STRANGER OF MIDNIGHT- PART 3(LAST PART)

The Story so far: The narrator of this story takes a shortcut dirt road on his back home journey by a mistake. Just near the narrow culvert of this road, he had to stop his vehicle as a VW car was partly blocking the approach. As he tried to locate the driver, some hidden Goons beat him up and made unconscious. Regaining his sense, he was driving back and  he found  a black spaniel dog inside his car. On reaching home, he saw the TV News and came to know the kidnapping of one of his bad client, Monty Singh, near the culvert on the dirt road. There are certain circumstantial evidences from which it  appears that   as if he is involved in this kidnapping. Brushing aside this apprehension, he was inside his bath room keeping on  the News Channel.  He heard the voice of Monty and baking of the excited Pluto.

The music channel, owned by a cousin brother of Monty, suspending its own programme is  making appeals to viewers to inform the Police or the channel if they happen to see Monti ji in their locality with a promise to keep the identity undisclosed.

In between the announcements, they were also showing a video clipping of his latest speech just a month before ended   municipality election. Pluto was barking as and when this clipping was shown but why? This is something strange.

This means so far there is no ransom call and Monty’s friends are yet  to locate the den, where by now Monty is kept as hostage.

I clicked to local News channel; there was no latest development like ransom call. Now I really felt a train of cold wave  was flowing through my spine.

 Things are going to be tough for me. Possibly my interrogation may start any time for now.

I called up my lawyer’s office but his office replied that he is out of town and might return only late night or tomorrow morning.

I had no wish to go back to bathtub but I preferred to occupy the divan and leaning on the long Pillow. Keeping the News Channel on, I once again started rolling back the incidents.

For the first time in my life I realized how a person who had nothing to do in an incident but appeared just opposite.

Goons made me unconscious, just near the culvert. They thought that, I saw or guessed something wrong was going on under the culvert. Later on, Police found the remaining Kolhapuri Chappal, top lid of briefcase and some footprints under the culvert. This confirmed  my theory that something was going on below the culvert, possibly just at the time of my arrival.  

The Bolero of same color of mine was nowhere there and surely, Monty was taken in that Bolero before my arrival. The remaining miscreants were busy in breaking open the briefcase under the culvert when I stopped my vehicle near the culvert.  When they made me unconscious, they had a different brainwave.

My Bolero was of same color. They sprayed ether to make the dog unconscious and kept in my Bolero.  They were sure that as soon as I would regain my sense,  I would  drive away fast without looking into anything. By the time, this dog might become comfortable with me,   I would reach highway.

Everybody would see a Sky-blue Bolero with a black spaniel at the front seat. Police would be after the wrong Bolero and the miscreants would be able to buy sometime to keep Monty in a distant hide out.  However, few things remain unexplained.

Monty never carries briefcase, but backpack type things. I saw the broken handle of a briefcase and Police later on found a top lid of a briefcase under the culvert. Possibly other party carried this briefcase and they certainly would not break open their own briefcase.

Like today, Monty always wears snickers and Jeans, never Kurta Pajama and Chappal.

He never moves alone. As soon as he moves out of his residence, his musclemen wait for him at crossings to accompany him.

If I assume a different theory, these anomalies are explained.

Apart from construction, Monty has a bigger business in drug trafficking. Today upon receiving a call from a supplier, he went at this culvert place accompanied by his goons.

This supplier, along with his pet dog (whom I named as Pluto),carrying  the drugs in a briefcase, came in a  Sky blue color Bolero at the Culvert site much before Monty arrived.

There was a scuffle between him and Monty’s Gang. Either the person could not supply the promised amount against the advance of huge sum paid by Monty or he was a repeated defaulter of supplies.

Goons of Monty tried to snatch the brief case but only the handle of the briefcase came out. Either this fellow tried to escape through the culvert or the goons caught him before and pulled him under the culvert to complete their job without any disturbance.

They sprayed ether on him and barking Pluto. Some members of Monty’s gang carried him in his Bolero and fled off quickly. All these happened moments before I arrived.

