From A Policeman’s Diary.
Case of The Haunted Mansion -1
by: Balendu
This story happened during my association with one of my most illustrious superiors, Inspector Abbas. In fact this was my first case with him. It occurred in a town close to a sea shore, where we two were posted just recently. The mansion where all the weird incidents occurred, was situated several feet above the beach. The land there rose steeply and the mansion was situated on the edge of this place. From the sea it looked like a plateau. There was no approach from the sea side. However from the other side there was a gravel path leading up to the mansion. Once well maintained, the road might have been used for plying horse-driven carts and the like. During the British Raj, the building was used as a court house. It had witnessed lot of inhuman scenes, perpetrated against our countrymen by the British. Few years before independence, a vast area including the mansion was gifted to a local landlord in return of his “loyal” services. This loyal servant of oppressor was a politician when the incidents occurred.
For some reason the area remained unused ever since. According to the local rumors the mansion and its surroundings were haunted. Reports about wild screams of tortured people reached the town through occasional hunters, who dared into the area. This was enough reason for not using a property.
The Inspector’s attention was drawn to that area through the death of one such hunter. The person was from a not far away village and was reported missing. A search was conducted and his body was found not far from the abandoned mansion. Colour of the body indicated death by snake poison and the body was taken to a wizard, reputed for traditional medicine. He confirmed the cause of the death as snake poison. However he had a startling information to give the Police. Few things looked rather weird, he said. The symptoms like blood oozing from the pores of the skin pointed towards a particular type of viper, generally found only in damp surroundings like rice fields. These snakes are not likely to bite a person more than a few inches above the feet, whereas, the unfortunate man was bitten near his knees. There was only a single fang mark, which is unlikely in snake bites. The quantity of poison found near the mark was far in excess of usual dose injected by such snakes. “So, my guess is that this poison was injected with a syringe rather than by a pair of fangs.”
Inspector requested the wizard to keep the information secret, as publicity might hamper the progress of investigation. The medicine man was co-operative. He said, “In fact such a case had occurred few months ago, before you were posted here. I had brought these observations to the notice of that Inspector. Somehow, he did not show any interest. I hope the same will not happen this time too.” Inspector Abbas assured him that as long as he was around, no suspicious matter will be suppressed.
The same evening the inspector went for “hunting”. He had taken enough precautions against snake poison. He reached the vicinity of the mansion just after nightfall and inspected the surroundings closely. Though unoccupied, the building was not totally out of use. There were ample signs of human activities. Especially, the total absence of cob-webs from the only door was enough indication of regular use. What intrigued him most was the door. It was locked or bolted from inside. That meant only one thing. Somebody is present inside the mansion. He decided to wait.
He climbed up a convenient tree, sitting on top of which he could easily keep an eye on the surroundings, particularly the mansion door. There was no light of any sort inside the mansion.
The Inspector waited for nearly two hours before any thing disturbed the tranquility of the area. A strong beam of a hunter’s torch was the first thing noticed. It came up the gravel path. From a distance it focussed on the door of the mansion for a while. Then went round the surroundings. It was as if somebody was making sure that there are no intruders. As if satisfied, the person advanced. Reaching the porch of the mansion he stopped and unloaded a heavy bundle which he was carrying. Then he pointed the torch beam at his wrist, to check the time. This act gave the inspector a brief glance of the person. There was no mistaking! It was Dirty David, one of the main henchmen of the leader. Since he was involved in many criminal maneuver masterminded by the leader during elections, this man was prominent in police records.
Leaving the luggage in the porch, the man stepped out and disappeared into the thicket beside the building. “Perhaps somebody will come out and collect the bundle” thought the inspector. Minutes later, a very faint but unmistakable whir of an electric motor broke the silence of the night. It stopped suddenly. Few minutes later the door opened. The person who came out, to the utter amazement of the inspector, was Dirty David!
How can it be! He was sure that the door was the only entrance that could admit him to the inside so quickly. Moreover, instead of moving around the building the man had moved away into the thicket. Obviously there was a secret entrance somewhere. It will take some investigation, preferably during daylight hours, decided the inspector. There was no point in waiting in dark.
