Murder in 'Bheemapur'

        Murder in Bheemapur

A group of men start chasing Bheem, Chutki and Dumkettu, and then Chutki did a somersault and hit one of the men in the chest, Bheem reached for the torso of the other man and he blew a fit of rage to the person’s face only to knock him out and Dumkettu soon took a dagger to his hand and he jumped high and stroked it across the third person’s waist and then all the three look at each other and admire the valour, then out of nowhere does a dagger appear across bheem’s face and it strikes him to his stomach, Bheem screams! Ah! Ah! Ah! And blood starts oozing. Bheem soon wakes up from the deep slumber, all this while he had been daydreaming!

 Bheem hears a man screaming and wailing from a distance. “Help me! Help my wife, dear Bheem! What happened Kaka? Bheem enquired. The old man hollered, “My wife complained of stomach ache, her eyes withering away and she was sweating profusely, she was running short of breath too”. Chutki soon gets water to the old man, the old man politely refuses to drink water, both of them had been the best detective duo in the whole of Bheemapur and they had been assisting the king in his rendezvous and they were his trusted companions who helped him bring justice to the bereaved family and to the whole of Bheemapur. Bheem was well-built and he had been the best mace fighter in the whole of Bheemapur. Bheem was known to be unempathetic and was astute, and had keen observational skills, he was great in the game of deduction. Chutki however was exact opposite, slim and pretty but extremely emotional, she observed the minutest detail which Bheem couldn’t foresee because of his lack in understanding human emotions. They had found each other through a sharp-witted friend of theirs’ Dumkettu and they had soon found a liking for each other in working together. Dumkettu was a general in the king’s darbar, the king found Dumkettu to be honest, trustworthy and a hardworking individual and that’s why the king gave him bakhish most of the time. Dumkettu was a great friend of Bheem and they were two friends who sailed the same boat. Dumkettu was known to be more astute and observant than Bheem and he had the experiences in the battlefield which made him aware of the arms and ammunitions used by the traitors. 

Chutki, Bheem and Dumkettu assailed to the person’s house. Thud! Thud! Bheem grimaced and tried to break open the door and to his surprise he could break open the antiqued, rugged door. The wife was found in an inebriated state and her eyes had all most bulged out of the socket and her hands lay on the ground lifelessly. The woman was dead. “Oh! No. Mrunalini, you cannot leave me and go”. “Please wake up, Dear!”, “All the fighting, I regret them very much”.” I cannot live without you”. The old man started weeping profusely. Bheem went near the body and examined the woman’s body and he found out traces of white in her nails and the woman’s body turned out to be blue. The woman was definitely poisoned, he wondered. He could however not gauge what kind of poison. He soon collected traces found everywhere in the house in the cover using gloves made up of leaves. He exclaimed,” the poor old woman has been poisoned”. “Who could possibly murder the woman so heinously?”. Chutki shifted her focus towards the old man,” I am so sorry kaka, we will soon catch the person who murdered the woman and put him/her behind the bars”. “Did she have any enemies?” The old man replied, “my wife had a heart so pure, she was very innocent and was very warm and had a vibrant personality, everyone loved her”. “I do not think that she could have any enemy”. Kaka, you must have had a very close relationship with your wife, could we examine your house? Chutki asked. The old man replied, “No! I will not allow it unless his majesty orders it”. Dumkettu kept to himself and he was mumbling to himself. He was known to give “expert advice to himself”. Dumkettu then opined, “From the way the ring finger is empty it could be said that , ”you both were trying hard to save the marriage, but were unable to,” “The Lady had a penchant for collecting antique articles” and “she was basically a left handed woman, which could be seen from the way the kitchen utensils and items are placed”, the lady was a pioneer in Music and literature” which could be deduced from the showcase in the living room,” he looked around to see amazed faces all around him, then Bheem opined, “ Stop showing off, Mon Dieu!” “We need to rush to the Maharaj’s quarter”, Bheem and chutki exclaimed in unison!                                               

The three asked the old man to not enter the place where the woman was murdered and sprinted towards the Maharaj’s quarter. The Maharaj was briefed about the entire situation by Chutki. The Maharaj expressed, “Ah! Chutki, I am amazed, how can someone murder the poor woman so grievously?” Chutki expressed, “ We want an ‘Aadesh’ to examine the house, could you please give us permission, Maharaj?”. The Maharaj granted the permission immediately, he expressed deep condolences to the old man and his family. Chutki and Bheem proceeded towards the Raj Vaidya’s house, and then handed over to him the leaf covers. The Raj Vaidhya was briefed by them regarding what happened and he conducted the Raktabeej test to identify the type of poison. The white traces retrieved turned red. “The woman was killed using the Datura”, the Raj Vaidhya exclaimed. “Did the woman complain of stomach ache and sweating profusely and eyes withering away?” Asked the Raj Vaidhya to Bheema and Chutki. “Yes” indeed cried Bheem. “Who could have given datura to the old woman, Raj Vaidhya ji?, Bheem enquired. “I am yet to understand who might have killed the old man’s wife,”the Raj Vaidhya replied. 

