The adventure of the numbered cross

Hi! This is my first post on this site. I have written a series of detective stories and wanted them to be reviewed. I really hope you people like them!





The metro train was blistering past stations; I was seated in utter uneasiness, checking my watch at almost every instant. Remarkably, the train which was doing at least a 60 kilometers an hour seemed to be going at an obnoxiously mediocre pace. The cold, gaunt and indifferent face of my friend, Raghuvir Pratap Singh (or RP-he is exaggeratingly fond of his initials) kept making regular entries into my head, which was at the moment full up to the brim with Tanya-my fiancée. I chanced a glance at my watch yet again, and found the watch exhibiting a rhetoric show of lightning fast speed as it showed half past twelve. Damn the slow service at pizza hut, I thought-it has delayed me by a quarter of an hour easily. Oh, by the way this was the note I received from my friend that morning:

Juneja,
I have something to finally break my monotonous melancholy. Be there at my place at sharp one in the noon, I may not be in a position to tolerate any delays from your side.
RP

The words ‘Rajiv Chowk’ ringed throughout the train, and I jumped and took a stride towards the door instantly awakened from my reverie. Delhi, is an eccentric jungle, I remarked to myself, the soulful greenery of a usual forest is replaced by sordid grayness of the traffic and pollution. I looked for an auto in haste, and found one, agreeing to pay an unacceptable sum, I urged the auto driver to hurry up.

I stood before the door of 31-B, Siri fort road, at half past three. I rang the bell with a thrill of foreboding. “Come in”, a cold voice greeted me. I pushed the door open and was inhaling copious amount of nicotine fumes. “You are late, Juneja”, remarked the indifferent voice of my friend, amidst the dense fumes I saw a gaunt figure holding a cigarette.
“I was stuck doing an important chore at work”, I lied.
“You were off to meet Tanya, my friend”, RP chuckled incoherently, “The subtlety of your dressing style and your shoes reveal it”, said my friend.
“How the hell do my shoes reveal it?” I ejaculated.
“I notice the soles of your shoes and the way you have tied your shoe laces, when you are off to work the soles of your shoes tend to be muddy and your shoe laces are done in a hurried manner, but today your laces are done in a most unconventional manner indicating that you were conscious of your appearance, I also observe that you have polished your shoes with extraneous caution today, and knowing that you do so only on Mondays and Thursdays, I deduce that you were bent on putting up a false show of responsibility in front of your fiancée.”, He concluded with a malevolent grin.
“There’s no way to beat your unparalleled intellect.” I said grimly.
RP gave a dry chuckle, “You are in luck, Inspector Arora is late. Women do make a man a victim of infinite absent mindedness, so I am hardly expecting that you noticed this piece of news in the newspapers today. A woman of unknown identity was found dead near a clandestine and secluded area in defence colony yesterday morning. Arora promises that the case is singular and falls into my area of interest, and if I am very much mistaken that’s the inspector at the door. Come in!” called my friend.
The short and stout figure of Inspector Arora entered the room. The inspector looked bewildered and on the verge of a breakdown. “Sir”, he exclaimed ruefully, “I am at the end of my wits; this seriously seems malignant and ingenious.”
“Sit down, Arora. Make yourself at home. Have a cigarette and tell us the story in a lucid manner.” My friend said in a remarkably soothing manner which was his characteristic feature. The inspector started with the story-“The girl’s name is Kriti Gupta, her body was found yesterday morning, with no signs of violence. She was just lying with her face down and mouth open. Autopsy report concludes that there was no sexual assault on the girl. A peculiar handkerchief was found near the girl, which doesn’t look like the girl’s property. Sir, as you know Delhi is precarious for women at night time, but predominantly the cases of crime against women are concerned with rapes. The fact that the girl hasn’t been looted or raped, the motive of the crime is inconceivable.”
“One moment, you have not given me any details about the girl, as in her family, her relationship status and her work” interjected my friend.
“The girl was a spinster and was living alone in Kalkaji, South Delhi. She has no boy friend as far as our investigations have concluded. Her landlords have confirmed that she had no regular male comrades or visitors. So you can rule out the chances of a crime committed in passion.” Arora remarked with some dignity.
“I will visit the scene of crime with my friend, Mr. Juneja in an hour or so. I hope you have sealed the place as my methods involve precision” Said my friend.
“Yes sir, I am familiar with your methods, the place has been sealed and no one is allowed to set a foot in that place.” Again I saw a glint of pride in the resigned eyes of the inspector.
The Inspector greeted us and took leave.
“Hurry up Juneja and call for a cab, we have to reach defence colony before three, I hope you’ve had enough at pizza hut and are not hungry at the moment.” Quipped RP
“Now how did you deduce that?”, I asked incredulously.
“That was not cumbersome my friend, a paper napkin just fell out from your trouser’s pocket” guffawed my friend.



