Murder In The Manor

It was a dark night. Mrs. Smith was waiting for her husband to come from the office. Mr. Smith was half an hour later than usual time. Mrs. Smith was all alone in the manor. Her sister had gone to see her mother and was to come the following day.

At last, Mrs. Smith could not bear it longer.  She opened the door of the manor and she went into the garden near the gate. Suddenly she heard a creepy, hissing sound.

The hissing sound said, “Don’t make a sound or you will die as your husband.”

Mrs. Smith looked down and was shocked, stunned and horrified to see body of her husband lying on the ground. She asked in a faltering tone, “Who are you?”

The stranger said, “You very well know who I am.”

The stranger came out from a bush. His eyes were as yellow as he had jaundice.

Mrs. Smith cried out in fright but the stranger stabbed her. She fell down on her husband, dead. The stranger ran out of the gate. In the process he did not notice that he dropped something in a bush. No one noticed the two murders.

Next early morning Mrs. Smith’s sister, Mrs Emily and her mother Mrs. Sanders came walking down the path leading to the gate of the house.

Mrs. Emily asked, “Isn’t it the manor very quiet?”

Mrs. Sanders shrugged and said, “If it is quiet then they must have gone somewhere.”

Then they quite suddenly saw a small group of men huddled on one side of the gate. They walked toward the group and saw Mrs. Smith’s cook was also present in the group.

They asked the cook, “What is going on here, Mr. Peter?”

 The cook asked everyone present there to get aside. As soon as they got aside, Mrs. Sanders screamed and fainted after noticing the bodies of her daughter and son-in-law. She fainted into Mrs. Emily’s arm. Mrs. Emily looked upon the bodies with disbelief. The gardener of the manor bought water for Mrs. Sanders and Mrs. Emily sprinkled it on her face.  

Mrs. Sanders stuttered and asked, “Wa-was it true?” Mrs. Emily didn’t answer.  

They couldn’t digest the fact that Mr. and Mrs. Smith are no more. After some time, two servants were sent to bring the local police. As usual police came and did their job of inspecting the murder place. They asked some questions to the occupants of the house and left. Mrs. Sanders didn’t have the slightest hope from the police of arresting the murderer soon.

Mrs. Emily was enraged and called a famous detective of the state for help. She explained the whole thing to the famous detective, Andrew Nicholus. He agreed to take up the case of two murders.

Mr. Andrew went to the spot where the two bodies were found. He thought for a while and then went into the nearest bush, where the stranger had dropped something. He searched for a while in the bush but couldn’t find anything. He looked around the bush for a while and found something glittering in the sun. He picked it up and saw that it was a locket made of gold. In it were engraved the initials K.K. He went to Mrs. Emily and told about the locket.

Mr. Andrew asked, “Who are the people in the neighborhood who’s initials are K.K.“

Mrs. Emily said, “I know three persons namely Kerry Kreamer, Kelly Kent and Kamal Khan.”

Mr. Andrew Nicholus went to Mr. Kerry’s house. After greeting, he introduced himself and Mr. Kerry welcomed him inside the house. Mr. Andrew discussed the two murders with him. Mr. Andrew took a round of the whole house but didn’t smell a rat. The whole situation in the house was normal.  

He next went to Mrs. Kelly Kent’s house. She was an old, fragile woman. She refused to allow Mr. Andrew to enter the house. Mr. Andrew pushed the door and entered the house forcefully.

The old woman began to wail. Between sobs, she said “Already my son died in a war and now somebody breaks into the house.”

Mr. Andrew was surprised and went out of the house. He though that she might be telling lies but then he suddenly remembers that Mrs. Emily had mentioned that she never tells lies.

Next Mr. Andrew went to Kamal Khan’s house and found it locked. He thought that Kamal may be the real owner of the locket. He decided to explore it next morning.

Next day, he took his gun and silently went to Kamal’s house. He climbed the wall of the house from the back of the house and slowly jumped on the other side.  He found all the windows and doors were fastened so he went inside the coal hole.  He jumped on the coke and climbed out into the kitchen.

He saw inside all the ground floor bedrooms but found nothing unusual. He slowly climbed the steps to the first floor and saw four bedrooms. He saw three men sleeping in three different bedrooms. The key was in the lock and he slowly locked the door. Then he went slowly to the door of the fourth bedroom and found the door ajar. He slowly went inside. He saw that a man in his night gown standing near the window and looking outside. He didn’t notice that Mr. Andrew has slipped inside his bedroom.

Suddenly Mr. Andrew said, “Hands Up, and tell me who are you?”

The man turned around looking astonished. He asked, “What do you want and what are you doing in my house?”

Mr. Andrew replied, “ I am a detective on a mission and wants your reply. Please introduce yourself.”

The man appeared scared but replied, “My name is Kamal Khan. What can I do for you?”

Mr. Andrew asked, “Is this your locket?” The locket with the engraved  K.K. letters was in his hand.

On seeing the locket, Kamal jumped and snatched the locket from Mr. Andrew’s hand. Mr. Andrew pointed his gun towards Kamal’s head and said, “Don’t try any tricks or I will shoot you.”

Mr. Kamal burst into tears and said, “Yes, I was the murderer. I wanted to marry Mrs. Smith but Mr. Smith married her. I became unhappy after that and I decided to murder Mr. and Mrs. Smith. But I grieve over Mrs. Smith because I loved her.”

Mr. Andrew said “If you wanted to marry her but if she married someone else you will murder her and her husband?”

Kamal didn’t answer. Mr. Andrew tied his hands by some rope and took him to the police station.

Mr. Andrew revealed the news to Mrs. Emily. It gave her some relief but she still grieves about her sister’s and brother-in-law’s death.