It was from that point that I was involved in this case. The inspector called me to his residence and briefed about the findings. He said that this seems to be a case of a big shot being involved in criminal activities. It is more than likely that the constables serving in the place for a long time may have a soft corner for the local leader. Hence he chose me for the investigations. I was more than happy to accept the job. Thus I started my first ever investigation.
I left the station pretending to be running an errand for the inspector. Within hours, by the early afternoon hours I was leading a herd of goats along the gravel path near the mansion. Obviously, I was in an attire to suit the occupation. Soon enough, David, the care taker of the place, came rushing. “Hey what are you doing here?” he demanded.
“Nothing, sire! Just crossing across. You know this is a short-cut to our village.”
“Well, do it quickly. This place is haunted, they say. Even in broad daylight, ghosts roam around here. They will mislead you. Who knows! They may fancy a mutton soup too!” He laughed as if it was a big joke.
I thanked him profusely for the warning, and hurriedly started rushing the herd away. Once outside his range of vision I stopped. After binding the goats on bushes, I returned, hiding myself behind the bushes. I kept my vigil from a convenient spot for about an hour. At last, when I saw the man leave down the gravel path, towards the town, I came out of my hiding and started inspection. As the inspector had guessed, there was only one entrance into the building, the main door. It was bolted from inside. I went away from the building in the direction mentioned by the inspector. There was a faint track in the grass, made by the occasional tread of the man. It ended just fifty metres away from the building, on the edge of a steep fall. There were signs of somebody having used the sides of the hill to climb down or up. The only possible way was using a rope, tied to the tree. On close inspection my guess was proved correct. There was a mark around the tree trunk, made by a rope!
I had to stop at this point and go back since the goats were to be returned to their owner. Soon after I was in conference with the inspector. After listening to me carefully, he said, “Mr. Pillai, you have done an excellent job. I believe we will click together. Coming back to your findings, it is obvious that the man was eager to get rid of you as quick as possible. Probably, if you resisted he would have used the poison option against you too. Now, the tree with the rope mark is clear clue. There has to be a secret entrance into the building from the valley, which is close to the beach. So, I believe that further investigations should be from the beach. That beach is not frequented by visitors and hence I have to find some excuse to go there without raising unwanted attention.”
Case of The Haunted Mansion -2
The Officer succeeded in finding a reason, a very cunning one! His wife who was a teacher in the city provided the break. On his urgent request, she brought a group of enthusiastic schoolchildren for a picnic on the lonely beach, on the following week-end. The children were to take a little trekking practice too. On record I was away attending a relative’s marriage. However, actually, I was part of the school contingent, acting as the driver-cum-odd job man.
The children provided me with enough opportunities to move around. I wasted no chance to go into the wooded fringes close to the hill. Following them, I discovered that there was a well beaten track leading from the beach to a place close to the steep hill slide. Another faint track, formed by occasional use connected this spot to the other where a person climbing down by the rope would have landed. However, I could not find anything except a bamboo grove there. One thing struck me as odd. The bamboo did not seem to be wild. They were for sure, planted and pruned. As this was the only thing found to be odd, I made a rough estimate of its distance from the edge of the beach.
“Your findings are quite valuable, Mr. Pillai. Few things are obvious. There is a regular traffic from the beach to the bamboo. Such a mysterious trip can only be with criminal intentions. A well attended plant in the wood has to have something artificial about it. This must be the entrance. Before I can get a rapid action party to strike at the place I will have to get clarification about few things. Mainly I should some how get into the place and find out what it is all about. That will require some good planning and execution. For all we know, the only man regularly about the place is David. If you can somehow keep him away from the building for the good part of one night, I can go into that building. Once inside I may find out answer to several questions.”
“There is one method I have already experimented with, sir.” I said. I described my plans to the attentive inspector.
“Again you are on the right track, Mr. Pillai” he said appreciatively. “No place like the lock-up.”
In the evening, Dirty David had an unpleasant surprise, waiting for him in the market place, when he came for picking up his regular quota of provisions. One of his old adversaries, “Booze Balan” was there, already “high in spirit”. He was abusing anybody in sight. The appearance of David shifted him to faster and stronger action. He started pointed verbal attack at David, releasing a torrent of abuse. David was not a very patient man. He countered the miscreant with fist action. Soon a fierce fight followed. I was ready for the occasion and soon the two were inside the lock-up.
