The Case of the mysterious old man - The Detective Boys - Short Story 8

 

It was one of those lazy Sunday afternoons of August 1997 at the Babu Bagan lane in Kolkata’s Dhakuria locality. The occasional wave of people getting down from the local train halting at the adjoining Dhakuria station and walking into the city brought some life to the otherwise dead afternoon. The nearby shops were closed for the routine afternoon rest. Being the month of July, the sky was overcast and it was predicted that there might be heavy rains that evening. Ritwick was busy reading his favourite Feluda Series. Sunday afternoons would be the time to spend some time with his favourite character i.e. Feluda.

It would have been the same routine Sunday afternoon, if not for an observation that Ritwick made from his room balcony. A two storey building which was diagonally on the left hand side of his house was visible from his balcony. Near the window of the second floor of that building, he could see an old man standing and looking outside. Ritwick was surprised to no ends as the same building had been locked for last five years without any one ever visiting.

The distance made it impossible for Ritwick to look more closely. Something seemed intriguing to him. The sudden appearance of an old man at that house made Ritwick wonder about the various possibilities. Was he back for some reason or was it just a nostalgic trip down memory lane? Ritwick, by now had become curious enough to know more about the old man.

That evening, Ritwick had a brief conversation with his grandfather about the old man at that neighborhood house.  Vimal Babu was initially surprised for Ritwick’s interest but later succumbed to his request. Ritwick had learned through his grandfather that the house in which he had seen the old man belonged to a gentleman named Narendra Roy who was a veteran of that area. Narendra Roy had been one of oldest residents of the Babu Bagan lane, since its inception to be accurate. Surprisingly, hardly anyone was aware about his background. Everything and every detail about Narendra Roy began from the point of his residence at the Babu Bagan Lane. Over the years, Mr Roy had developed good relations with the people in and around including Ritwick’s grandfather, Vimal Babu. It was some five years ago when something tragic had happened with Narendra Roy’s business of cloths which many believe was the reason that he had committed suicide.

“What?” was the only reaction which Ritwick could give when he came to know of Narendra Roy’s suicide.

“Yes, he had jumped in the river Ganges. That’s what the witnesses say.” said a pretty sure Vimal Babu.

The investigative mind of Ritwick started buzzing within his head.

“If Mr Roy is dead then who was that old man?” asked Ritwick to himself as he looked into the mirror.

That Night Ritwick had planned to keep a close watch on that house through a mini- binocular which his grandfather had gifted him.

The night was very quiet with drizzle making its way on the streets of Babu Bagan Lane. There were a regular chorus sounds of nocturnal insects. Human life was next to nil on the roads. Far away echoes of the occasional vehicles plying on the empty roads was heard. Little did anything happen all night until it was around morning four. A dim light could be seen by Ritwick. Initially Ritwick couldn’t understand the image but as the light got brighter, he could see a shadow. A tall shadow resembling a figure which he had seen that afternoon emerged. It seemed someone was walking down the stairs. Ritwick waited for the figure to come out.

After some seconds, the tall figure whose body was wrapped in a white blanket came out of the building stairs and walked towards the Dhakuria Station road with an umbrella in hand. Ritwick wanted to get out and follow the figure. He gave a thought. Would it be good idea considering it was morning four? Ritwick stopped thinking and picket up his jacket and shoes and opened the room door and walked by the hall room upon which he opened the house door and walked down the building. He hurriedly walked down towards Dhakuria Station. There was no sign of human life except for that figure and Ritwick himself.

As he neared the figure, Ritwick hid behind a building near the right side of a lane and observed in detail. The figure wrapped in a blanket walked upon the stairs which led to station platform. He waited for some time. After about ten minutes, two more males joined the figure.

Something clicked in his mind. Some months ago, he had seen a similar figure who resembled one of the other male persons who had joined. Ritwick thought hard.

“Yes, that shop from which sounds would occur. The mystery of Closed of Shop,” whispered Ritwick to himself. He recollected he had seen the same figure and in the same blanket but he couldn’t gauge the reason of the old man joining the group.

“Was that old man Narendra Roy?”

Ritwick could sense that perhaps there was something wrong. He immediately returned back home. All night Ritwick thought about the events of that day.

Next day, Ritwick walked towards the two storey house which was diagonally opposite to his. Dhakuria Girls high schools was near to that building. The building seemed completely empty and all door and windows seemed closed.

He took a stone in his hand and threw at one of the windows and ran behind a small wall of one of the houses and observed the windows. There was no reaction from inside the house for some time, but after he could see a face, a face he recognized very well. Ritwick had a smile on his face.

That evening three people were caught from that house. One of them was the owner of the shop from where the tunnel to the national bank had been unearthed some months ago during the mysterious case of the sounds from the closed shop. The owner was a resident of the area and knew about the Narendra Roy’s suicide. In fact, coincidentally the owner of the shop had disappeared the same year in which Narendra Roy had committed suicide. The owner had somehow managed to get into the building and along with him he had got two more people, one of them was that old man whom Ritwick had seen from his house.

It was later revealed that the trio were planning a massive local robbery in and around the area.

The case of the mysterious old man was satisfactorily solved by Ritwick.