#CelebrateBlogging Chapter 19

Chapter 19

Team Alphabet Soup

Please visit Sajith's blog to read Chapter 18

Jennifer’s mind was racing with questions after seeing the photographs. She wasn’t sure if she should go back to the team and tell them about what she had seen. If she was sure of something, it was that she had hit a jackpot.

She decided to pay a visit to the old priest before heading back to brief the team. She questions the priest once again. Her gut feeling told her that there were some more secrets to be divulged. However, she needed a way to get the priest to answer her questions before she could continue solving this puzzle in her mind.

She asked the priest about his family. The priest stares blankly into space avoiding answering her question. She probed him further. Asking him about how he decided to become a priest. About his parents. Then she asked him if he ever got married. She was hoping that he would answer her. That was the only way she would know if the priest was being honest or not.

The priest continued to avoid her questions. He kept chanting some shlokas softly. He was praying. Jennifer could understand very little of what he was mumbling, her own malayalam being weak. She leaned in closer to enable herself to hear the priest clearly.

“My wife… she died while giving birth to my son. I couldn’t fulfil any of her dreams. I hardly earned anything from my job. She did not consider it enough money to run the house and bring up the children. She always wanted us to move to the city. She was tired of the village life. She had big dreams and aspirations for me and the children. ‘The city is where we will fulfill all our needs’ she would say every night while serving us dinner.”

“You had children? How many?” Jennifer questioned him while pretending to not be aware of it.

“Children… aah… yes… My lovely children… they always promised to never leave me….” The priest paused for a while as he felt a hot stream of tears ready to flow down his face.

“I had two children. A son and a daughter.” The priest told Jennifer.

“What happened to them?” There was still no response from the priest as Jennifer noticed his tears flow down.

“Namboori, what exactly happened on the day of the procession fourteen years ago?”

“You asked me this question a few days back. Didn’t you?”

“And you said, you fell unconscious. Did you fall into the water?”

The priest thought for a while, “I don’t remember. Many years have passed.”

“But how can one forget something this important?”

He turned his face away from Jennifer saying nothing.

“Namboothiri, did you fall into the water?”

“Eh? Aah yes. I did.”

“Are you sure?”

“Now, I remember. I fell into the water while giving the idol.”

She showed him the picture.

“Then why isn’t your upper body wet Namboothiri?”

The priest looked at the picture and then at Jennifer. His expression changed in a second from sorrow to fear. That was her cue.

“Your expressions too are betraying you Namboothiri. I know that there is more to your story. If you don’t answer me now, I’ll come back with the villagers and the authorities.”

The priest sighed heavily. He realized there was only so long he could keep all his secrets hidden within himself. He looked at Jennifer and said, “I made a mistake moley. One that has continued to haunt me day and night for all these years. That child should never have died. She didn’t deserve to.”

Jennifer sat listening to every word. Stunned. Speechless. She wanted to know more. Her heart beat began racing as she realized the truth might be revealed to her by the priest. He might know where the original idol was. He knew more than what he had been telling all the people who had visited him over the years. She held onto his hand and said, “What happened that day?”

He continued with his story, “I gave the sketch of the idol to my son. He made the fake idol. His craftsmanship was excellent. Nobody would notice the idol was fake. I had placed the fake idol in a crack I had made, in the pond’s wall. During the procession, we the child and myself went down the pond steps. The plan was to switch the idol without the child’s notice, when she took the dip. But unfortunately, she saw me doing it. I knew I would get caught if the child went back and told the villagers or even worse, if she told the royal family the truth. It would be the end for me and my children. We would lose everything.”

Jennifer felt his hands beginning to tremble. She pacified him so that he would continue. “I killed the child. That was the best thing for me to do at that time. I, with these hands, pressed her underwater until she died. What I had forgotten was… Devi’s wrath. Devi took away my children from me for what I did. She punished me. She left me to live like a vegetable and see my family rot.” he said as he broke down into a sob.

“I had planned to take the idol and the child, and my children and leave the village that night. I would sell the idol in a place where nobody would know of its powers.”

“What happened then?” questioned Jennifer, still trying hard to digest everything she had heard.

“After killing the child, I was climbing the steps of the pond, there was a flash of light and I felt a blow to my head. It was as though I was struck by lightning. Her eyes were blazing with anger. I felt it. Devi’s wrath was upon me for killing her beloved.”

“What happened to the idol after you exchanged it with the fake one?”

“I don’t know. I had kept the original idol in the crack on the wall. After I fell on the steps, I lost all consciousness. When I woke up, I got to know of the death of my daughter. My son and the royal family took care of me. The doctors told me I would not be able to walk again and that I was semi-paralyzed. My son mentioned the idol once or twice and I asked him to forget about it. After a few months, he too...”, the priest was sobbing now.

Jennifer placed her hand on his and sat with him for a while. After sometime, she got up to leave. She reached the door, turned and asked, “So you’re absolutely sure you are unaware of the whereabouts of the original idol after you stole it?”

“Believe me. I do not know anything about it.”

Jennifer left the house. She had to tell the team about it. She was slightly disturbed at leaving the priest when he was in an emotional turmoil after having revealed everything to her.

She saw Roohi playing with a few children in the village. She walked further down to the temple office, where she had requested everybody to gather so that she could update them with the news.

“Ravi, Roohi is playing with Chinnu and other kids in the ground. Shekhar has gone to bring us food. Can you send someone to bring Roohi?”

“Sure.”
“I’ll send the constable.”

“There is a problem. She might be a bit too adamant. She won’t go with strangers. The constable will have to ring me up and give her the phone. Only then will she come.”

“Haha smart kid. Will tell him to do that.”

Tara was about to get into the office when she noticed a distraught Jennifer walking towards them.

“Have some important info. Pls meet in temple office asap.”
Was Jennifer’s text to Tara and the others. Tara kept wondering as to what Jennifer could possibly have found which nobody else had.

Jennifer briefed everybody gathered in the temple office about what the priest had revealed to her. A sudden lull took over the office. Nobody said a word after Jennifer narrated the story.

 The man walked up to where Roohi was.

“Roohi moley! Your mother sent me to bring you to the office.”

“Who are you?”

He bent down smiling, “Haven’t you seen me? We met in the temple.”

She ran away playing again with the kids.

“Roohi moley! Come, let us go. It is time for lunch.”

“I’ll come only if Mumma or Pappa calls me. I won’t go with strangers.”

“I’ll call up your Mumma. Wait!”

He called up and gave the phone to Roohi.

“Ok Mumma! I’m coming. Roohi was a good girl. She didn’t go with stranger uncle.”, she gave the phone to him, said bye to her friends and left.

*****

Inspector Ravi finally spoke up saying, “This means that the idol is in the village. If the boy is dead, there has got to be somebody else who knows about the idol.”

Jennifer said, “Or, the boy hid the idol. After his death, no one knows about it. One thing is sure. The idol has not left the temple premises since the child died.”

“So basically, we need to find if someone is still aware of the idol’s theft and whether he is after it. How is that possible?” Ravi looked at everyone for an answer.

“There is one way. If anyone knows about the idol, and he wants to take it out, he will be after the child.” said Sudheeran.

“But she will be under our protection.” Tara said, albeit in a worried tone.

Suddenly, Ravi’s phone rang. He excused himself.

“Yes, I just saw her playing in the village with some children. No one can take her away just like that.” said Jennifer.

Ravi walked in, his face pale. “We got our answers. Someone else reached there before the constable. Roohi is missing."


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