Seven Days...

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Disclaimer: All characters in this story are fictional; any resemblence to any person dead or alive is purely coincidental and unintentional....this story was written couple of years ago, in the summer of 2005......Special Thanks to Dan Brown's "Da Vinci Code"...which stood as a major inspiration for me to write this story on my journey to Mysore from Banaglore.

-Hemanth Kumar
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Seven Days...

Monday: - 7:00 A.M

“Please move…please move, photographers and journalists are not allowed,” said the fat policeman to a group of journalists who were rushing towards the great mansion of Sripuram.

Prasad, a noted writer had died under mysterious conditions earlier that day. He was a very well respected gentleman in the town and was famous for his writings and speeches against the government policies across the state.

The whole locality was filled with voices of siren and eager onlookers who were curious to know what was happening. The news had spread like wild fire throughout Sripuram and special taskforce was called upon to investigate the matter.

Mr. Ashok, the DCP of the place had just come to the site.

“Mr. Ashok….Mr. Ashok, what have you got to say about the whole incident?” the curious journalists were on a rampage.

“I can’t say anything about the incident; looks like we have got a tough case ahead…thank you”.

“Mr. Ashok……Mr. Ashok…”

He had barged inside the great mansion. “Oh! My God…what is this place? Looks like as if there was a earthquake last night,” exclaimed Ashok.

The house was in a horrible condition…books thrown away from various racks, the computer screen had crumbled into pieces, the kitchen was no different. Everything was a complete mess. It looked as if the man inside the house was “murdered” and someone might have done a thorough search for something…maybe something very important…something priceless.

“Ok, Fellas! We have a situation here. I am gonna call in the special task force in a few minutes. We are going to transfer the whole case to them and we will help them in every possible manner to solve the case,” instructed Ashok to his team, continuing,” For the world, Mr. Prasad has died of suffocation and paralysis stroke, but we gotta find out that one thing that will be most important for us because of this incident; the truth, the reason and the answer of every how, why, what, when!” “ That’s it, buckle up guys, its show time!”

Krishna, the newly appointed ACP to the town was listening keenly to his senior. “Brilliant,” he thought. He was determined to solve the case to prove his worth. He had rose very quickly to this status and was generally cursed and suspected of giving bribes.

Monday: - 8:00 A.M

The task force had arrived and was searching for the smallest possible clues in the house. All they could find in the house was books lying everywhere and perhaps; nothing was in its place at all.

John, the head of the team was a very intelligent young man. He was highly respected in police circles for his excellent capabilities in finding clues and solving all the puzzles in a case. But he had a bizarre past. In school he was caught several times for the attempt of cheating and indiscipline. As a child he was always pushed to accept things and never ask questions. But he always did and never in his life had he found a man who would encourage him to do what he does best until he met Ashok. John was a eager student who would always try to find the truth factor in everything and Ashok was a patient teacher and listener who would try to answer every question that John shot at him. There was a special bonding between these two and they had solved many complex cases as a team.

The task force had nearly searched for an hour and had found nothing except for a pen, a bullet shot through the window and the hole it made in the wall behind and of course loads and loads of footprints and fingerprints. They started taking samples and immediately forwarded them for analysis.

“John, may I have a word with you?” asked Krishna. “John, I found something near Prasad’s table when I was looking for clues earlier today. I picked it up and didn’t tell anyone about this. Maybe this will be of some use to you, so just wanted to keep it a secret.”

“Ok…what is it?”

“A white paper, a pen whose nib was dry and a glass filled with some lemon juice,” said Krishna. “hehehe….Krishna, do you expect a writer’s table to be anything different?”

“I don’t know…anyway take them and have a look. I have to go now. Ashok will be expecting me in his office. All the best John.”

“Thanks Krishna”

The paper looked very normal and the pen too. There was no reason to suspect anything. But as he was about to throw the paper away, he smelt it for one last time and he was right on track! The paper had a smell as if lemon juice was smeared over it. John smiled. This had been his favourite way of cheating at school. Write something on a white paper with the nib of pen dipped in lemon juice; it would be absolutely clean unless you take the paper near and smell it. And he knew exactly how to unlock this. He took out his lighter and lighted an old lamp and placed the paper above the chimney of the lamp. And just as he expected a message appeared in the white paper.

“It may seem like we harass,

But never mind someone has to be a victim,

It will be a turn to abyss if you get this wrong,

For the land where we are is so famous,

Unlock my words and the great lord seated under the tree shall guide you to me.”

This message was unlike any other puzzle he had seen before. The words were very oddly arranged and John had just managed to understand what each word was in that format. He slipped the paper into his pocket and straight away headed home.

Monday: - 9:00 P.M

Trin…trin…

“Hello John…this is Ashok.”

“Yes Sir….John speaking.”

“So, how far have you been successful in the case?”

“Sir, we have started to analyze the clues that we have with us. I think we can solve this case in a short time. And Sir, I need the address of every possible relative of Mr. Prasad.”

For some reason, John decided to keep the information about the clues a secret, even from Ashok.

“Ok...John, I will have them faxed to you in an hour.” “Thank you….Ashok”

John had been working on the message for nearly 13 hours now and he still wasn’t sure of what the message indicated. He began to concentrate on the 1^st and the 4^th line…

“It may seem like we harass

For the land where we are is so famous”

In the past few days, he had read thousands of articles on various places, but nothing was referring to this. What does this mean….? We harass….V harass (this form of writing “we” as “v” was very famous among mobile and internet users) V harass…V haras…or maybe Viharas!

Oh….Can this be true??...!!!

This refers to the land of Viharas. People interested in literature and history knew exactly what this meant. It indicated only one place, BIHAR…the land of Viharas. Viharas are the resting places built by the Buddhists. The place was so famous that in sometime it came to be know as Bihar…the land of Viharas.

And the last line…

“Unlock my words and the great lord seated under the tree shall guide you to me”

This could be the only thing that was in his mind. The great lord referred to Gautam Buddha and the tree was in Gaya. The place so famous across the world is believed to be the tree under which He attained the status of God and the place was in Gaya, Bihar. After an hour, the fax from Ashok had come. And at the bottom of the page was the address of someone named Priya who was the grand daughter of Prasad. And as he expected she lives in Gaya, Bihar!