As expected, word reached the leader within minutes and there was a call from him soon. He was really concerned that his man has created a nuisance. He wanted to know whether the matter was serious requiring a bail etc. “I don’t think so sir,” I answered. “It is a petty quarrel, not involving any serious injury. Moreover, the other man was drunk to the brim. So David may not be booked. However, I cannot release him before the Inspector is back from the Head Quarters. He may come in any moment.”
Inspector Abbas returned only after midnight. After a serious warning he released David and Balan. The inspector took me on his motorcycle, to his residence. “That was a good show, Mr. Pillai. The search was successful. There is big pile of arms and ammunitions inside that place. It seems to be a secret godown for the stuff. No clue about the source or destination. For all I can guess our leader is providing only a safe facility, obviously for a huge income.”
Later he described his adventure at the haunted mansion. Being unobserved, it was not difficult to force a high window and gain entry into the building Taking care not to disturb anything, he made a thorough inspection of the place. Almost all space available was stacked with cartons & bags of usual consumer goods. However the contents were of an entirely different nature. Guns, rifles, ammunition, grenades, bombs of various sizes, timing devices and detonators. The only thing he could find in the form of records was a small black screen with coded messages inscribed on it, written in white chalk. There were few dates with code names against each.
The mysteries about the secret entrance, snake poison and the ghosts were solved easily. There was a well from the rear terrace, which probably served for hanging convicts during the days when the mansion served as a court. This ran deep into the valley and now served as the shaft of a lift. The bottom opened outwards. The door was fitted from outside with live bamboo, serving as an excellent camouflage. The door was controlled by a switch. The power needed was provided by photoelectric panels installed on the terrace, thus avoiding suspicion that could be generated by electric supply wires. Mobile telephone provided communication without giving a clue about the location. The terrace provided an excellent view of the sea. Signaling won’t be difficult from there.
A holographic projector installed near one of the top windows and an excellent sound system explained how the eerie ghost effects were managed. Just switch on the show at proper moments and the intruders will be scared.
One small room was used as living room by David. It contained all essentials and some luxury too. Among his personal things, a hypodermic syringe and several phials containing a thick yellowish fluid were found. Must be the poison.
When returning from the mansion, taking care not to disturb anything the inspector took only two things with him. One of the phials containing the suspected poison and a hurriedly scribbled copy of the coded instructions.
“The dates must be when somebody arrives for transaction and the code names must be those somebodies” said the inspector. “We will wait till the first date, which is next Friday, and keep an eye on them to make sure that they have no suspicions what-so-ever. If they carry out their transactions as per schedule on Friday, two days hence, we will strike on the next date and round them off.”
I was entrusted with the job of surveying the area for a convenient and safe spot. From there all activities around, particularly in the sea, on the beach and the terrace of the mansion should be visible. The only spot I could find was a view point on top of the hill across a valley from the mansion. Fortunately this was forest land. However, there was one difficulty, the distance was more than desirable.
The inspector had a solution for this problem. “I will give you a telescope with infra red lenses. That will help you see what will not be visible normally. Take this today, and look around to get acquainted with the images.”
On Friday night sitting atop the hill, I could see a lot. After midnight, light flashed from the top of the terrace several times. Obviously, a signal. A boat moored in the sea returned the signal and moved towards the shore. Four men alighted and ran into the wood, towards the bamboo. Within minutes, the came back with head loads. After three such trips, the boat set off and disappeared.
No need to say the rest of the story. The very next date mentioned in the secret message, the visitors and David had the surprise of their life. They were caught in the act by a sudden combined attack by cost guard and a small troupe of commandos. The Inspector did not involve me in the operation. He himself assisted only as a co-ordinator. The success of the operation depended on the speed secrecy with which he acted.
Though the leader could not be convicted as his direct involvement could not be proved, he suffered an obvious set back by the aftermath. Suspicion is enough to damage public life. He was compelled to hand over the place to the armed forces. They are using it for the same purpose, as an Armament Depot.
In most cases the criminals give valuable ideas!