We reached the scene of crime before three. Raghuvir Pratap Singh assumed his most stringent of expressions and his face was screwed up in intense concentration. Eagerly, he searched and observed the place for clues and suggestions. His hand lens scanned the area in minute precision. Watching him at work was like watching an artist who is about to deliver a magnum opus. He picked up the handkerchief and kept it in his pocket for further examination. After about an hour and a quarter he gave an ecstatic yell. He held a piece of paper in his hand and beckoned me to come over to him.
“Let’s go back to our lair after a quick meal at colonel’s here in the market, mate. Seekh Kebabs make my stomach grumble ominously. As far as the matter is concerned I’ll need to smoke a few cigarettes over it.”, Said RP.




We reached RP’s filthy 1 room-set in a couple of hours. RP after settling himself down comfortably on his favorite settee showed me the piece of paper. It consisted of a remarkable figure which showed two lines intersecting each other at right angles (forming a cross) and each of the four line segments formed had a number assigned to them.
“What do you make of it?”, asked RP.
“I make nothing of this bizarre piece of information, it is inexplicably incoherent”, I admitted.
RP sniggered uncontrollably-“You are always a remarkable model of humbleness,
The mysterious figure on the paper has certainly made this case remarkably singular. I am on scent Juneja, I am on scent, this really incites me”
“It seems a grotesque and whimsical case though”, I commented.
“It is indeed dark and grotesque business, though I can give you an insight into my deductions only by tomorrow morning after I have completed my tests on the handkerchief and the piece of paper”, chimed RP.
“Spend the night here, Juneja though I won’t be able to put up an ideal show of hospitality tonight”, chuckled my friend.


I was aware that RP will not sleep a wink before coming to a formidable solution to the problem. I woke up at seven in the morning next day, and judging by the hostile manner of my host, I was aware that any interjection could induce a quarrel, so I kept quiet and endured the sordid mood of my friend. “Trring Trring”, squeaked RP’s mobile phone after about an hour or so.
He joined me after ten minutes. He contemplated in silence for a few minutes, the intensity of his expression made me prepare myself for some grave news. “This business is seriously a result of some malignant conspiracy. Another woman has been found murdered in a similar manner near Ramesh Nagar this time. We have got a serial killer to deal with, Juneja”, Said RP dismissively.
A shiver ran down my spine and I stared back at my friend in revulsion and cold dread.


RP paced around the room in feverish agitation. “I have an innate feeling that Arora has made a filthy mess of this, he has been given incorrect details regarding the autopsy report, it has been played around with. I desperately need to have a look at this girl’s body.” He snarled furiously and lit a cigarette.
The man looked like a marvel of eccentricity. His eyes emanated the uncanny combination of wrath and bewilderment. Nicotine fumes encircled him and gave him the most profound look. He picked up his mobile phone and dialed a number hurriedly.
“Arora, Don’t remove the body from the scene of crime, I will be there in a couple of hours. I want to examine it myself.” blurted RP.
“And make sure” he continued, “that no one crosses the place, I want the place absolutely uninhabited”
RP joined me again, and resumed his dismal and oscillatory pacing around the room. I watched this for some minutes in silence and finally dared to break the melancholy.



