From: sp2@cec1.wustl.edu (Sundara Pandian)
Subject: Come after 15 minutes ( mystery ) 
Organization: Washington University, St. Louis Mo.
Date: Fri, 31 Jul 1992 18:23:17 GMT

                Come after 15 minutes ( mystery )
              -------------------------------------
   Tamil Original :       Abarna Naidu
   English Translation :  Maitrayi 

     Suguna stopped typing and looked at her watch.
 It said 10:40.
     O.K. Just five more minutes.  She had to go to
 M.D.'s room exactly at 10:45 to place the typed
 letters on his desk for his signature.
     Suguna bit her nails and started thinking.
     She had been his secretary for  about an  year.
 But he had never said anything like what he said
 today. Why should he - who always adds an urgency
 by asking in the intercom "Done? Done ?" and signs
 the typed letters atonce  - say this in intercom
 just a while ago ?
     "Come to my room exactly after 15 minutes.  
 Understand ?"
      When he said this, she could not fail to note a   
 hardness in his voice. A little hardness. Why was it
 so ?
      She kept on thinking, biting her nails.
      "Hi.. Seems to be a deep thought."
      She turned, after hearing this, only to find
 Ethirajan standing on her behind. He smiled. He was
 grinding a chewing gum in his mouth.
      Suguna smiled also and then asked. 
      " Just an hour has gone since the office 
 started today. Have you already had a tea outside?"           
      "You see.. it's all human weekness. For some, 
 it's cigarette. For a few others, it's tobacco. For
 me, it's tea and chewing gum."
       Ethirajan pulled back the trash-can below her 
 desk with his leg. 
       "phoo!"
       Like a bullet, his chewing gum fell in the 
 trash-can.    
       Suguna, who looked at her watch, got up with 
 haste. She picked up some letters from her desk and
 walked to M.D.'s room.
      Ethirajan watched her opening M.D.'s room door 
 and walking in.
      Suguna was about to make one step in. She got    
 stunned by the sight.
      M.D. was sunk in his chair. He was strangled        
 to death by a nylon rope. 
        ************************************
      Inspector came within 10 minutes after he was    
 notified of the murder.
      "Who gave the call ?"
      "Myself."
      Inspector looked at manager Namasivayam  who  
 gave this reply. He said to all.
      "I'll talk to each of you, after talking with 
 the manager. Till then, don't move from your seats."
      Then he walked with Namasivayam.
        **************************************
     In the manager's room ...
     " What did you do today in the office ? Who did 
 you talk to ?"
     " I first went to M.D.'s room. I talked with him 
 for 10 minutes on bank transactions. Then I returned 
 to my room and I was there only, since Suguna told me 
 this news."
     " Then what? "
     " I went to M.D's room with Suguna. After seeing
 what happened, I called you immediately and waited 
 for your arrival."
     " After hearing the news, did anybody in your 
 office go out and come back ?"
     " No, no. Everyone in the office got stunned by 
 the news and stayed in their seats. Even Ethirajan 
 who always goes out every half-an-hour to take a tea
 stayed in his seat and did not move from there."
     Inspector thought for a second and then said.
     " Come, let's visit the M.D.'s room."
          ****************************
    In the M.D.'s room ...
    Inspector looked at M.D.'s body, which was sunk in
 his chair, the neck strangled by a rope. He asked the
 manager without taking his eyes off the sight.
   " Do you know whether anybody met him today other
 than you ?"
   " I have to ask Suguna. She is M.D.'s personal 
 secretary."
    Inspector looked around the room. His eyes passed   
 the A.C. unit giving a "hmmmm..' sound and finally
 rested on the window nearby. There was only a glass      
 door on it. Even that door was just closed down,       
 without any lock.
     A thought came to him like a smoke. He walked,
 reached the window and opened it by raising the glass
 door. He looked out and inspected the ground below.
     The window was about four feet from the ground.
