(Episode No.4)
In response to the knock, an old man opened the door:
"Yes, please tell me... Who do you wish to meet...?"
"My name is Ikram..."
"A nice name... But who do you want to meet...?"
"I belong to the police..."
Hearing 'police', the old man looked at him intently and said with a laugh:
"But you are not wearing a police uniform...!"
"Do you mean to say that whoever does not wear a police uniform... is not a policeman...?" he said, making a face.
"I did not say that. Well, tell me, who do you wish to meet?" the old man said with a laugh.
"A friend of ours came here; we have some very urgent business with him..." he said.
"Us? But you are alone," the old man said, looking around in surprise.
"Just look under that tree... Those three men are my companions..." he smiled.
"If they are your companions, why are they standing so far away over there?"
"Just like that. I will call them over. Come along, brothers..."
He called out to Havaldar Muhammad Hussain Azad and his two companions. They came running to him.
"Now, please let us meet our friend."
"Let you meet your friend... What is your friend's name...?"
"Junaid..." Ikram said.
"I am sorry, I cannot fulfill your wish," he said, shrugging his shoulders.
"Why can't you fulfill it?" Ikram asked in surprise.
"Because there is no Junaid here..." he said in a dry tone.
"What do you mean...?!"
"Meaning that... no person named Junaid has come to this house..."
"Oh... Who are you...?"
"I am the owner of this house... My name is Afzal Papriwala," he smiled.
"Afzal Papriwala..." they repeated.
"Yes! Afzal Papriwala... Do you have an objection to my name?" He glared with wide eyes.
"Not at all... Why would I object to your name? You can keep any name you like. I will certainly say this much: you are lying..." he said.
"Lying... What do you mean!"
"Meaning that you have told a lie..." he smiled.
"What lie have I told...?"
"That Junaid is not here. We are certain... he came right here."
"He did not come here... By the way, who is this Junaid?"
"You do not know? Who he is...?" Ikram said.
"That is exactly what I am asking... Who is he?" Afzal Papriwala made a face.
"He is a patriotic man."
"Well, so am I..."
"People call him Inspector Junaid."
"Oh... You are talking about Inspector Junaid... Oh...!!!"
"Yes... I am talking about him," he smiled.
"Oh! But my answer remains the same... He did not come here."
"You are telling a lie, in fact, a blatant lie," Ikram said with a smile.
"I am telling the truth... He did not come here."
"Then we will search your house."
"I have no objection... Feel free to search."
"Thank you... Please ask the ladies to observe veil," Ikram said.
"There is no need for that," Papriwala smiled.
"Why...?" He was startled.
"Because there are no women in this house... I live with my two sons."
"Oh... All right... Let us proceed then..."
It was a large, beautiful house. Right beside the gate was an open courtyard. On the other side of the courtyard lay a long corridor. Seeing the number of rooms, Sub-Inspector Ikram was astonished.
"Papriwala... You live in this house with your two sons, so why so many rooms?"
"I did not build these rooms... Actually, I bought this house."
"Hmm... All right," Ikram said and began searching a room along with his companions... They were thoroughly inspecting everything with precision. Finally, Havaldar Muhammad Hussain Azad said in an announcing tone:
"Sir... Inspector Junaid is not here..."
"Oh... oh..." involuntarily slipped from his mouth.
"I told you before... He did not come here."
"Yet I say... he came right here..." Ikram smiled.
"Came here... What do you mean... What are you trying to say?" Papriwala asked, startled.
"Your sons are nowhere to be seen?"
"They have gone to the city... They will return by evening... Actually, some daily necessities are not available in this town, so they have to bring them from the city."
"Oh... I see..."
"Muhammad Hussain! Did you find any belonging of Sir here... Meaning anything that he regularly uses...?" Ikram said.
"No, Sir... Neither I nor my companions found any such thing... We searched thoroughly."
"All right, you stay here beside him. I want to search once more..." Ikram said with a smile.
"Inspector Sahib! You are wasting your time. Time is very precious, do value it..." Papriwala smiled.
"Our Inspector Junaid is no less precious... Keep your advice to yourself... and let me do my job."
"All right, I am going to my room... Call me when you are done..." Papriwala said, and without waiting for their reply, walked from there into the last room of the corridor.
Now Ikram looked toward his companions and began saying in a low voice:
"Inspector Junaid did come here, but he has been made to disappear... I am fully convinced he has been hidden somewhere right here, and surely his jeep has been disposed of as well."
"Oh... What is the reason for your conviction, Sir...?"
"He was in some trouble here... He dialed my number but could not speak... I heard sounds of running over the mobile phone, and... and..." Ikram stopped mid-sentence. Papriwala was standing in the doorway. Since they were right in front of the corridor, he was clearly visible to them.
"Inspector! Is your search complete?" he asked loudly.
"No... When I am done, I will inform you..." he replied in a loud voice as well.
"All right... Please hurry up a bit... I want to sleep..." he said and went back into the room.
"Yes, so I was saying... And whatever conversations took place here... I heard those too... Although the voices were not clear... The mobile phone was perhaps active in his pocket... Then suddenly it went off."
"Sir! The clear meaning of this is that he came here and foul play occurred with him. As long as he was conscious... he kept the mobile on, and then due to some reason the phone went off... But he had already given you a hint..." Muhammad Hussain Azad said.