“Have you been able to make any fructuous deductions after your night-long antics, RP?” I supplied.
“I have dissipated too much of my energy last night on unproductive activities, I am still not able to form a hypothesis on the basis of which I can give formidable support to my deductions” said RP.
“Hurry up Juneja, get ready, Ramesh Nagar is a good twenty kilometers from this place and the earlier we leave the better it is going to be for us, the Delhi traffic gets horrendously unbearable as the time progresses. I will give you an elementary view as to how I am viewing the case in the cab.” He concluded sternly.
After, a hurried and a rather lame breakfast consisting of boiled eggs and some stale bread (My host had amazing deductive powers but the subtler things in life like being hospitable to a friend were abhorrent to his cold nature.), we were in the cab with RP absorbed in a distant reverie.
“RP, what’s up?” I chanced.
“Just trying to put the pieces of this categorically insane jigsaw puzzle together” remarked RP.
“What’s the date today, Juneja?” he asked.
“It’s the 6th of April.” I replied.
“So, that means that the first girl was murdered on the night of the 3rd and the second one on the night of the 5th” Said RP.
“Are you indicating that the murderer is following a pattern with the dates” said I.
“It is quite possible. It is apparent though that these killings are the result of the formation of a misled cult, a group of people whose psyche is maniacally contorted. They are usually motivated by the supernatural and try to make absolute mockery of the rational mind” said RP.
The cab was now speeding on Ashoka Road; Lutyen’s Delhi always offered a panoramic view. I admired the remarkable architecture and the blissful beauty of the buildings for the zillionth time in my life.
“What did you make of the numbered cross?” I inquired.
RP’s eyes flashed with sudden feverish excitement, “That is something that I presume has got everything to do with this case, of course the handkerchief still remains a loose link” said RP, he took out the piece of paper from his pocket and showed it to me. He pointed to the numbers. “These numbers; that is the five on the left line segment, the nine on the right line segment, the seven on the upper line segment and three on the lower line segment are the weight ages assigned to each of these line segments, this is possibly some sort of an indication to the pattern that the killings are following. I will give you my views on this after my investigation today.” RP concluded soberly.
“If I am not mistaken we are in vicinity of Ramesh Nagar now” RP rubbed his hands together in his characteristic enthusiasm.
Ten minutes later, we reached the scene of crime. West Delhi has its own distinct flavor, being an inhabitant of South Delhi, I found the people of the area considerably less ostentatious and an appreciable increase in the number of two-wheelers and cycle-rickshaws.
Inspector Arora shook hands with both of us; he looked a pitiable figure with a sordid concoction of desolation and fear in his eyes. RP took a couple of strides towards the body and examined it amassing care and caution. The girl was lying face down, and to me it seemed that there were no signs of death on her. RP however was mesmerized and examined her body intently with his hand lens. He; then scanned the area for footprints.
“Arora” RP’s gruffly voice broke the excruciatingly long silence of an hour or so, somehow he emanated glee and satisfaction, “If you have followed my instructions with care, then I think it would be safe to presume that the footprints I observe are not disturbed by your own men or stray people”.
“Yes sir, no one has set a foot here since morning, just throw some light on the case sir. It’s really going to make me lose my remaining hair.” Arora said striking some humor.
“Patience Arora patience, just follow my orders and you’ll be adding another success story to your magnificent collection” chuckled RP.
“By the way, I have a strong intuition that the autopsy report has been tampered with, we are not dealing with one person but a clan of prospective and potent killers, Arora try to get the details as to who has played around with it, Who knows sheer luck might give us a chance to nip this malignant cult in the bud” concluded RP.
“It’s about one; let’s grab a quick lunch at some restaurant here, what say Juneja?” inquired RP.
“Yeah, definitely” Said I.

We started for RP’s place after an informal meal at Sagar Ratna comprising of Idlis and Sambhar.
“I hope you are not getting late for your ‘Barista’ date” grinned RP.
I stared back at him in utter bewilderment-“How do you know that I am going on a date today and more importantly, how did you deduce that it’s a ‘Barista’ date? I have not even polished my shoes today.” I blurted.
RP’s face emanated maddening ecstasy, he started-“That’s elementary mate, you have checked your watch for thirty-two times in the last one hour, indicating that you are anxious to make it on time somewhere. You told me on Monday, that your boss was out of town for the whole week, so work was definitely not on your mind. You are a lone bachelor here, so your family cannot bug you to go somewhere. Naturally, I assumed that it was the woman in your life who’s giving you jitters. Next, it’s three in the afternoon and you’ve already had lunch, so it was quite indicative that you are meeting for a coffee as Tanya is fond of coffees with you. Something expensive was definitely not your game today as it was as soon as yesterday that you went for Pizza Hut. This narrowed it to three places, Barista, Café Coffee Day or Costa Coffee, I am aware that Tanya dislikes the generally crowded Café Coffee Day outlets and Barista being the other most common café, it was most likely that you would select the latter.” He grimaced.
I looked back at him bamboozled.
“It really seems so darn simple when you explain it all. Yes, I am getting late for Tanya, just drop me at CP.” Said I
“With pleasure. I will head back home; meanwhile I need to be a victim of solitude for a trifle amount of time.” Said RP

