost for words as much as he was. This was very, very strange. "We should report this to the police Sameer," I said at last. "I'm scared Ramnathji. Will you please come with me?" he requested. I nodded my head, "Shall we go now?"

"I'm feeling dizzy, Ramnathji. I think I'm going to be sick." He was shaking all over and then I noticed he was wet. I told him to go to his room and change. Meanwhile, I took a cup of hot tea to him. He was sitting morosely at the edge of the bed. "Hope I don't get into trouble," he trembled at the thought of police. I placed a reassuring hand on his shoulder, "Don't worry Sameer. You haven't done anything wrong. Everything will be fine. We will go first thing tomorrow morning. Try to get some sleep now." He nodded half-heartedly. I left the room, closing the door behind.

The next morning, I got up early and went to check on Sameer. The door was open but he wasn't there. I thought he might have gone for a bath. I waited for almost half an hour, but he didn't turn up. I wondered what was he up to, and as I looked around the room, I noticed the teacup I brought for him last night. It was pushed under the bed and was still full of tea. I was very confused. I went down and waited. Morning turned to evening but there was no sign of Sameer. I decided that I did enough of waiting. I went to the police station.

After I told my story to the police inspector, he confirmed the fact that a lawyer by the name of Tilak has been found dead in his office. As Sameer had told, he was pushed under the desk. He had died of a stab wound and the weapon was missing. The inspector asked If Sameer had mentioned any wound. He had not. Inspector also mentioned that there was no cash missing from Tilak's office. In fact, no one had any information about Tilak having such a large sum of money with him. Sameer was never found, nor was Raja. And there isn't even the faintest clue as to what happened to the money if there was ever a bag full of money.

It's been forty years now. Tilak's murder and the missing money remain a mystery.