The Heartless Man Pt.2
Adventures of Milli and Manav.
“And that’s why I have come to you, Manav. You’re an accomplished detective. I know you will find Rahul,” said Allana.
“I will take your case,” replied Manav.
“Thank you,” Allana said, cheerfully. “We shall leave for Goa tomorrow.”
With that, our client departed.
“What do you think of her,” I turned to Manav.
Manav thought for a while and replied benignly. “Poor thing, she’s so very romantic.”
The following day, we boarded the flight to Goa. To be honest, I always wanted to go to Goa.
When we arrived at Allana’s home, I was in awe of her lavish Portuguese-style bungalow surrounded by a beautiful lush garden. The Verandah was furnished with comfortable seating, it looked so relaxing. “Look, how spacious!” I gasped.
Manav didn’t pay attention to me. He was staring at the garden.
“What are you looking at?” I asked him.
“See that, Gardener, he’s chopping those weeds with a lot of rigour. How strange!”
“That’s Martin,” Allana said. “He’s our gardener. Been with us for two months.”
When Martin saw us, he came running towards us.
“Hello, ma’am,” he said smiling, showing a string of yellow teeth.
“Martin, this is Detective Manav and his wife Millie. They are here to find Rahul.”
“Oh, I hope you will find Master Rahul, sir,” said Martin, gracefully.
Upon Allana’s instructions, He carried our suitcases to the guest room.
For lunch, we sat at the large dining table which had intricate carvings. Allana’s mother Shalini Mathews sat with us.
“Very strange,” Shalini remarked. “that a young man should go missing.”
“What do you think happened,” Manav asked her.
“You know,” she said. “There are sharks here, he must have been eaten by a shark..”
“Mother!” Allana cried. “How can you say that?”
“Oh come on, dear,” said Shalini. “I was being polite. I didn’t want to rub it in your face that that boy left and he will never come back.”
“Stop it, Mother,” Allana yelled. “Rahul didn’t leave me. He loves me and I love him and he will come back to me.”
With tears in her eyes, Allana ran to her room.
“Stupid girl,” said Shalini. “You know, Detective. Allana is young and it’s her first love so I get why she’s being foolish. But marry that boy! NEVER! We are a rich upper-class family and that boy was a mere school teacher. Their marriage is bound to fail. I would never let my only daughter suffer.”
“So, you must have discussed these things with Rahul?” asked Manav.
Shalini stared at Manav. “Well, I tried to bribe him but he wouldn’t budge. He told me he loved Allana more than anything in the world but I didn’t buy it. I would never let my daughter marry a guy she’s known for less than a month.”
After lunch, we found Allana in her room. Still upset but Manav and I cheered her.
“I will show you where Rahul would go for walks,” she said.
Allana took us to the garden, and then she opened a back door and let us out. There was a thin-lane road behind her house.
We walked for a while.
“Oh, my God! if it isn’t Manav!” a voice screamed at us.
On the other side of the road, stood Inspector Raghu. He came running towards us.
“Didn’t know you’d be interested in Flambeau,” Raghu told Manav.
“Hello, Inspector,” said Manav. “Why would you say that?”
Raghu pointed to the Church that stood on a hill. “That’s St. Stephens Church.”
“That’s the church where The Heart of Eternity was stolen?” I said.
“Yes, Millie,” said Raghu, then he turned to Manav. “You don’t have to try your wits here. We have already caught the thief.”
“Who is it?” I said, excited.
“That man over there,” Raghu pointed to a bulky guy with long curly hair, sitting on a bench near the church, surrounded by police.
“He is Rakesh Rathore. Ex-convict. He used to be a gangster — stealing, kidnapping — he fits the description. You see, once a thief always a thief. I’m certain he stole the diamond although he denies it completely.”
“What does he say?” Manav asked.
“Says he was in his house, had his dinner, and then went to bed. But there’s no one to prove his alibi. He lives alone. But he owns a Fortuner here..”
“What’s a Fortuner?” I asked.
“It’s a mid-size SUV,” replied Raghu. “You see, this land is seldom used by vehicles. Thanks to the storm of yesterday, we were able to find one or two traces of tires very very clearly. One mark showed us how the vehicle went into the church and another shows how it went out. Our guys checked the trace marks and quite unmistakenly, it is the mark of a car with 265/60 R18 size large tires. Fortuner is the only vehicle here with that size. Moreover, the direction which the marks lead to is Rakesh’s mansion.”
“Did you find the diamond?” Manav asked.
“No, not yet,” Raghu replied. “But my men are still searching. These gangsters are excellent at hiding things but we will find them.”
“If you find it, then the thief wouldn’t be Flambeau, that’s quite a bummer!” I exclaimed.
“Do you really believe in Flambeau?” Inspector Raghu replied, annoyed. “He’s just a legend. No one knows his name or his face. He is known as a master of disguise. He is known to own more than thirty mansions, helicopters, and cruise ships. They say he can stay underwater for more than thirty minutes, he can jump off buildings without breaking his bones. He can fly and I think it’s all a load of crap. We have our culprit, once I find the diamond, it’d all be clear that Flambeau is just a legend.”
“Always practical,” said Manav. “I hope you find the diamond.”
© Shreya Sinha, 2023.
To be continued.
