WHY - II

Michael parked his bike and walked towards the old man. “Did you call me?” Michael asked. “Yes, I did” the old man said. “I heard you are dumb” Michael said. “I just stop making conversations, that doesn’t mean I am dumb” the old man said. “Okay, what do you want from me?” Michael asked. The old man was silent for a moment.

“Did you nab the guys who killed Lina?” the old man asked. “How do you know my daughter’s name?” Michael asked back. “Do you demand an explanation badly young man?” the old man said.

“Yes” Michael replied. “Okay, you said you heard I went dumb, people must have told you the reason too” the old man said. “Ya, I heard you lost your family in an accident” Michael said. “Yes I did, and your Lina resembled my daughter, that’s the only reason I spend my time opposite to your house, just to watch her play” the old man said. “That’s dramatic to hear, may I leave now?” Michael said. “You didn’t answer me” the old man said.

“Ya, and the answer is no, I didn’t get them, there is no lead, from where my colleagues could start the investigation with” Michael said. The old man smiled.

“I got one, take me to the automobile showroom two miles from here, I noticed it, the car they drove was the same brand, it was brand new, they may have got it there” the old man said.

“You saw them? How do you say “they”, you mean there were many?” Michael asked. “They were two of them, in their late twenties” the old man said. “Will you please take me there?” the old man asked. “Get in the bike” Michael said and the both took leave.

They reached the showroom in the next few minutes. “You go in and check it out, it was a black vehicle, there will not be many people who registered a black car, some considered it as a colour of devil, and some people do not buy it as it absorbs heat” the old man said. “You make your moves like a cop, who are you?” Michael said. “I was in the army, I am retired now, do not waste time, get in, check it out, I will wait here” the old man said. “Oh, that’s great, okay, you don’t want to come in?” Michael asked. “Nope, you are the cop, you got to do this, I can just lead you, I don’t have the right to enquire people” the old man said. “Okay, I will do it” Michael said and rushed into the showroom.

Michael returned after half an hour. “This is the list, there were a total of 36 cars booked this month, 8 cars were black, the one you told me, and 3 of them were booked by women, so we can shortlist them, I got the address of all of them” Michael said handing over a series of papers. “Why are you cutting the women off your list, the two men can be anyone, they may work under her or they might have registered the vehicle on her name, let’s go and check the addresses” the old man said.

“Are you gonna go there as a cop?” the old man said. “Yeah, why?” Michael asked. “It doesn’t seem right for me, look as I said the customers can be anyone, when you ring the doorbell of each one of them as a cop, it’s like you are ringing an alarm bell to the guys who did it, the customers may be anyone, they may be normal customers, or a friend of the guys who did this, so the murderers must not be alarmed. It’s actually easy striking them when they are relaxing” the old man said. “That’s right, what should I do now?” Michael said.

“Turn the vehicle back, go to your home, change your dress, get inside them as something else, not as a cop” the old man said as Michael turned the vehicle.

Michael changed his dress and the two were on their way back to the addresses. They reached the first customer’s house. Michael went up as a member of the showroom and pretended to enquire about the vehicle’s performance. He came back after a few minutes. “It’s not them” Michael said. “How do you say that?” the old man asked. “The vehicle was bought for their daughter as a gift, the car has been transferred to her city which is in the north, the day they bought the car, and they even showed me the photographs of their daughter driving it” Michael said. “So you trusted them?” the old man enquired. “I don’t trust people that fast, the photos were in the man’s email inbox as his daughter has shared the pictures through email, I saw the date the email was sent, it was two days from the date the car was registered, the photo had her driving the car and the background had a shop, it carried the address and it was the city they mentioned, so it cannot be them” Michael said. “You are a smart ass” the old man said.

“I know that” Michael said. “Could you get me a cigarette?” the old man asked. “Ya sure” and Michael bought one from the shop nearby. The old man had the cigarette smoked and the two took leave.

They checked another two addresses and it was of no use. “Let’s drive home, we’ll check the other addresses tomorrow, I didn’t sleep the past two days, I need to get some sleep” Michael said. “Okay” the old man said. The couple reached home in the next half an hour.

They got ready by 9 the next morning and they left to check the addresses. They reached an apartment. Michael got in to enquire. He came back in the next few minutes. “We’ve got nothing here, the man left the car back in the showroom for service the same day, it seems like the AC didn’t work, and I checked the receipt” Michael said. “Okay let’s check the next, it’s a woman, drive Michael” the old man said. They were ten feet away from the given address. Michael checked his mobile map for confirmation. They reached the destination. To their astonishment, the address didn’t exist. It was a fake.