The Raj Vaidhya was in a deep slumber when a loud door knock woke him up. He murmured and opened the door to soon find the butler of the old man in his house. The butler said,” How could you have asked me to murder Maimsaab so grievously?” The Raj Vaidya said, “Arre! Hush! Someone will hear you and put both of us into trouble.” “Until I ask you to come back, don’t come back to the village, is that clear?” The butler said, “you had told me I would be safe from all these questions…. somehow people have diverted their attention towards me”. “I shall give you a 100 rupaiya to leave from here and never come back, will you be able to do so?” The Raj Vaidhya said with a threatening tone. The butler replied, “I had told you to be careful in giving the poison, our idea was to threaten the old hag and extort money from her, but the poison you gave took a toll on her life, I shall not settle for a lesser amount then 200 rupaiya, otherwise, I shall go and reveal to everybody that you are the mastermind and I am your accomplice”, the hosuemaid replied with an impregnable tone. The Raj Vaidhya had been in an illicit affair with the old man’s wife and he wanted to end the relationship once and for all and had made attempts in explaining to the old man’s wife to not reveal about them and had offered a good bribe to the housemaid, good enough to keep her mum. The House maid had been the one to administer datura in the everyday meal of the Maimsaab, the maimsaab had once denied her a two-months’ salary in advance for her daughter’s wedding, and she had humiliated the butler left and right without caring about her repute. The housemaid still remembers what the old woman had told her, “Oh! You useless, intemperate woman, how could you have asked me for a two months salary in advance!” “Maimsaab’s words still echo in her ears sometimes”, she said to the Raj Vaidhya. The Raj Vaidhya soon pulls out a knife from the kitchen and soon strangulates her and midway slits the throat of the butler, he soon rapped the body in a gunny bag and dumped her body in the Gangavati river and he was confident that nobody saw him.

Next day, the trio were informed that a body in Gangavati river was found by a fisherman and they swiftly make their way to the river. The body was retrieved using the fishing net and Dumkettu, chutki and Bheem examine the body. The body turned out to be that of the butler. “The inflammation around the neck reveals that the woman was strangulated and then her throat was slit open using a kitchen knife”, Dumkettu opined. The gunny bag contained no marks of blood stains on it. “Let us send the body for autopsy to the Raj Vaidhya ji and understand what does not meet the eye”, propounded Bheem. The trio paid their obituaries to the family of the butler. 

Next day, Raj Vaidhya ji, we want to know when exactly was the body dumped into the river? The Raj Vaidhya ji expounded, “I think that the body was dumped into the river at around 12 pm midnight, it could be understood from the way the body enzymes reacted to the Raktabeej test.” “The murderer has strangulated the victim and then slit her throat”, the Raj Vaidhya ji claimed. “The murderer must have dragged the body dastardly and that could be understood from the bruised scratch marks all over her body”, the Raj Vaidhya foretold. 

The trio had by now lost all hopes in finding out the culprit. They proceed towards the crime scene and try to retrieve clues, as a one last effort. They stumbled upon a ring near the bushes from where the body was dropped which had been missed due to oversight. “The ring belonged to the culprit,” cried out Bheem. Bheem, Chutki and Dumkettu breath a sigh of relief. “I had seen a similar ring in the hands of the Raj Vaidhya ji,” recalled Dumkettu. Dumkettu, Bheem and Chutki make their way to the Raj Vaidhya’ house. The Raj Vaidhya was in deep slumber when he was woken by them. Raj Vaidhya ji, “we heard that a ring was retrieved from the crime scene, and the Maharaj has finally found the culprit,” all of them exclaimed in unison. “Really? What kind of ring? Whom did it belong to?” countered Raj Vaidhya ji. “Maharaj has promulgated a darbar, he has sought for your presence as well, Raj Vaidhya ji”, Dumkettu countenanced. The Raj Vaidhya looked flabbergasted.

Next day, in the presence of the ministers of the darbar, the Maharaj commenced the session. Chutki, Bheem and Dumkettu have finally found the culprit, my brethren’s! Yes, Maharaj, we have finally found the culprit. The culprit is present today amongst us. The Raj Vaidhya ji, started sweating profusely hearing to the words. “The culprit was found dumping the body into the river by this gentleman here,” pointed out Bheem. Yes, Maharaj, I have seen the murderer dumping the body with my own eyes”, cried out the Gentleman. Kindly bring him forward and conduct the identification parade, ordered the Maharaj. Before, the session began, the Raj Vaidhya ji fidgeted and started making his way towards the exit. Chutki soon did a somersault, and soon stroked him on his leg, making him immobile. And handcuffed him and produced him before the Maharaj. The Raj Vaidhya had made sure no eyewitnesses were present, how did he leave this hint behind, he pondered! Perhaps, it was too late! 

He was tried and sentenced to life imprisonment. And yet again, peace and tranquility was restored in the kingdom. The Best was yet to be!