Zacharus Zap in the makers of House Arrest

Characters in order of appearance:

The Symbolic Suspect

Douglas John - Detective from the investigating agency

Pazela - Detective and colleague of John

Radcliffe Mcanzie - Their boss

Ddr. Azacus - Handwriting expert

Zacharus Zap - Special officer and a detective

Abozad - His most trusted friend and aid

Mr. Listings - The bookshop owner

Jaalmani - The news correspondent of the daily THE TRAP

Father Ignasius - Custodian of the church and principal

M.V.Sammaddar - The Inspector

Ramavatar - The tea seller

Raghu, Gangadeen - The porters

The kid and his guardian 

Mr. Listing's Nephew  

Visoscape - variable

Includes the poem "Hack thy mind" By SUBHADEEP BANDYOPADHYAY 

Part - 1

The computer console was switched on. From the jagged wires, it took a few seconds for the picture to become clear. Appeared before the eyes, shelves full of books of all kinds. Detective novels, psychological pieces, family travels, romance, etc. in the midst of scattered pieces of scientific journals and periodicals. On one side of a small rectangular table lay an ash tray filled with a dozen cigarette ends and a fresh heap of ash.

“Appears to be quite a freak!” remarked Douglas john from the curvature of his spectacles. “Can you give me one good reason why we are peeping in to such a boring place?”

“Can we hear the sounds too?”, asked Pazela

“No, the orders are just to watch in case……”

Before the sentence of John got completed the door of the house after a minute jolt opened and entered a tall, burly man around 6 feet in height, dark complexioned, with a prominent chin and wearing blue t-shirt and brown trousers. He was carrying a packet in his left hand.

“Can you zoom a little bit towards the direction of his hand, Pazela?”

“Why! Do you think he may be carrying bombs to explode his own house or he is a maniac?”, this time John and Pazela were joined in their venture by Radcliffe Mcanzie, their boss, who was startled by the nature of the case, but was used to such rigors of duty and liked to share his intellect with young minds on mission!

“No, just for precaution…the agency tells us that the person needs to be under surveillance for an indefinite period or so as the situation may arise.”

“John, look he is talking to someone over the phone, can you track the number? Asked Pazela

“The agency has informed me that his calls are getting tracked and very soon we will be supplied with the particulars for investigation”, added Mcanzie

Over a cup of coffee and sandwiches the trio waited patiently for major developments. Through the polished glass panes of their cabin could be seen the rush of metropolis and the cacophony of trams and buses and so too the sight of the melodramatic moon, which in the turn of events appeared even more mysterious!

The next day Pazela was meeting Dr Azacus, the psychological expert with the fine ability of assessing personalities through handwriting and was among the very few of the chosen accomplished groupings.

“How do you assess him from his poems, which we have scanned and brought it to you?”

“Madam, you see these few days I have collected my own little information about his past and hobbies and interests and he appears to know very few people, though not a loner, beyond his writing profession.

“Sir, I would like to add that he possess a preliminary degree in psychology as per our records.”

“Adding this to my file of knowledge about him, one thing appears quite interesting his poems present dynamic outcomes!”

“But isn’t that creative liability?”

“May be or maybe not, we can only tell for sure after we study his works deeply for some time.”

“Can you guess his age from his writings doc?”

“Writings give an indication of mental age not physical one but it appears at least that that he has travelled well in reading as you say and writing as we see. I will be dumb for now till I can help you further with this. Good day! Ms.Pazela.

The record of his contacts and acquaintances made and assimilated in the form of a file reached the desk of chief of agency and thereafter several officers took the responsibility of collecting whatever little information possible of him from them and after feeding the facts in to the system the trio met again, this time not in the office cabin but in a hotel room to discuss the next course of action.

“Our contacts give us the information that he works up to 5 pm in writing firm that makes money by publishing catalog stories. He returns home, I mean the place we are constantly watching at 8pm.Goes out to have a chat with friends who live nearby, visits a restaurant for food, returns home and goes to sleep. He follows this routine with almost constancy.” said John

“I am not interested in what he does on week days in the guise of the writer but a tab needs to keep on him on the weekends when he gets the maximum time for himself. Set your looking glass at that time and see whom he meets and what he says.” ordered Mcanzie.

“Somehow the person appears psychopath to me and I don’t understand how he can be taken as a threat? Observed Pazela.

“It’s good that we don’t understand certain things and that’s why we are earning our bucks”, said Mcanzie and rudely ended the conversation.

