#Disclaimer: This is an original work of fiction with no relation to any person/organism living or dead. Every episode, every character is a work of imagination. Any resemblance to any person, organism, place, character or situation is purely coincidental. There is no intention to hurt or rebuke anyone or any profession through this work. This story/episode cannot be copied, published or reproduced without the permission of the author RhituparnaChakraborty.

Mushtaque’s phone rang. Mushtaque received the call. It was from one of the officers of his team.

Mushtaque: Yes

Officer: We did not find Shama in the railway station or the bus stops. We are checking all the cars. No information there as well.

Mushtaque: Hmm. Keep me updated.

Officer: Yes Sir.

Mushtaque then boarded his car. Sofia sat with Reshma in the rear seat. Mushtaque then instructed the driver to drive and helped him with the directions.

The car moved fast and in no time reached the Choudhary mansion. Reshma screamed, ‘I…..I don’t want to go in…..’ Mushtaque said calmly, ‘You don’t have to worry. We are with you.’ Mushtaque then told Sofia, ‘Bring Reshma inside the mansion. Be with her.’ Sofia nodded. Trembling with fear Reshma got off the car and walked with Sofia.

Mushtaque went inside the mansion. Ranvijay was sitting at the verandah. Seeing Mushtaque he stood up and said, ‘Hi there, hello! Where had you been?’ Mushtaque replied, ‘We have a lot to talk about. Could you please come inside and ask everyone in the house to assemble in the living room?’ Ranvijay asked perplexed, ‘I don’t understand…..’ Mushtaque said, ‘Well, the idea is to make everyone understand what’s going on. Could you please ask everyone to assemble in the living room?’ Ranvijay nodded, ‘Okay!’

After sometime everyone at the Choudhary mansion came to the living room.

Mushtaque then said, ‘Before I say something, I would like all of you to listen to me without interruption. And please let me complete.’ Everyone listened. Mushtaque then continued, ‘There has been a spate of events in this house since I came here. And the events did not begin when I came. I am sure, they had been going on for long. The people in the house know about some secrets in this house but no one talks about it.’ Devi Choudhary tried to interrupt, ‘What are you saying son?’. Mushtaque said, ‘Please let me complete….’ Mushtaque then continued, ‘Since I came here, I noticed Deepika was behaving strangely. I asked Sonal about Deepika, I asked my officers to get all the information about Deepika, and everyone confirmed, how happy and chirpy girl she is. However, none of you realized, she had been very sad of late.’ Ranvijay was shocked, ‘What are you saying?’ Mushtaque said, ‘Yes. She was not just sad, she was depressed and hence, with Rohan and Sonal’s help, we got her into counselling sessions.’ Ranvijay looked at Deepika stunned. Deepika looked at Ranvijay and nodded with moist eyes. Ranvijay was speechless. Mushtaque then said, ‘Deepika is much better now. However, the point is, why all of a sudden, she became so depressed? What had happened? Also, there were many tragic incidents in this house. No one spoke about it. Why?’ Samarth said, ‘Mushtaque, we had been through a lot already. What had happened was tragic.’ Mushtaque added, ‘Three women committed suicide in this house and no one initiated any investigation on that?’ Devi Choudhary said, ‘Son, the circumstances were different during those days. Moreover, those were clear cases of suicide. And the entire village thought there was some curse in this house. We too thought of the same and hence sent our Deepika to Vilasnagar.’ Mushtaque said, ‘Well, that was past. But I had to dig in to the past to know what had happened. Shama missing all of a sudden. Don’t you think, this also has to do something with all the spate of events?’ Everyone stared at Mushtaque.

Mushtaque then went near Reshma and asked her, ‘Now tell us Reshma, who is the culprit here?’ Reshma was petrified. She looked shocked at Mushtaque. Mushtaque told Reshma, ‘Reshma, no one can do any wrong to you. Tell us, who harmed Shama?’ Sofia patted Reshma’s shoulder and said gently, ‘Come on Reshma, speak up.’ Reshma said with her teeth chattering, ‘S….Samarth Sir…….’ Samarth looked at Reshma bewildered. He gasped and asked aghast, ‘What!!!! Are you in your senses?’ Reshma cried, looked at Mustaque and said, ‘Samarth Sir and Ranvijay Sir have hurt us a lot……….we……we tried our best to make this family happy, but these men……they are murderers……they murdered their wives. They murdered their mother.’ Ranvijay looked at Reshma with blood shot red eyes and screamed, ‘WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU SAYING!!!! YOU ROTTEN WOMAN!!!!!’ Ranvijay came rushing towards Reshma to hit her when Mushtaque stopped him and said, ‘You cannot do this Sir. Let us listen to what Reshma has to say.’ Deepika listened appalled. She froze. What was Reshma saying!!!! Mushtaque then told Reshma, ‘Tell us all Reshma. Where do you think Shama is?’ Reshma cried and said, ‘These people must have killed her…..they killed Shama…..they can kill anyone…..they can hurt anyone…….’ Mushtaque said, ‘My team could not find Shama anywhere. Let us search this house.’ Devi Choudhary said with rage, ‘What the hell are you saying Mushtaque? Search my house? Do you have a search warrant?’ Mushtaque smiled and said, ‘I have Sir. Here you go.’ Saying that Mushtaque flashed the search warrant. Mushtaque then said, ‘All of you come with me to the garden.’ Ranvijay was raging, ‘Why?’ Mushtaque said coolly, ‘Ofcourse to find Shama.’ Ranvijay asked puzzled, ‘Shama? In the garden?’ Mushtaque said, ‘Yes. Come with me.’