*****************
Case of The Haunted Mansion -1
by: Balendu
This story happened during my association with one of my most illustrious superiors, Inspector Abbas. In fact this was my first case with him. It occurred in a town close to a sea shore, where we two were posted just recently. The mansion where all the weird incidents occurred, was situated several feet above the beach. The land there rose steeply and the mansion was situated on the edge of this place. From the sea it looked like a plateau. There was no approach from the sea side. However from the other side there was a gravel path leading up to the mansion. Once well maintained, the road might have been used for plying horse-driven carts and the like. During the British Raj, the building was used as a court house. It had witnessed lot of inhuman scenes, perpetrated against our countrymen by the British. Few years before independence, a vast area including the mansion was gifted to a local landlord in return of his “loyal” services. This loyal servant of oppressor was a politician when the incidents occurred.
For some reason the area remained unused ever since. According to the local rumors the mansion and its surroundings were haunted. Reports about wild screams of tortured people reached the town through occasional hunters, who dared into the area. This was enough reason for not using a property.
The Inspector’s attention was drawn to that area through the death of one such hunter. The person was from a not far away village and was reported missing. A search was conducted and his body was found not far from the abandoned mansion. Colour of the body indicated death by snake poison and the body was taken to a wizard, reputed for traditional medicine. He confirmed the cause of the death as snake poison. However he had a startling information to give the Police. Few things looked rather weird, he said. The symptoms like blood oozing from the pores of the skin pointed towards a particular type of viper, generally found only in damp surroundings like rice fields. These snakes are not likely to bite a person more than a few inches above the feet, whereas, the unfortunate man was bitten near his knees. There was only a single fang mark, which is unlikely in snake bites. The quantity of poison found near the mark was far in excess of usual dose injected by such snakes. “So, my guess is that this poison was injected with a syringe rather than by a pair of fangs.”
Inspector requested the wizard to keep the information secret, as publicity might hamper the progress of investigation. The medicine man was co-operative. He said, “In fact such a case had occurred few months ago, before you were posted here. I had brought these observations to the notice of that Inspector. Somehow, he did not show any interest. I hope the same will not happen this time too.” Inspector Abbas assured him that as long as he was around, no suspicious matter will be suppressed.
The same evening the inspector went for “hunting”. He had taken enough precautions against snake poison. He reached the vicinity of the mansion just after nightfall and inspected the surroundings closely. Though unoccupied, the building was not totally out of use. There were ample signs of human activities. Especially, the total absence of cob-webs from the only door was enough indication of regular use. What intrigued him most was the door. It was locked or bolted from inside. That meant only one thing. Somebody is present inside the mansion. He decided to wait.
He climbed up a convenient tree, sitting on top of which he could easily keep an eye on the surroundings, particularly the mansion door. There was no light of any sort inside the mansion.
The Inspector waited for nearly two hours before any thing disturbed the tranquility of the area. A strong beam of a hunter’s torch was the first thing noticed. It came up the gravel path. From a distance it focussed on the door of the mansion for a while. Then went round the surroundings. It was as if somebody was making sure that there are no intruders. As if satisfied, the person advanced. Reaching the porch of the mansion he stopped and unloaded a heavy bundle which he was carrying. Then he pointed the torch beam at his wrist, to check the time. This act gave the inspector a brief glance of the person. There was no mistaking! It was Dirty David, one of the main henchmen of the leader. Since he was involved in many criminal maneuver masterminded by the leader during elections, this man was prominent in police records.
Leaving the luggage in the porch, the man stepped out and disappeared into the thicket beside the building. “Perhaps somebody will come out and collect the bundle” thought the inspector. Minutes later, a very faint but unmistakable whir of an electric motor broke the silence of the night. It stopped suddenly. Few minutes later the door opened. The person who came out, to the utter amazement of the inspector, was Dirty David!
How can it be! He was sure that the door was the only entrance that could admit him to the inside so quickly. Moreover, instead of moving around the building the man had moved away into the thicket. Obviously there was a secret entrance somewhere. It will take some investigation, preferably during daylight hours, decided the inspector. There was no point in waiting in dark.