17 days after on a Sunday…

The footage recorded showed the man busy in drawing certain pictures on a sheet with the help of a pen.

“Another of his hobbies!”, sarcastically said Pazela.

With every picture that got completed, his looks suggested that he is trying his best to decipher the inner meaning of his creations.

“The sketches do not seem to be a bit impressive”, observed Mcanzie “unless they are drawn with some hidden meaning and codes and are portrayed to convey certain messages to somebody.”

“But if he meets people or discusses his sketches with anybody we will certainly come to know”, added John “the latest information is before joining a writing firm, he was a primary school teacher and after that he worked in a garment factory and everywhere he was known for his brand of ideas, that set him apart and this was the reason why he could not remain in a job for a very long time.”

“All those changing the world stuff, isn’t it?”, asked Pazela

“His acquaintances referred those as out of the box ideas, some of which were irritating and weird and now we need to investigate how much harmful his ideas can be?”,said Mcanzie.

“But somehow this entire process of peeping appears bogus to me. What if he comes to know?, Douglas John remarked.

“Dear friends, firstly for security reasons only, we want him to know that we get a first hand view of his thoughts and actions. And the moment he tries to prove that he is being watched to somebody, the people around him will consider him insane, thanks to the image he has created over the years.”, asserted Mcanzie. At this a sigh did not evade the senses of the speakers.

End of Part 1

 

Part - 2

It was 6 o clock in the morning.Pazela in her house in Appervilla apartments was reading the daily newspaper with a cup of tea in her hand, when her mobile rang. Feeling a little annoyed at the loss of concentration, when she accepted the call, it was Douglas John at the other end of the connection 

“Do you know Pazela, the man we are keeping a vigil on has disappeared?”

“Are you nuts? That person is under the strict vigil of our cameras and guards and you are telling me that the man has disappeared.”

“Yes, the last footage shows a man quite old with sun burnt skin and a tooth blackened and broken, destroying the cameras installed in position before going off. Afterwards either the suspect or the old men were untraceable.”

“That means he was well aware of our plans and he has expertise in taking disguise. That’s why we not getting the permission to hear the sounds in the footages obtained proved detrimental.

“Shit! We let the bird off before we knew its bush. Let’s rush now and face the music”

Meanwhile in the agency, all the earlier plans and the whole probe team were getting revisited and reshuffled. As a result of this came a dynamic special officer Zacharus Zap, a small fellow with witty eyes and long hair, a potent mixture of introvert and extrovert with a handful of jokes always at his disposal. He was followed by his most trustworthy friend Abozad.

Unsatisfied, by the first hand impression given by Mcanzie of the case he decided to scrutinize the details directly from Douglas John and Pazela.After a series of questions from Zap like, why did you consider him a suspect, did he have any criminal record etc,for which neither the agency nor the trio had any satisfactory explanations. Zap at last extracted the orders to individually pursue the case till the truth came out in totality.

In the remote village of Pritampur, Mr. Listings the owner of the bookshop was looking in the direction of the approaching train. For over 37 years, his eyes were habituated to the early morning jostle of the commuters as the hurried faces passed through the shop buying magazines, comics and newspapers for enjoyable reading during their journeys. Mr. Listings in the prime of his youth came to the village as part of the visiting missionary but stayed on having grown an everlasting affinity for the place. He along with two helpers managed the shop. In the evening after putting the account of sale within the margins of the register, which could be seen even from a distance lying on the wooden table, he would patiently close the shop, after directing his helpers to bring down the shutters. He would then move to the little hut at the back of his shop. This was his abode, where he himself cooked his meal, washed his clothes and feeded the pigeons that surrounded him.Somedays when it became possible to wrap up his diurnal business a little early, he would sit in the same space with few elderly visitors who dropped by. On one such evening as he closed his shop, he met the suspect.

END OF PART 2

Part - 3

When Zap arrived in Pritampur with his companion Abroad, it was a summer noon and the rays of the sun were falling directly over the face. Zap took out from the bag, which he carried over his shoulder, a piece of the newspaper cutting in which an article of the suspect, seen in these whereabouts was published by the correspondent Jaalmani, on a date about a week earlier. Thanks to the precise coverage of the case, somehow leaked in the media, everybody was suddenly getting interested in the person concerned.

Zap and Abozad rented a room in a lodge very near to the station and after having a good meal decided to rest for the day 

The following day Zap met father Ignasius of the convent nearby and mixed with usual conversation, he asked him if somehow he had any knowledge about the suspect they were so desperately trying to locate.