I met Tanya at the Connaught Place Barista, Tanya looked breathtakingly beautiful as ever, but somehow I was enraptured by the numbered cross and wasn’t paying her the attention she deserved. I moodily stabbed the brownie with my fork.
“Raj” cracked her voice like a whip, “Are you listening to me? Lord, you are always lost in your reveries” she sighed
“Tanya, it’s RP again, he has again been handed the most remarkable of cases and it is weighing on my head badly” said I
“You talk a lot about your friend RP, don’t you think I deserve to meet him?” said Tanya playfully.
“You’ll definitely meet him, the moment he’s through with this case. Trust me; he wants to meet you desperately as well.” Said I
My cell phone vibrated indicating the reception of a message. It was from RP, It said:

I feel I have got to something substantial this time, I have called Arora as well, kindly make it to my place by eight.

I checked my watch. It was half past six. I glanced in Tanya’s direction. Her face wore an odd expression, an uncanny mixture of wrath and amusement.
“This friend of yours amazes me; he ought to be darn interesting. Anyway, you are allowed to take leave on special grounds” she winked and I was relieved immensely.

I rushed and reached 31-B Siri Fort road in an hour or so.
RP was sitting with his legs crossed; he was contemplating in silence smoking a cigarette incessantly. Silently, he motioned me to sit on an armchair. Inspector Arora was already seated. Both of us gazed intently at the wizard, waiting for him to perform his magic.
“The numbered cross is no more a mystery gentlemen, the motive is obscure though” said RP
Arora jumped in his armchair a touch too enthusiastically.
“The numbered cross is nothing but indicating the four directions, that is North, South, West and East.” Said RP
“How can you be so adamantly sure?” inquired Arora
“I took it as a hypothesis and my calculations molded this hypothesis into a theory. The point of intersection of the two lines is the centre, in our perspective the centre points to the centre of Delhi that is Connaught Place. The lower line segment of the cross points to the southern part of Delhi, the left one to the western part, the upper one to the North and so on. The first girl was murdered in Defence Colony. This distance is approximately seven kilometers to the south of CP. Now, if you consider the weight assigned to the lower line segment of the cross, it is three, and to the left line segment the weight assigned is five. That makes the ratio between the distances south and west, three is to five. Naturally, this points to just one conclusion, the next target was bound to be roughly twelve kilometers to the west of CP. On further observation, I found that Ramesh Nagar was approximately twelve kilometers from CP. The killers are moving in the clockwise direction, so the next murder is bound to be committed sixteen kilometers to the north of CP. This means areas like Rohini and Pitampura which lie exactly to the north of Connaught Place have to be put under scan.” Concluded RP
“Also” continued RP “Other observations which make this case remarkably singular are; firstly, the assassin is a woman, I observed the same set of foot prints at both the scenes of crime, the shoe size ranges between UK size 4 and 4.5 which points to the fact that a woman is behind the killings as the average Indian male has a shoe size of 6.5-7; and secondly this is something which I observed today, the body of the girl bore a miniscule cross which was apparently cut through her skin with a very precise instrument. The wound was so infinitesimal that it failed to capture your attention.” He pointed to Arora
“Obviously, this would have been indicated in the autopsy report and that is why I say that some foul play has been committed here which prevented us from getting to this information beforehand. Arora, try to get the details about the report and its handling, I am sure something waits for us there.” Said RP dismissively
Both of us listened intently to the revelations and found the obscure mist surrounding this affair clearing up a bit.
“Sir” said Arora “I have a couple of questions before I take leave for tonight. First of all, when is the next murder going to be committed? Secondly, what did you make of the handkerchief found at the first scene of crime?”
Raghuvir Pratap Singh; looked gaunt and consumed. He supplied-“I have not been able to solve these puzzles yet, but certainly we can be on high alert tomorrow night as the first two murders were committed on alternate days. As far as the handkerchief is concerned, it was used by the assassin to wipe the excessive blood off the wound, if you observe carefully” He said showing us the handkerchief- “miniscule blood droplets can be seen on the handkerchief, that’s quite self explanatory as the assassin didn’t want to attract too much attention to the wound and hence cleaned it up. What I feel is that the handkerchief was also used to actually kill the victim in some inexplicable way. Give me time, Arora; I won’t disappoint you in any way.”
“Good Night Sir” said Arora puffing his chest splendidly “It’s an honor to work with you.”
RP settled for another nocturnal night, He said, “Eat something Juneja, my refrigerator has always been the most hospitable being in this humble abode of mine. I’ll skip dinner tonight; it has to be a night spent in fraternization with tobacco.”
It was about ten in the night, RP was sitting entranced. My brain was full of an unbearable number of facts and theories and linking them to form a chain was something that demanded clairvoyance which was absent in humble mortals like me.
I lied down on the bed after a cold dinner, closed my eyes and wondered what the next day had in store for me.