They did a mistake in parking the Monty’s car, which made me to get down from my Bolero. To silence me also, they made me unconscious Correcting their early mistake of parking, they put me and Pluto in my Bolero and parked it  on the opposite side of the culvert so that no passer by  be inquisitive about me or Pluto and I buzz off as soon I get up.

This way   confusion might be created seeing a  Bolero of sky blue color with a dog in the front seat.

So Monty was not kidnapped, rather he and his gang did the thing and smartly put the blame on others shoulder to confuse the Police.

This is the reason why until now nobody made a single ransom call.  Further, his friends are telecasting to others to locate him to create a further confusion.

Whichever theory be correct, for me the result is the same. Soon I am bound to heart a siren wailing Police jeep screeching to halt just at the entrance of our residential complex.

Remembering the consequences, I broke into sobs. I switched off all the lights and the TV except the dim light and started thinking my plans ahead to come out of this worst kind of Jam in my life.

I did not know when I fall into sleep but a series of siren like sound pulled me up. Oh! They have come, I felt as if my heart would come out in my hand.

Oh No! It is the loud wail of Pluto. I got up to my feet and looked in the corner.  Pluto was  not there.

I shouted “ Pluto ! Pluto!” There was no response. I got up and was about to put on the light switches and then I heard distinctly.

 A baritone voice was saying “ Don’t cry Raja, Don’t cry, just come to me, Don’t cry Raja, Don’t cry ” Incidentally Raja is also my nickname, only very few people know it.

This voice was coming from the Balcony. I put on all the lights of my flat including the Balcony. There was nobody in the Balcony except Pluto. I called “ Pluto” There was no response. Now I called “ Raja”.

 Pluto pulled up for a spilt second but ignored me. I said “ Come here Raja, come”. He refused and sat there only. It was just midnight. I finished searching every nook and corner of my flat.  

I crawled several times to the balcony and looked through the grill. The entire complex was floodlit and I could see none except security persons making repeated quick rounds. Finally, I gave up and went back to divan.

At 5.45 A.M, the dawn has just begun.  Pluto is missing from my flat. Vainly searching for him, I came back to Balcony.

There are enough gaps in the grill for a small animal like him to pass through.

 The North- South—western horizons are pale dark and as if covered with a soft silky bed sheet of light fog. The eastern sky has just started becoming fade pinkish red with cool morning breeze from that side.

The wide drain of that dirt road and under that culvert passes here also and just half a kilometer away from here.   It is much wider here with thick cover of forest. The cool breeze is coming from this side.  Sometime cool bridge flows throughout the Night.

The eastern sky, along with the cool morning breeze, is pale red now. A group of black vultures is circling in this part on the top of the forest cover and appearing as sharp contrast in the background of the sky, caught my sight.

The dogs have a much powerful smelling power and if the bridge flowed in the night, he might have smelt something. Some very sad thing happened to him in the last midnight to wail loudly. 

 I now know in which direction Pluto alias Raja has gone. The complex main gate is in this side only. A police Jeep screeched to halt at the main gate of our complex.

A wail like loud sob came in my throat but failed to exit. I just heard the same baritone voice. 
Someone, invisible but very near to me, was calling me by my nick name “ Don’t cry Raja, Don’t cry, things will be all right,  Just don’t cry.”

FOr Part 1

http://pradipwritenow.blogspot.in/2013/03/strangers-of-midnight-dont-cry-raja.html

 For Part 2 Pls click the link below

http://pradipwritenow.blogspot.in/2013/03/strangers-of-midnight-dont-cry-raja_8.html

 For Part 3 Pls click the link below

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STRANGERS OF MIDNIGHT-"DON'T CRY RAJA" PART 2

