Tuesday.
It was noon. The clock in the Vijayapura police station said 12.44 pm. Usually, a hot hour with blazingly burning sun. Yet, today there was no sunshine. The sky was elegantly wrapped with thick rainy clouds. The blowing wind was chilling the body as if sitting in front of an opened refrigerator.
Inspector Ajantha's mind was wandering around the case of the missing incident in Marudur. The missing school principal or his corpse has not yet been found.
This case had been giving him a big headache. The missing person seemed to be someone with strong political connections.
One of Inspector's senior colleagues in the headquarters called him to talk about the case. Then, a press woman from a popular English daily called him.
The Inspector wished the principal to have drowned in the water. If so, he could simply close the file and get rid of the case.
This irritating case would be over then. There will not be any more dragging. But, the Inspector knew that it was unlikely for the principal to have drowned.
The inspector could not convince himself to believe that the man could have drowned in the water. Moreover, If he had drowned, his corpse must have been found by this time. It was taking unusually long.
Inspector was from down south.
It flooded recently in his village. The water remained stagnant for days. He was not home those days.
The rescue workers had to evacuate his family in a boat. Furniture and his other household things got damaged. When the Indian Ocean Tsunami hit the Island in 2004, his village was one of the worst-hit, though his house was miraculously safe. So, for him, the Marudur flood seemed like nothing. It was just a kind of ‘toy flood,’ and nothing more.
Inspector could gain no information from the people who got arrested. Maybe constable Sinnathambi was right. He might have captured the wrong people. There could be another explanation for the incident that he had not considered so far.
Inspector decided to visit Marudur one more time. He wanted to go alone this time, not with constable Sinnathambi.
****
There were still several paddy fields in the surrounding areas of Marudur, though many fields were already destroyed. The Southeastern border of Firdaws garden in Marudur was bordered by paddy fields. There was a vast land of paddy fields that separated Marudur from its neighbouring village, Coffee-Garden. In front of Akbar mosque, there is a paddy field of Emerald green. These eye-catching fields gave the landscape the tranquillity of a pleasant countryside atmosphere.
The existence of paddy fields means that there is the blessing of flowing crystal clear streams. There were currents of streams that flowed through Marudur. The flood-hit Firdaws Garden through these streams that join with a branch river of Mahaweli Ganga.
Inspector was standing by the paddy field in front of Akbar mosque. It was the graveyard mosque.
The scenery of the green field and the mountains in the distance gave him the peace of mind that he had not experienced for the last several months since his wife was diagnosed with breast cancer. The embracing cold wind gave him a chilling feeling like an embrace of a kind little baby.
“Ajantha, what are you doing here?”, a familiar voice broke his chain of thinking. He was surprised. He is a police officer. Who could call him by his first name? He is a newcomer in this area. He was transferred to the Vijayapura police station just two weeks before. He had hardly made any friends.
He looked at the man in his fifties standing in front of him with a broad smile.
“You are unable to recognize me, right? I am Wijerathne Sir,” the man said.
“Oh my God..! I didn’t expect you here, sir. How are you doing? It's been a long since I saw you”.
Wijerathne Sir was one of Inspector Ajantha’s teachers.
Wijerathne Sir got his first teaching appointment in Down South. He also conducted extra tutorial classes those days. He was very young at that time. He might have been in his early twenties.
“I teach here, Ajantha. In Marudur village School”.
“It’s nice to see you, sir, after all these years. You still remember my name. That thing I can’t believe”.
Wijerathne Sir laughed.
“I am also very delighted to see you as a police officer. You know, teachers have some students in their life. We can’t forget them for the rest of our life,” said Wijerathne Sir.
“It is my luck if I am one of them, sir,” said the Inspector humbly.
Wijerathne Sir laughed again.
“So, you are the new area inspector it seems?”
“Yes, sir.”
“I guess you are investigating what happened to our principal…!”.
“Yes, sir, that’s right”.
“Any new developments in the investigation?”.
“No, sir, this case is giving me a huge trouble…,” Inspector started saying something. He soon realized the mistake.
He should control his tongue.
He should not say anything unnecessary. Anything he utters would have consequences.
He is not only Wijerathne Sir’s student now. He is in a responsible post.
He is a police inspector.
Wijerathne Sir expected Inspector Ajantha to complete what he was about to say. When he realized the Inspector would not say anything, he said: “if you would like, I can give you some information. I have worked with the Principal for a long time. My information could give you, who knows, some direction to your investigation”.
Inspector Ajantha suddenly became the police officer again from his memory of a student.
“Get on the Jeep, sir, let’s talk,” said the Inspector. Now his voice sounded stronger.
Both Inspector and Wijerathne Sir got on the police vehicle. The vehicle started moving at a leisurely speed.
((To be Continued...))
_ _ _ _ _ _
Previous chapter: chapter 23 (3) - the arrests
Next chapter : chapter 24 (2) - the approaching evil
* Characters, events and the places in this story are fictional and a mere product of the author's imagination. Any resemblance to real-world events or characters is merely coincidental.
** Vijayapura and Marudur are fictional places.
Riza Jaufer
Akurana -Kandy,
Sri Lanka