"Mr Zap,my entire day is either spent in the missionary or in the school spreading knowledge or attending to the needs of the distressed. So unfortunately I cannot be of much help to you but the porters who assist the commuters in transferring their luggage always get the possession of even the smallest information surrounding our village, am more than sure that Raghu, their leader, if you meet him will be able to guide you."

From the convent zap and Abozad returned to the lodge.Zap decided that the whole day, they would spend in front of the console and from he footages they have in possesstion they would try to accumulate as much details of the suspect to carry on the investigation.

“Isn’t it possible to take a printout of his picture from the footages that we have and show it to the people who may have seen him”, asked Abozad

"We have thousands of pics already at our possession all collected from different sources. But if we go by the face value of the agency’s words we are not to find him as he looks here," said zap

"Then?"

“Let us jolt down the important details and hope for the best.”

Once the whole process got over zap gave a ring to inspector M.V.Sammaddar with the details. The inspector assured him that if given around a fortnight, they would carry out a search operation according to the leads zap supplied and if successful they would be called for final identification.

True to his word, Inspector Sammaddar, brought before them a dozen people, all tall dark, burly around the age group 28-30. “These people have been nabbed from here and the adjoining areas. Although none possess significant criminal background, they have gone in and out of jail on petty charges.”

Somehow after seeing the people, Zap was not convinced that anyone of them possessed the asteristic resemblance of their suspect. Sammaddar could sense this and thus requested them to have a cup of tea with them.

“Biddhu, tell the chokraa from the nearest stall to bring some biscuits and tea.”

In about five minutes came Natawar Soren’s son Ramavatar with tea. As his teeth flashed after placing the tumbler of tea on the table he said “GARAM CHA AAR SEENGHADA ENECHI BABU!(I have brought hot tea and samosas for you sir),signed a quick namaskar and went away.

….

Abozad took the onus upon himself of meeting Raghu, the porter, but all he could tell was few days ago a tall person with two suitcases and a trolley bag used the porter services of Gangadeen and paid him sixty rupees. When Gangadeen was called, he added that he left the tourist near the auto stand with his luggage and does not remember anything further.

“Can you then tell me Gangakaka, from which train he got down?”

“Well, eee…um..i have grown old, so I can’t remember much except that the train came from Mumbai on 27 may, I remember clearly as my grandson was born on the same day.”

After returning to the lodge Abozad shared this piece of information with Zap,who was contemplating over something as was clear from the lines that appeared on his temple.

A few minutes later he picked up the telephone and made a call to the station master of Pritampur, requesting him to supply under the oath of confidentiality the details of all the passengers who reached Pritampur from Mumbai on 27 may.

After patiently going through the list he was more surprised than before, because the appearance of the suspect in this part of the world got printed even before 27 may in the daily “The trap”. This did not match with what Gangakaka said and opened up the possibility of a missing link before zap.

Even a cool person like Zap,was getting frustrated. The water was getting murkier and the scattered pieces of puzzle were laughing loud at his intellect.

The relief came in the form of an invitation from Father ignasius tom attend the annual day of the school run by the church.

END OF PART 3

 PART 4

In the centre of the open field, the stage was set and a row of chairs were placed for the guests, digniteries, parents and well wishers. The enthusiasm of the children and their parents was apparent enough as they expected their kids to perform well in the competitions’ that were about to take place. 

The pleasing site of a child rehearsing for the poetry competition with his guardian standing beside him caught zap’s attention in the midst of all the fan fare.

“The kid appears to be very intelligent, isn’t it?”, asked Abozad

“Ya!”, Zap replied.

Soon the programme started. The song and dance competition was followed by the organizers short address. Then after a small skit started the poetry recitation. The kid who was noticed by them with his guardian was now in the stage and in his childish voice started the poem…………………………….

HACK THY MIND

What those vapours echoed in a pot of vapid rust,

The imagination, boiled in variegated brew, converted it in to wave of thought.

Through the trolleys came the light, neurons collided and made an image as bright,

Rushed the air from the otiose lungs, thus came the dream at sight.

The prince’s ruled and the vices charmed,

Outweighed rebellion traversed the waters luke warmed.

Frosted beauty divulged in equation;

Masterly notched in pockets of elation,

Layered logged in obvious notation,

Pragmatic woes looked virtuous in expectation.

Thus as happened before the end of night of song,

The scent of memories washed away a twitch too wronged.

What followed was a bubble infused in a pantomime of a kind,

Hacked was not the soul enough but just the subtle mind!