It was from that point that I was involved in this case. The inspector called me to his residence and briefed about the findings. He said that this seems to be a case of a big shot being involved in criminal activities. It is more than likely that the constables serving in the place for a long time may have a soft corner for the local leader. Hence he chose me for the investigations. I was more than happy to accept the job. Thus I started my first ever investigation.
I left the station pretending to be running an errand for the inspector. Within hours, by the early afternoon hours I was leading a herd of goats along the gravel path near the mansion. Obviously, I was in an attire to suit the occupation. Soon enough, David, the care taker of the place, came rushing. “Hey what are you doing here?” he demanded.
“Nothing, sire! Just crossing across. You know this is a short-cut to our village.”
“Well, do it quickly. This place is haunted, they say. Even in broad daylight, ghosts roam around here. They will mislead you. Who knows! They may fancy a mutton soup too!” He laughed as if it was a big joke.
I thanked him profusely for the warning, and hurriedly started rushing the herd away. Once outside his range of vision I stopped. After binding the goats on bushes, I returned, hiding myself behind the bushes. I kept my vigil from a convenient spot for about an hour. At last, when I saw the man leave down the gravel path, towards the town, I came out of my hiding and started inspection. As the inspector had guessed, there was only one entrance into the building, the main door. It was bolted from inside. I went away from the building in the direction mentioned by the inspector. There was a faint track in the grass, made by the occasional tread of the man. It ended just fifty metres away from the building, on the edge of a steep fall. There were signs of somebody having used the sides of the hill to climb down or up. The only possible way was using a rope, tied to the tree. On close inspection my guess was proved correct. There was a mark around the tree trunk, made by a rope!
I had to stop at this point and go back since the goats were to be returned to their owner. Soon after I was in conference with the inspector. After listening to me carefully, he said, “Mr. Pillai, you have done an excellent job. I believe we will click together. Coming back to your findings, it is obvious that the man was eager to get rid of you as quick as possible. Probably, if you resisted he would have used the poison option against you too. Now, the tree with the rope mark is clear clue. There has to be a secret entrance into the building from the valley, which is close to the beach. So, I believe that further investigations should be from the beach. That beach is not frequented by visitors and hence I have to find some excuse to go there without raising unwanted attention.”
Case of The Haunted Mansion -2
The Officer succeeded in finding a reason, a very cunning one! His wife who was a teacher in the city provided the break. On his urgent request, she brought a group of enthusiastic schoolchildren for a picnic on the lonely beach, on the following week-end. The children were to take a little trekking practice too. On record I was away attending a relative’s marriage. However, actually, I was part of the school contingent, acting as the driver-cum-odd job man.
The children provided me with enough opportunities to move around. I wasted no chance to go into the wooded fringes close to the hill. Following them, I discovered that there was a well beaten track leading from the beach to a place close to the steep hill slide. Another faint track, formed by occasional use connected this spot to the other where a person climbing down by the rope would have landed. However, I could not find anything except a bamboo grove there. One thing struck me as odd. The bamboo did not seem to be wild. They were for sure, planted and pruned. As this was the only thing found to be odd, I made a rough estimate of its distance from the edge of the beach.
“Your findings are quite valuable, Mr. Pillai. Few things are obvious. There is a regular traffic from the beach to the bamboo. Such a mysterious trip can only be with criminal intentions. A well attended plant in the wood has to have something artificial about it. This must be the entrance. Before I can get a rapid action party to strike at the place I will have to get clarification about few things. Mainly I should some how get into the place and find out what it is all about. That will require some good planning and execution. For all we know, the only man regularly about the place is David. If you can somehow keep him away from the building for the good part of one night, I can go into that building. Once inside I may find out answer to several questions.”
“There is one method I have already experimented with, sir.” I said. I described my plans to the attentive inspector.
“Again you are on the right track, Mr. Pillai” he said appreciatively. “No place like the lock-up.”
In the evening, Dirty David had an unpleasant surprise, waiting for him in the market place, when he came for picking up his regular quota of provisions. One of his old adversaries, “Booze Balan” was there, already “high in spirit”. He was abusing anybody in sight. The appearance of David shifted him to faster and stronger action. He started pointed verbal attack at David, releasing a torrent of abuse. David was not a very patient man. He countered the miscreant with fist action. Soon a fierce fight followed. I was ready for the occasion and soon the two were inside the lock-up.