The story so far: The narrator, by mistake in swerving, was returning home from office through a dirt road, instead of his usual route. Just near the narrow culvert of the dirt road he saw a VOLKSWAGON (VW) car parked wrongly and blocking partially the approach to culvert. He came out of his Bolero and before he could locate the driver of that VW, some goons hit him from the back making him senseless. After regaining his senses, he drove fast and stopped near signal crossing. He heard the wail of a dog inside his car. For Part 1 Please click  http://pradipwritenow.blogspot.in/2013/03/strangers-of-midnight-dont-cry-raja.html 

The wailing sound was coming from the floor of the back seat. Turning and lowering my head, I saw a small silk black Spaniel curling comfortably at the floor adjoining to the backseat. As our eyes met, I braved myself to make a soft whistle and signaled the dog to come up. The dog obediently followed my signal and sat near to me.

I now saw the silk black Male Spaniel minutely. Dogs of this class cannot be stray dogs and are pets only. The cover on his body with proper bags for nature call further confirmed it.

Has anyone gone for an evening stroll in this lonely road and left his or her dear pet dog?

Perhaps this is  the  dog of  that abandoned car owner. However, no pet shall ever abandon the master and enter into my car.

I looked at the small dog and it looked back straight to me. It appeared to me that something scared him and he is looking for a shelter from me.

For the night, he would stay in my apartment and tomorrow, before entering the office, I would keep him in a kennel and better put an advertisement in the local daily so that his owner might contact me.

I whistled at him and called him as Pluto. Pluto took out his tongue and licked his face twice and agreed reluctantly to his new name, with a low bark “grrr, grrr”

  The pain was coming back, reminding me that the effect of the analgesic is temporary. As the signal became amber to green, I quickly shifted gear to reach my apartment soon.  

As I entered my flat, Pluto made a quick round of my apartment and settled on a mat at the corner between the sofa and the divan of the big living room.  Instead of freshening up, I opened the fridge, made a drink, took out a packet of Snacks, and put the marinated chicken for roasting in the Microwave.

 I offered Pluto, few biscuits in a plate and a tumbler of water. He drank the entire water within a minute but pushed the plate away. I knew pet dogs take some time to accept food from a new environment. The aroma of roasted chicken was filing this living room. He might like a portion of the chicken.

Resting comfortably on the sofa, I put on the TV and my idea was to have a drink and see something in TV to brush off the bad memory of the happenings of past one hour from my mind before soaking in the warm water of the Tub of the bathroom. Little I was unaware that something else would happen in the following moment.

As I pressed on the remote button, the News channel came first.  Right then, I was not interested in any News but looking for a reality show or music-cum dance channel. However, the News channel kept me glued.

There was a flash News.  Some miscreants possibly kidnapped the well-known builder Monty Singh.  

Monty is a bitter name to me with even a much bitter memory.  He came up from the underworld with good connections in social high ups and power corridors. His kidnapping is big news in this city. A video clipping followed, showing his abandoned car. My heart thumped a bit.

It is that VW car in the same location of the dirt road where I stopped my car just an hour before.

The Newsreader was showing a clip of the interview with his family members. They said that he went out in his car after receiving a call in his mobile. He wore his usual blue Jeans and off white heavy snickers.

Media people are smarter than police are. They found out two guys, who crossed this dirt road to highway few hours before.

One of them saw a black spaniel, who barked at him loudly protruding his tiny head from the front seat of a Sky blue Bolero. There was no driver or passenger in that Bolero. Someone, just near the culvert, parked this Bolero in the lay by of the dirt road.

The other guy saw a man, who stood near the bonnet of the Bolero towards the passenger’s side. He has to slow down his car before crossing this Bolero and seen this man clearly. This jet-black curly haired man was tall and slender. He was wearing a formal black trouser and white full sleeve shirt and at the time of crossing, this guy was busy in picking up his striped golf cap from the bonnet of the Bolero.  

It appeared to him that this tall man, most likely, is the owner cum driver of this bolero. The tall fellow had an anxious face and possibly, he was waiting for someone. However, none of them noted the Number plate of the Bolero.