I woke up with a start. It was five in the morning, and the room was still dark except for the dim and gloomy light emanating from the living room. This indicated blandly that RP was still at work. I put on my slippers and started towards the living room. RP was listening to music with the I-pod earphones shoved into his lanky ears. This did not come as a revelation to me, knowing the erratic habits of my friend; I sat down on an armchair and silently waited for an acknowledgment.

After a painfully long span of twenty minutes or so, RP switched his I-pod off. He was in a distant reverie, I prepared myself for something off-topic. “Indian classical music is mesmerizing Juneja, It is benign and stimulating, sadly the youngsters today fail to synchronize with it. It is a dying art Juneja, the malignant word ‘money’ has contorted the minds of young artists.” Said RP

I was amused and irritated by the eccentric behavior of my host.
“RP, we’ll have an animated conversation on Indian classical music after we are through with the impending case.” I blurted.
RP looked disconcerted for a moment but gained back his composure rapidly. His keen and sleep deprived eyes emanated purpose.
“Juneja, I have been performing tests on the handkerchief and made some deductions. Pardon me; I won’t be sharing them with you at the moment. We’ll be getting the answers to most of our questions tonight. Meanwhile, why don’t you get ready for work, it will make a good change I suppose. ” He chuckled
I looked at my watch, It was nearing six. I had an hour and a half to get ready, so I started clumsily for the bathroom.

I met my friend at the dining table after a trifle more than an hour. RP was gnawing on a boiled egg. I chewed my toast moodily, RP lit a cigarette and said-“Motive is of utmost importance when a crime is committed, this insane jigsaw puzzle offers an infinite number of points of interest. To the specialist, this is a rare treat where uncanny and morbid sides of human psyche are exposed. In the eyes of law however, motive is everything. Serial killers make the motive segment of the crime incoherent and uninteresting.” Said RP puffing his Marlboro
“I agree” I replied and looked at my watch. It was time for me to start for work.

It was four in the afternoon, concentration was alien to me that day. Thankfully, my boss was out of the country, so my ignorance went unnoticed. My cell-phone vibrated, it was a message from RP. A concoction of ecstasy and foreboding plummeted in my stomach. The message said:

Mate, make it quick today, nothing can be more engrossing than the affair on our hands. Make it to my place before seven.

I called for a coffee and started to wrap up my stuff. Even Tanya made fewer insights into my mind that day. Within fifteen minutes, I was ready to start for an adventure with my laptop bag held firmly on my shoulder.

I reached RP’s place at half past five. It was a dark and cloudy evening. I could hear a Raga playing inside.
“Come in” said RP’s snide voice.
“Juneja, you make a pleasant surprise. The subtlety of Raga Malhaar combined with your unexpectedly early arrival has heightened my spirits. Do you mind the music?” asked RP
“No, but I need updates.” Said I
“The same old inquisitive Juneja, wait for Arora and we will plan tonight’s adventure” said RP entranced by the higher notes of the Raga.