 Below were flower-pots orderly kept. But one pot,
 which was right below the window was broken and lied
 slanted on the floor. 
     He thought deeply, keeping a constant look on the
 ground. 
     He stepped back and closed the window.
     Then he asked the manager,
     "Shall we see Suguna ?"
       ***********************************
     On Suguna's desk...
     Inspector motioned Suguna to sit down, when they
 saw her standing in respect.
     "It's allright. You can take your seat."
     She could not help crying.,
     "M.D. did only good to everyone. Why should he     
 meet such a death ? "
     Inspector gave a sympathetic look to Suguna.
     " There may be plenty of reasons to hate anyone
 so much. We can't jump into a conclusion that there
 is no reason for anyone to kill M.D. just because we
 can't think of any."
      " No, Sir. Yesterday was company's Silver Jubilee
 function. When Ethirajan mimicked in M.D.'s voice,
 " This year I'll give you 25 percent bonus", M.D. said
 with a smile, " I was actually thinking of announcing
 the same. I'll do just as you have said." Such a nice
 man.."
      " I see.. Who all met M.D. today in his room ?"
      " Only the manager. Nobody else."
      " Could anybody have gone in his room without your
 knowledge ? "
      " Not possible usually. People always check with
 me first before visiting M.D. in his room."
      " I'm not asking you about the usual routine. I'm
 just asking you whether anybody could have gone in 
 M.D.'s room  today, when you didn't notice ? "
      " It is possible. I didn't notice it. I was busy
 typing some important letters. I came to know even the
 routine event - that of Ethirajan gone out for a tea -
 only when he started talking with me when he returned."
      " So, only the manager went in M.D.'s room to 
 your knowledge. ? "
      " Yes. Just after he came out, M.D. called me in
 the intercom."
      " What did he say ? "
      " He asked me to bring the typed letters after 15
 minutes for his signature. But his voice sounded          
 different."
      " Why do you say so ?"
      " He always hastens me to finish typing documents
 fast for  signing. Next thing is, I noticed a little
 hardness in his voice, which sounded odd to me. "
      " Is that so ? "
      Inspector thought for a while and addressed the
 manager.
      " We shall talk to Ethirajan next. "
           *****************************
     On Ethirajan's desk..
     He was grinding a chewing gum in his mouth. Inspector
  asked him, who faced him across his desk.
     "Ethirajan ! I heard that you do mimickry well".
     Inspector's hand casually went in his pocket to take
 a hand-towel, but the cigarette lighter which came with
 the hand-towel fell on the floor. Inspector bent down to
 pick the lighter.
     He noticed Ethirajan using his shoe to pull back the
 trash-can when he was under the desk picking his lighter.
     "phoo!"
     The chewing gum fell in the trash-can like a bullet            
 and he used his shoe again to push the trash-can back to
 its place. 
     Inspector got up and blinked his eyes with a smile.
 He said,
     " You are spouting the chewing gum with a good aim."
     Ethirajan smiled modestly,
     " Not always. Sometimes it falls outside the can."
     " If it falls outside the trash-can, then while
 walking, it could stick to your shoe-bottom. That's what
 happened today. But you didn't know it and went to M.D.'s
 room. You strangled him to death and delayed Suguna from       
 coming to his room by mimicking M.D. to come after 15
 minutes. Then you opened the window and jumped out. You
 closed the window from outside, went out and entered the
 office just as you return from outside after having tea.
 But when you jumped out from the window, you broke the
 flower-pot kept below the window and the clay in the
 flower-pot got stuck in your chewing gum glued to your
 shoe. When I bent down to collect my lighter, I inspected
 your shoe and it told me everything. Now, tell me, why
 did you kill M.D. ? "
       Ethirajan's tension was very noticeable.
  ---------------------------------------------------------  
  [ Posted for Maitrayi : S.Pandian ( sp2@cec1.WUSTL.edu ) ]
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