WHY - III

“The woman has got something, get her, and you’ve got your man” the old man said. Michael was silent. “I’m gonna get him” Michael said. “Okay, now stop somewhere I got to smoke” the old man said. “Yeah” Michael said.

They reached the shop. “Go and get one, take my wallet, I gotta call my senior” Michael said handing over his purse. “You got more money, can I get me a packet?” the old man asked. “Carry on” Michael said dialling the number.

The old man smoked one and placed the rest in the pocket. “Shall we move?” the old man asked Michael. “Yeah” Michael said.

They reached the house in the next few minutes. “Thanks” Michael said to the old man. “What for?” the old man said. “I could not have nabbed the culprits without you” Michael said. “Come on, you haven’t nabbed them yet, again as I said, the woman may be anyone, she could have faked her address for anything, she may not be the murderer, you cannot say that 100% without evidence” the old man said. “Yeah, okay, good night” Michael said and took leave.

The old man was sleeping in his home when he heard loud knocks on his door. He opened the door and found three men with knives and swords in their hands. “It’s you who have been helping the girl’s father nab us” one of them said.

The old man was about shout Michael’s name when the other man placed the knife in his throat and pressed it hard. The third man pushed the old man violently. The old man fell on the ground and his head hit the pillow.

“You are gonna die old bastard, what’s your last wish?” one of the men asked. The old man slowly let his hand under the pillow and took something out. It was a pistol.

He pointed it towards the men. “Am I one who is going to die, people?” the old man said. The gang didn’t expect this they fled the home as quick as possible. They were out of the sight in no time. The old man walked towards the door. He found Michael was not in home. His bike was missing. He closed the door and went back to sleep.

After an hour, again the old man heard knocks on his door. He took his pistol and hid it in his pockets. He opened the door and found Michael at his doorstep. “We found the car” Michael said.

“Where is it?” the old man asked. “It was parked in a farm ten miles from here, my men found it, am going to check it out, are you coming with me?” Michael asked. “Nope, you go and check it out, but wait” the old man said. “Ya” Michael said.

“Michael, I want to say you something” the old man said. “Ya, tell me” Michael said. “Someone tried to kill me” the old man said. “What? What are you saying?” Michael said. “Ya, they came into my home, I pointed my pistol, they fled” the old man said. “You have a pistol?” Michael said. “I was in the army, of course I have one” the old man said. “Look, that’s not what I am coming to say, one of them pointed me saying I was the one who is helping you, probably they tried to kill me for that, somebody doesn’t like me helping and working with you” the old man.

“Where are you coming?” Michael said. “Who else knows you are working on this case and I am helping you” the old man said. “My department knows” Michael said. “Anyone else? Anyone in your family?” the old man asked. “Come on, I haven’t got one, I lost my wife in an accident, actually we fled from our home years back, so we haven’t got any relatives, it was just me and my daughter” Michael said in a dull tone

“Okay, Michael, take care, we are close” the old man said. “Yeah, you take care too” Michael said. “And Michael, I forgot to tell you something, the man who drove the car to your home that day was a left hander” the old man said.

“How’s that?” Michael said. “The man who drove the car was the one who rang the door bell, he did it with his left hand, and when he returned, his car key was in the right pocket of his pants, he fished it with his right hand changed it to the left one and then opened the vehicle, a normal right hander would not do that, so our man might me a left hander” the old man said. “How is that going to help us?” Michael said. “It may, you just have this somewhere in the corner of your mind, it may help you sometime” the old man said and Michael took leave.

Michael returned to his home after a couple of hours. He parked his vehicle and walked near his door. To his surprise, the lock was broken. Michael took his pistol from his pocket and slowly tiptoed into his house.