"And I am convinced... he was brought here through systematic planning. Oh... oh..." Suddenly, Ikram jumped.
"What happened, Sir... What happened...?"
"Oh... I understand... The old man he left the office with... It is bound to be... all his doing... Oh... oh... Muhammad Hussain..."
"What happened, Sir...?"
"I feel... his life is in danger... We must find him as quickly as possible... Come on, get started... But wait...!"
"What happened now, Sir...?" Muhammad Hussain was astonished.
"Along with the search, we should also interrogate Papriwala."
"Oh... You are right, Sir..."
"All right... I will comb through the entire house with one of your companions, and you try to extract something from Papriwala, but be careful. It is possible that he is not as innocent as he appears..." Ikram said and entered the room.
He searched the entire house thoroughly, tapping and checking everything, but found no clue... He became worried.
"O Allah! Have mercy upon us... Keep Inspector Junaid in Your protection..."
"Sir... We inspected the entire house and the entire roof thoroughly; we tapped and examined the walls and floor, but found no trace of Inspector Junaid... Not a single item belonging to him was seen... What will happen now... Where shall we search for him... Oh... Oh! Could it be... that he has been moved somewhere else from here?"
"Oh... oh... Excellent! You have hit upon a brilliant deduction; surely this is the case, he is not here, he has been kept somewhere else..." Ikram was filled with enthusiasm.
"You are speaking correctly."
"And the location of that place must certainly be known to Afzal Papriwala. Come with me..." Ikram said and arrived in front of Papriwala's room. The door of the room was closed, and there was silence inside.
"Hey... There is silence here. Muhammad Hussain! Are you inside...?" When no answer came from within, he was startled.
"Papriwala! Are you inside? Why is there silence in the room...? Have you fallen asleep...?"
When still no answer came, they grew anxious...
"What sort of game is this...?!" he muttered.
"May Allah have mercy... I smell danger, Sir..."
"Sir... Are you inside...?"
"And is everything all right inside...?"
Still, no answer came...
"Take Allah's name and open the door..." Ikram ordered his subordinate.
"All right, Sir! I am opening the door," the subordinate said and applied pressure to the door. With just slight pressure, the door swung open. They had quickly stepped aside from the front of the doorway. The door was wide open... Inside, there was still complete silence. Not even the sound of breathing could be heard.
Their hearts were pounding heavily...
"Sir! If you permit, I will go inside... God willing, nothing will happen."
"What is your name...?" Ikram asked.
"I am Liaquat..."
"All right... You go inside..."
When he entered, he jumped in astonishment... Then, out of sheer shock, escaped his mouth:
"What am I seeing here...?"
"What are you seeing?" Ikram quickly came in front of the door and then he too jumped violently... At the same time, out of utter surprise, escaped his mouth:
"Hey... The room is completely empty..."
"Where did everyone go...! Amazing..." Liaquat's mouth was wide open.
"Examine this room thoroughly... Check the floor and the wall carefully... Surely there is a secret door here... Bravo! Get started..." Ikram said.
Apart from a bed, there was nothing in the room... The door to the attached bathroom was open... The walls were completely clean... The paint on them was gleaming brightly. They even lifted and checked the bed... There was nothing beneath it either... They thoroughly checked every single thing in the bathroom, but found nothing except disappointment. They became worried.
"Sir... There is nothing here...!" Liaquat said in surprise.
"My heart says... there must be a secret door here..."
"When we were searching the house, it is possible... he slipped out... quietly..."
"You are forgetting one thing..."
"Which thing, Sir...?"
"Our companion is missing too." Ikram's mind was working rapidly.
"You are right..."
"Why don't we examine the room once more...?"
"We certainly should..."
They began inspecting the room once again.
"Sir... What is this thing...?!"
Hearing Liaquat's voice, Ikram ran over to him... He was standing near a wall.
"What thing is it...?"
"Sir! Doesn't this wall look strange to you at this spot? M-my meaning is... isn't the color of the paint on the wall somewhat different at this spot...?"
Ikram looked closely. Liaquat was right... It was a circle the size of a bottle cap... The paint of that circle was slightly different from the rest of the wall's paint... Ikram examined the other walls of the room... Circles identical to that circle were drawn on all of them... and the color of their paint was also just like that circle... As if the walls of the room were decorated with light-colored circles... and these circles were not visible at first glance...
"It is nothing, Liaquat... Such circles are on the other walls too... We need to search for something else," Ikram said.
"No, Sir... This circle is not like the other circles..." Liaquat was smiling.
"What do you want to say...?"
"Sir! On this wall, there is only this single circle, whereas on the other walls there are many circles..."
"Oh... Wow... Y-you are speaking correctly... I did not notice that at all... It seems... we have succeeded in finding the secret door..."
"Sir... This is not a door... It is a circle... Shall I press it?"
"Certainly press it... You will see... A door will open in this room..." There was excitement on Ikram's face.
And then Ikram's thought proved correct... As soon as Liaquat placed his thumb on the circle and pressed... a door kept opening in the wall adjacent to the bathroom...
"Gotcha...!!! We have found the secret door..." Liaquat shouted.
Then they rushed toward the door...
(To be continued)