Police is trying hard to trace Monty, this tall man and the sky blue Bolero Station wagon with dog but without any success until now. At the bottom of the culvert space, they found a single Kolhapuri Chappal, Few foot-marks and the top lid of a cheap briefcase. Incidentally, I saw a single pair of Kolhapuri Chappal and a handle of a briefcase just on the parapet of the culvert.  

 They are suspecting a kidnap case and looking for all his friends and known persons particularly those with whom he has business transactions. However, until now nobody telephoned and asked for ransom. This clip was enough to send tremors in my heart. 

Monti was one of our bad clients. We agreed to prepare an integrated package of design of a shopping Mall to be built by him. Monty paid only half the amount. Although we submitted all the drawings before time, he turned out to a defaulter for the remaining amount. We sent in few reminders and finally gave up.

Things may go hot for me for the following reasons.

·        Monti is a defaulter of fifty lakhs to us. There are cases when people resort to this practice of kidnapping to recover their debt. There are other points to make me an easy suspect.

·        My physical description starting from the height, color and jet black curly hair on my head, matches well with the description of this tall person.  

·        I own a light blue colored Bolero and often wear a stripped golf cap.

·        Only this afternoon, possibly just at the time of kidnapping, I changed my usual route and took this dirt road route. There is also an icing on the cake.

·        Just before the highway, I stopped at the signal. Many people are now possibly ringing up the TV persons that they saw a sky blue Bolero coming from the dirt road with a protruding face of a black spaniel from the front seat and the vehicle driver was a curly haired possibly tall and dark person. Someone might have noted my Number plate, which the first two people did not.  

Most likely, I am on the top of the suspicion list and the moment Police starts grilling me,  the consequences are bad for me.

City group has not yet finalized the deal in black and white and they may make some excuse to withdraw from the contract. I have few ongoing projects of other companies. Going by legal reasons, they may not withdraw but may make things tough for me.

 All these things may make me back to square no.1 of my struggle days.

I was about to call my lawyer friend but dropped the idea after thinking few things.

Just now, this News channel told that there was a call in Monty’s mobile following which he went out in his VW.  Police is busy in tracing this call or the ransom call already done by the miscreants but not disclosed to media. Whatever may be the case, the Police shall be busy for the rest of the night in either one of them or both. I am not coming into picture in either of them. Let me not apprehend things and panic.

Monty’s underworld friends are much professional than Police .They must be on the prowl right now.  With their strong network and connections, they are quite capable to narrow down the place where the miscreants kept Monti as a hostage.

The chicken roast is ready in the microwave. The aroma and the beep sounds were both telling that. I placed some portions of it in two dishes, one for me, and the rest for my guest Pluto. Pluto licked it and had a bite. As I leaned to Pluto to serve him the dish, a nauseating smell of Ether entered my nostrils. Surely, this dog was made senseless by spraying Ether, during the incident. I made another drink and carried the dish and the glass to washroom.

I shall have my dinner as well as soaking in the lukewarm bathtub. Before leaving from the living room, I changed the channel to a local music video channel and kept the bathroom door open.

Before I undressed, I had a bite from the soft roasted chicken breast and a big gulp of whisky and kept my drink and the plate on the wide side wall of the bathtub so that I can take majestically both of them while soaking in the tub.

The channel stopped music and possibly some anchor started saying something. I reached for my glass and heard the loud barks of Pluto. Pluto came running to me in the bathroom and went back to living room and balcony.   

Monty’s Voice was filling the room. I quickly got up from the tub, put on the bathrobe and ran to the living room. 

FOR Part ! Pls Click

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 For Part 2 Pls click the link below

http://pradipwritenow.blogspot.in/2013/03/strangers-of-midnight-dont-cry-raja_8.html

 For Part 3 Pls click the link below

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STRANGERS OF MIDNIGHT-"DON'T CRY RAJA" PART 1

It was just a small mistake and I further allowed the mistake to continue further. Just for this, I entered into the worst kind of jam of my life.

  Only few hours before, I was in the topmost happy mood of my life as I won the five-crore design contract of the City Group.  I went out earlier than other days to have a good soaking in bathtub before joining my friends at the "Royals" for a dinner.