Mushtaque walked ahead and everyone followed Mushtaque. Mushtaque went to the huge tree behind Deepika’s room. Everyone followed him. Mushtaque then went behind the tree and walked further ahead in the sprawling garden. Ranvijay yelled, ‘Where are we going?’ Mushtaque said, ‘To that ramshackle room at the end of the garden. Samarth said angrily, ‘That room has been closed for ages. There are snakes there. Nothing else. Nobody goes there. Nobody is allowed to go there for safety reasons.’ Mushtaque did not listen. He went ahead.

Indeed the door was locked. Samarth said, ‘I am warning you, there are snakes there. This used to be a haven of cobras. Hence we had locked it.’ Mushtaque smiled and said, ‘Who said that it was a haven of cobras?’ Samarth said, ‘Shama herself had told us.’ Mushtaque said, ‘Do you have the key to this lock?’ Samarth said, ‘Of course not. No one goes there.’ Mushtaque laughed and said, ‘Well, the people who go there, have the keys.’ Everyone looked at Mushtaque astounded. Mushtaque looked at Sofia and said, ‘Hold Reshma tight.’ Sofia did that. Reshma froze. Mushtaque looked at Reshma and said, ‘Where are the keys Reshma?’ Reshma became jittery, she tried to free herself from Sofia’s grip. Sofia clenched her teeth and told Reshma, ‘Not so soon. Give Sir the keys.’ Reshma said groping for words….. ‘Wh…wha…what keys?’ Sofia slapped Reshma and said, ‘If Sir said you have the keys, it means you have the keys…..give them…..’ Mushtaque told Sofia, ‘I know she has the keys. Because she is not stupid to let her crime partner rot in a room for long. After all she must have locked this door. Find it.’ Sofia searched Reshma and there, the tiny key was right inside Reshma’s brassiere. Sofia took out the key and said, ‘Ewww’. She then wiped the key on Reshma’s saree and threw it towards Mushtaque. Reshma tried to free herself desperately from Sofia’s grip. But Sofia was strong. Mushtaque took the key and told everyone to switch on the flash lights of their phones before going in. Everyone did as Mushtaque said. Mushtaque opened the door. And yes, there was Shama sitting in one corner. There was no way she could escape from there. Mushtaque dialed a number and said, ‘Send Pushpa, Lata and Naren inside. We need to nab someone.’ In no time Mushtaque’s officers who were waiting outside, came in. Mushtaque instructed Pushpa and Lata to grab Shama and bring her outside. Devi Choudhary asked astonished, ‘Where are the snakes?’ Mushtaque smiled and said, ‘You have two snakes right in front of you, Shama and Reshma……queen cobras you see.’

Devi Choudhary gasped. Ranvijay, Samarth, Deepika, Bahadur looked at Mushtaque bewildered. Mushtaque asked Shama and Reshma, ‘So, Shama, why did you kill the women of the house? And why are you hell bent on killing Deepika?’ Reshma cried, ‘We did nothing….’ Mushtaque looked sternly at Reshma and said, ‘Oh stop shedding those crocodile tears. The sticky substance I found at Deepika’s window sill has the same aroma I found at your home. This is the same chemical you used for all the women in the house to feel dizzy and thirsty. You and Reshma were the ones who used to keep water bottles in the rooms of these women, including Deepika. And the water in Deepika’s room has traces of drugs. I found the same substance at your home. The forensic doctors told me these drugs are made some plants and you are aware of these very well. These cause hallucination, depression and finally suicidal tendencies.’ A chill went down everyone’s spine. Not in their wildest dreams did they imagine that this was what had happened to the women. Mushtaque looked at Shama with cold eyes and whispered, ‘I have all the evidence. Now, you need to tell us why you and Reshma did that. Or else, we know how to make criminals speak.

