Murder - a short story

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The real estate king was murdered. In broad daylight. 1 day ago. And still no clue about the killer. The police department resorted to their last life line. Detective Munna.

Munna had never failed. He had a track record of all cases solved in short time. Some appreciated his brilliance, but most thought that he was lucky to resolve the cases.  Whatever be it, he would save the face of the police, thought Inspector Mahesh.

As Munna sat in the chauffeur driven car, he looked into the details of the victim, Maran alias Macha. Maran was a successful real estate agent in the booming city of Mangalore. The business involved lot of deals which cannot be exactly called legal. Black money flew in from all places including underworld. Bigger the money involved, bigger was the risk. Maran had friends and foes in the business. Maran’s recent & future business deals ran into pages. Detective Munna knew that every other real estate agent could be a suspect.
Maran was a widower. His family had died in the Tsunami in Chennai. Maran image was clean without any affairs. Detective Munna mentally eliminated a family angle to murder. He stayed alone in the big fort he had built for himself. 

Munna reached the spot of crime. It was raining. It was the bungalow of Maran. Huge was a small word to describe it. A 20 ft wall surrounded the house, like a fort. A lush green lawn welcomed him. The fort had one big gate and was well guarded. Munna sat next to the drawing where the body was found – in the garden. The garden was adjacent to the lawn which paved way to the main door of the house. Maran was shot by a single bullet, right in the forehead. A blood soaked newspaper was in dead body’s hand when the police arrived. The police were informed of the murder by the Maran’s personal security guards. The guards and the personal cook were under investigation by the police. But Inspector Mahesh was on the verge of giving a clean chit to all of them.

Munna walked around the house. The house had 2 doors. The main door was on the east and another door on the north. The door on the north opened to a tennis court. There was a huge verandah for business meetings. Then a bigger hall. There were 5 fully furnished rooms. There was ample space for parking the cars. Munna mentally made note that the house was fully vastu compliant. Munna quickly glanced the property documents seized by the police. Nothing enthused him.

The detective decided to walk around the locality of the house. Small houses surrounded this bungalow. The roads were narrow. “Typical of a middle class locality”, Munna thought. There were a few small shops but no major mall around. As Munna spoke to a few local people, he found that Maran was loved by one and all.  As it was raining, Munna came back to his car and was driven back to his office.

Early next morning, Munna drove himself to Maran’s house. It was bright and sunny and the detective could spend more time today. Munna made quick notes as he entered the lawn. He called the guard and asked a few questions.  He observed things till 10 am and then made a few phone calls. In a couple of hours, Munna called Inspector Mahesh  and told Mahesh that the murder mystery was solved and the police can start with the arrests.

In the evening, inspector Mahesh called and confirmed that the case was solved. Munna was happy.

Next evening Mahesh and Munna met over tea. Mahesh thanked and appreciated Munna. He asked for an explanation. Munna explained his thought process.

“When I arrived in the morning, the Sun was in the east. And was burning the main door of the house. But the door had not lost its sheen. This was not typical. Typically the Sun rays fade out the polish of the door, especially if it strikes directly. I checked with the guard if the doors were newly polished. He said no. Further probing lead me to the fact that there were huge trees on the road opposite to the house. The shade of the trese protected the door from the eastern Sun.  The tree was chopped down for road expansion purpose. And the tree was chopped on the same day of the murder. I read the post mortem report carefully and found that the bullet had struck Maran at an angle. I checked with the civic office on who had the contract to chop down the trees. I got the name and did a background check. It was the same man from whom Maran had snatched a big business deal recently. Then I called you to arrest and further investigate the contractor. You confirmed that the contractor had hired a sharp shooter to kill Maran”.

Once again detective Munna had saved the face of the police.