As expected, word reached the leader within minutes and there was a call from him soon. He was really concerned that his man has created a nuisance. He wanted to know whether the matter was serious requiring a bail etc. “I don’t think so sir,” I answered. “It is a petty quarrel, not involving any serious injury. Moreover, the other man was drunk to the brim. So David may not be booked. However, I cannot release him before the Inspector is back from the Head Quarters. He may come in any moment.”
Inspector Abbas returned only after midnight. After a serious warning he released David and Balan. The inspector took me on his motorcycle, to his residence. “That was a good show, Mr. Pillai. The search was successful. There is big pile of arms and ammunitions inside that place. It seems to be a secret godown for the stuff. No clue about the source or destination. For all I can guess our leader is providing only a safe facility, obviously for a huge income.”
Later he described his adventure at the haunted mansion. Being unobserved, it was not difficult to force a high window and gain entry into the building Taking care not to disturb anything, he made a thorough inspection of the place. Almost all space available was stacked with cartons & bags of usual consumer goods. However the contents were of an entirely different nature. Guns, rifles, ammunition, grenades, bombs of various sizes, timing devices and detonators. The only thing he could find in the form of records was a small black screen with coded messages inscribed on it, written in white chalk. There were few dates with code names against each.
The mysteries about the secret entrance, snake poison and the ghosts were solved easily. There was a well from the rear terrace, which probably served for hanging convicts during the days when the mansion served as a court. This ran deep into the valley and now served as the shaft of a lift. The bottom opened outwards. The door was fitted from outside with live bamboo, serving as an excellent camouflage. The door was controlled by a switch. The power needed was provided by photoelectric panels installed on the terrace, thus avoiding suspicion that could be generated by electric supply wires. Mobile telephone provided communication without giving a clue about the location. The terrace provided an excellent view of the sea. Signaling won’t be difficult from there.
A holographic projector installed near one of the top windows and an excellent sound system explained how the eerie ghost effects were managed. Just switch on the show at proper moments and the intruders will be scared.
One small room was used as living room by David. It contained all essentials and some luxury too. Among his personal things, a hypodermic syringe and several phials containing a thick yellowish fluid were found. Must be the poison.
When returning from the mansion, taking care not to disturb anything the inspector took only two things with him. One of the phials containing the suspected poison and a hurriedly scribbled copy of the coded instructions.
“The dates must be when somebody arrives for transaction and the code names must be those somebodies” said the inspector. “We will wait till the first date, which is next Friday, and keep an eye on them to make sure that they have no suspicions what-so-ever. If they carry out their transactions as per schedule on Friday, two days hence, we will strike on the next date and round them off.”
I was entrusted with the job of surveying the area for a convenient and safe spot. From there all activities around, particularly in the sea, on the beach and the terrace of the mansion should be visible. The only spot I could find was a view point on top of the hill across a valley from the mansion. Fortunately this was forest land. However, there was one difficulty, the distance was more than desirable.
The inspector had a solution for this problem. “I will give you a telescope with infra red lenses. That will help you see what will not be visible normally. Take this today, and look around to get acquainted with the images.”
On Friday night sitting atop the hill, I could see a lot. After midnight, light flashed from the top of the terrace several times. Obviously, a signal. A boat moored in the sea returned the signal and moved towards the shore. Four men alighted and ran into the wood, towards the bamboo. Within minutes, the came back with head loads. After three such trips, the boat set off and disappeared.
No need to say the rest of the story. The very next date mentioned in the secret message, the visitors and David had the surprise of their life. They were caught in the act by a sudden combined attack by cost guard and a small troupe of commandos. The Inspector did not involve me in the operation. He himself assisted only as a co-ordinator. The success of the operation depended on the speed secrecy with which he acted.
Though the leader could not be convicted as his direct involvement could not be proved, he suffered an obvious set back by the aftermath. Suspicion is enough to damage public life. He was compelled to hand over the place to the armed forces. They are using it for the same purpose, as an Armament Depot.
In most cases the criminals give valuable ideas!
*****************