Shama replied unemotionally, ‘They all deserved to die. First that old lady. She found this elder daughter in law. I wanted to be the elder daughter in law of this house. But no, I was poor. Why would they let a poor girl be the daughter in law of this house? So I made her kill herself. The elder daughter in law still came to this house and she was the one who found a match for Samarth. I wanted Reshma to be the younger daughter in law of the house. But no, that could never happen, because we are poor. So I and Reshma had to make these women die. They deserved to die. However, these men are so loyal to their dead wives, that they never ever thought of getting married again. This wretch Deepika was the reason. They did not want a step mother for this girl. And this Samarth, his heart was meant only for his dead wife. I wanted this Deepika to die because she is also one reason for my and my Reshma’s unhappiness.’ Deepika froze as she listened to all these. Devi Choudhary looked at Shama rattled. Samarth ran to Shama with rage in his eyes and wished he could kill her, but Mushtaque stopped him. Ranvijay looked at Shama and Reshma with blood shot red eyes and said, ‘You won’t live in peace. No!’ Shama smirked, ‘You and your brother cannot be called “man”. I and Reshma were always around you guys. But what loyalty to your dead wives! Wow! We were sent away from the house in the evening. No women around. Wow! Bloody cowards!’ ‘SHAMA!’ Devi Choudhury yelled. Shama laughed wickedly and said, ‘You old bag of bones. You….it’s you and your wife, who gave this bull crap culture to your boys. Respect Women. Even if a woman wants to come closer, they won’t let that happen. Useless nonsense men of this house.’ Before Shama could continue more, Mushtaque asked his officers to take Shama and Reshma away.

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Mushtaque patted Ranvijay’s shoulder and said, ‘The law will look into it.’ Ranvijay screamed, ‘LAW??? THEY DESTROYED OUR ENTIRE WORLD. THEY TRIED KILLING MY LITTLE CHILD. AND YOU WANT ME TO WAIT FOR JUSTICE FROM LAW.’ Deepika ran to Ranvijay, hugged him tight and said, ‘Dad……no….you can’t go against the law. I already lost my mom. I can’t lose you.’ Saying that Deepika sobbed. Ranvijay broke down in tears. As the officers took away Shama and Reshma, Samarth looked at Reshma, pointed his finger at her and said coldly, ‘You will die a miserable death. You will be hanged to death. Yes….’

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The formalities had to be completed before the criminals could be taken to court for trial. The evidences were there. They had to be presented properly. Mushtaque spoke with the concerned people and ensured a smooth hearing. Deepika and Sonal stayed back in Ranjanpur for some more days till Deepika’s counselling sessions were over. Ranvijay was forever grateful and thankful to Mushtaque for saving his daughter and finding out the culprits. Ranvijay, Samarth and Devi Choudhary promised Mushtaque that they will always be there for him.

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Saahil and Mushtaque left Ranjanpur. Saahil’s feelings for Deepika grew stronger with time. He had no clue how he was going to spend his life with someone else. He was already engaged and breaking off an alliance was not going to be easy. He will go back home, and see if whatever feelings he has for Deepika is love or mere infatuation. If it is love, he can’t let Deepika go out of his life.

As for Rohan, he was head over heels in love with Sonal. He did confess his feelings to her. Sonal was elated. Rohan was a very nice person and there was no reason for her to say no. Yes, Rohan did agree that he will wait till she completes her education and he wants her to join his business here in Ranjanpur.

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Saanchi was in class, when some girls began looking outside the window and began murmuring. Saanchi asked them sternly, ‘What’s going on?’ The girls went quiet. They again began glancing outside and this time Saanchi heard the girls saying, ‘Whoaa! Look at that handsome guy. Is he some new professor? See he is looking at us.’ Saanchi went near the girls and peeped out of the window. She began laughing. The girls felt awkward. Saanchi went out and stood in front of the guy. The girls gasped. Saanchi laughed and asked that guy, ‘When did you come?’. The girls looked and listened to the conversation. The guy said, ‘Just now. Thought of giving my wife a beautiful surprise.’ The girls immediately looked away from the window. Saanchi told Mushtaque, ‘Come inside the class. My students are looking at us. Let me introduce you to them.’ Mushtaque was wearing a pair of black denim trousers and a v necked loose white tshirt. He was wearing his pair of aviator glares. The sleeves of his tshirt were slightly folded showing his biceps. He was wearing a pair of summer flipflops in his feet. The moment he entered the class, everyone stared at him. And when Saanchi introduced him to the class, there were warm smiles. One of the girls said blushing, ‘Ma’am, your husband is so handsome.’ Mushtaque blushed. Saanchi laughed. Mushtaque then left the class and the girls in the class longed to meet him again.

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And as for Mushtaque, well, more adventures coming up his way soon……………….

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House of Tales Episode 15

Written by Rhituparna Chakraborty

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