 As I came out of the basement car parking of my office complex, I swerved a little more and instead of turning to my left, I turned right towards the back entrance gate.

It then occurred to me, instead of moving in back gears, towards the front gate, let me better exit through this gate  and take the dart road connecting the Highway.

This road, my first consultancy project, is not only shorter than the tar road in front of my office but traffic density in this is very low as this is yet to be open for public.  

The dirt road is waiting for tarring and carpeting  after settling the culvert issue over a wide drain crossing the road.  The present culvert is narrow, unfit for heavy traffic and one has to stop his vehicle to negotiate with vehicles coming from opposite direction.

The culvert was almost about 200 meters and I was keeping a strong vigil on the road to see any vehicle coming from the opposite side.

I had to jam the break pedal to make a screeching halt. A latest model VW car just near the culvert was  parked half in the carriageway and half in the shoulder.

I pressed the car horn twice, but there was no response. Reluctantly, I switched off the engine, came out, and stood near the end of the bonnet of my Bolero.

 This VW has made the approach to culvert a bit tricky. I have to swerve a little in the right and then to left. A little mistake in swerving, my Bolero may kiss either the parapet walls of the culvert or the VW, resulting scratches on  both the cars.

Leaning on the bonnet, I tried to shift my vision here and there to locate the driver of VW. I failed to see any one around. Cursing the driver, I was about to move.  However, something drew my attention.

There was a single costly Kolhapuri Chappal on the parapet of the culvert and something else. The sky started becoming dark. Could it be the broken handle of a briefcase?

At that instant, someone clapped on my back followed by a sudden stinging blow that rocked my whole body.  In quick reflex, I turned my head to see who had hit me, and to my surprise, my knees began to buckle.

Like a slow motion picture, I could see my body hit the hard dart road. There was a dull pain in my back and it began to spread. It became hard to breathe. All of a sudden, a cloud of darkness engulfed me.

I found myself curling in the front seat of my Bolero. After several attempts, I was able to extend my hand to take out a spray bottle of painkiller.

Closing my I eyes; I sprayed it around my cheek and tried to move my hand towards the painful area of my back. I was a footballer and a good midfielder. I tried to inspire myself and said in a feeble voice “come on boy, get up. This is just nothing.  In past, defenders of   the opposite side did nastier fowls than this.”

The analgesic medicines did the wonders. There were no more pains. I can drive now and get lost from this place quickly.  I found my purse, mobile, gold wristwatch and the diamond engagement ring are intact. The goons did not touch any one of them. However, my striped golf cap was missing. Possibly, they kept it as a souvenir.

 I was about to start the engine and found another kind action by the goons. They drove my car past the culvert and kept it in the muddy sideways so that no part of the carriage way was blocked. Perhaps they wanted least attention by any other vehicle driver who might stop his vehicle and peep inside my car. Surprisingly, the VW is still blinking in the same location.

I drove fast and stopped before the signal at the main crossing and the nagging flashback of the entire incident came back.

Looking at my costly belongings, I was sure that some goons, who hit me just for no fault of mine, were certainly not the ordinary snatchers or thugs. 

Has anyone hired goons to scare me?

Could it be one of the competitors for the City group’s  5-crore design bidding, who did not like my wining the contract?

 I myself opposed this theory.

I seldom use this route to highway. Today, by mistake I turned towards the back gate and without correcting my mistake, took this short cut dirt road. How could the hired goons    know that?

I am now sure, that they possibly mistook me for some one else or they did not like my probing for the abandoned VW. They possibly did not want me to be the eyewitness for something that was going on either inside the VW or near to it. Surely, the abandoned VW has something in this mystery.

I felt a cold wind around my neck and looked back. The glass window at the back seat was open. As I switched on to close the window, I heard a faint wail of a dog. That was well inside my car. Where from this Dog came?
( Part 2,  by tomorrow 8/3/2013)  

 For Part 2 Pls click the link below

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