Hey, hey, hey hold on! How can a kid write a poem so complex and matured for his age, and it appears very similar to the poem “In search of the depth of light”, by the suspect”, thought zap

After the kid finished reciting the poem zap and Abozad approached him.

“Beta tell us how come you write and recite such a complex poem as this!”

“No uncle, this is not my poem came to know about the competition today only as I was absent for a few days due to illness. Seeing me cry an uncle came and gave this poem and encouraged me to recite!”

“Was the uncle, the same person who was standing beside you?”

“Yes”

“Again he eluded us!”, screamed zap

“Who!, asked Abozad

“Who else….. Our suspect!!! Zap had never trembled this much throughout his life.

After returning to his room zap attached the plugs of his walkman to his ear and started listening to his favorite music to soothe his being he knew he was pitted against a very strong rival, who will take a test of his witts.This is first case could well establish his credentials as a strong willed detective or simply ruin his career.

With a burning cigarette in hand,he looked straight in to the eyes of abozad as if he wanted to tell “I will be successful because I am not habituated to failures!”

END OF PART 4

 PART 5

The next day, Zap woke up early in the morning and declared to Abozad “pack your luggage, boss we are going back!”

“That means you are accepting defeat!”

“I promise you just one thing, that as we leave we will be closest to the truth. Before going back, remind me that I need to buy a comic book from the book store, we visited when we arrived in Pritampur.Really! I have forgotten to laugh all these days.”

“Sometimes I don’t understand you. At the moment when you are about to lose, you want to laugh!!”

“Yes Dr.Abozad Watson!,oh sorry when was the last time you went to a doctor”

“Sir, when at your service!”

I assure you that whatever be the outcome of the case you will not go disappointed. Stay calm and watch on.

They reached the book store but found instead of Mr Listings, his nephew a young lad of about twenty three was at the counter, even the two helpers of Mr listings were nowhere at sight.

For a moment zaps eyes scanned the appearance of Mr Listings nephew and thereafter handed him the watch, he was wearing on his left wrist and the gentleman gave him a book in return.

Though Abozad understood nothing his curiosity increased many folds.

“Can you please explain to me what exactly transpired between you and Mr listings nephew?” asked Zap as the guard whistled and the train started moving.

Let me put it straight and simple, you just met the man!

You mean the suspect

No he is not the suspect anymore, he is an artist today I understood he is a worthy actor too. Had he been in the world, in which we revolve so much he would have been the smartest criminal.

Please elucidate I did not get anything!

Remember the moment we set foot in Pritampur we went to Mr Listings shop and saw two suitcases. I then had a hunch then my watch stopped working and I brought the battery for my watch from the shop just beside Mr. Listings.

Oh well yes!

May I announce now that the faces of the watch mechanic, father Ignasius, Mr listings nephew, Gangakaka, Ramavataar, add to this the kids presumed guardian all belongs to the same self.

How can that happen?

He had placed a battery cum locator in my watch and was knowing and keeping track on our movements and studying our intentions. He knew people would come to Pritampur to locate him because it was he who was behind publishing the presence of the suspect in the newspaper through his reporter friend Ms.Jaalmani of the daily the Trap

Then why did he run away from his house

Because in the courtyard of his house some dacoits had hidden the money they had looted from the bank. Some people of the agency were also involved in the robbery. So they required time to make ways to remove the wealth from there. Their plans were put to dust when our man bought the house with his savings. So they planted cameras in his house and made a false case against him and willfully converted him into a suspect so that one day he ends up in jail or asylum and can never run away with the money if he found it in the courtyard. On the other hand they can part with the booty at their favorable time. But somehow by insight, he understood their plans and disappeared and this lead to a reshuffling of the investigation team and I took birth for your esteemed readers and the rest you know for sure.

How did you come to know all this?

Your coming and telling me that the suspect having come with the suitcases made me remember the shop of Mr. Listings where I had seen similar kind of stuff and the rest our suspect helped us through his poem, the meaning of which I deciphered.

What comic book he then gave you?

It is actually his poetry book see, which will help us to locate the money and the culprits. He handed it to us when he understood that we are the right people.

Then what should we tell the agency?

E-mail them that the news appears to be a hoax and the suspect never appeared in the town of Pitampura. This will help us to buy a little more time and since we do not have any idea who are the people involved from the agency in this, so this bit of information which I shared with you should go classified.

That way they will consider you a failure.

Is it, they laughed and winked with both eyes.

The train they boarded had covered a reasonable distance.

END