Inspector Arora was by our side after an uncharacteristically uneventful hour. Arora looked keenly incited. The trio sat down on a chair surrounding RP’s filthy dining table.
RP began-“Listen intently, I have been performing tests on the handkerchief, on observing it under my microscope, I found infinitesimal traces of potassium cyanide on it. Naturally, cyanide was used to murder the women. Secondly, the time of the killing is untraceable. So, losing the assassin in the vastness of North Delhi is probable. We don’t have time to lose here, Arora get your men in plain clothes all over Rohini, Pitampura, Adarsh Nagar and surrounding areas. I have made another deduction of remarkable interest here, which makes it almost certain that the killer is going to be on the prowl tonight. Remember, the numbered cross? The 3, 5, 7 and 9 are also the dates being followed by the assassin. That is, the 3rd, 5th , 7th and 9th of April. Now, we have the dates as well as the location, we can’t have it easier than this”
“Excellent!” cried Arora
“Did you get the information about the autopsy report?” questioned RP sternly
“Sir, the autopsy report was played around with. We have not been able to trace the specialist who readied the report as he is on the run, but on interrogation we found out that an abnormally short person was seen that day at the hospital. That’s all I was able to get” said Arora ruefully.
RP contemplated for a while and then said more to him self than to us-“Malignant business, gruesome affair” he then remarked to me-“Juneja, take out the revolver from the drawer and Arora get your forces ready. Let’s start!”

It was half past eight and Rohini was blissfully benevolent. It was largely secluded and uninhabited.
“RP; Don’t you think this is an extremely vague voyage, I mean how are we supposed to search for this singular person over a radius of five to six kilometers?” I chanced
RP chuckled-“I knew this question would bother you, this has obviously struck me. Something has come to our rescue now; I have an innate feeling that it is not going to be cumbersome to spot the killer. Secondly, my calculations on the numbered cross point to an area 16.7 kilometers to the north of Connaught Place. This indicates areas around sectors 16 and 17, Rohini. The deployment of forces in Pitampura and Adarsh Nagar are just precautionary measures. You and I will be on the lookout here in sector 16.” Said RP gravely

It started drizzling; everything was stage set for a remarkable adventure. We were waiting in the cab, the cold and excited breathing of my friend indicated the adrenaline rushing into his veins. “Trring Trring” squeaked RP’s phone.
“Yes, Arora; excellent, just keep your eyes wide open and patrol the area with extraneous caution.” Said RP and disconnected the line.
“Juneja, we’ll be patrolling the whole of sector 16 and partially sector 17, a Scorpio full of policemen is accompanying us. The fact that we are in Rohini is going to be an added advantage as its characteristic desolation is going to enrage the assassin as he needs to find a victim first.” Said RP breathlessly
“Drive slowly” RP said to the cab-driver.
I admit that this seemed to me a most disconcerted effort to have a go at the assassin. It seemed a horrendously improbable task to get our hands on someone in the gigantic spread of the township. Yet, both of us contemplated in silence and kept our eyes open in vain, desperately on the lookout for an eccentric personality. We crossed markets, residential areas and parks but everything seemed perfectly in order. Desertion was now spreading rampantly. It was eleven now and RP finally dialed Arora’s number looking severely perturbed.
“Arora, any news?” said RP
His expression didn’t change much as the conversation went on.
RP disconnected the line, his face wore an uneasy expression.
We were in vicinity of a particularly desolate area now, the sector 16 district park. Suddenly, I saw a lanky figure along the periphery of the park, the person was being followed by a remarkably short person. This dwarf-like person was behind the other person by a hundred meters or so. The eccentricity of the short person was noteworthy.
“RP” I whispered “have a look at that!”
“I guess we should get off the car” cried RP “Keep the revolver handy Juneja, I think we’ll have a look without the policemen” He signaled the policemen to wait.
We jumped out of the car and started following the dwarf. He was not more than a four feet eight or nine inches in height. He was sporting bizarre attire-a cloak which covered him from head to toe.
The dwarf was unaware of our presence and now gained on the person ahead of him. Exhibiting blistering swiftness, in an infinitesimal moment he took out a handkerchief from his pocket and took strides towards the person ahead of him. An instant later, he attacked and the person was caught completely unaware.

“HOLD IT!” bellowed RP and sprinted forward, I fired a bullet in the air to divert the dwarf’s attention.

The next couple of moments were not easy for the dwarf, the person he had attacked had almost overpowered him and RP’s iron-like grip was choking him. Policemen now surrounded the area and the assassin was now in police custody. I now had an unobstructed view of the dwarf, he was clearly a patient of cretinism. His eyes emanated wrath and loathing. On the whole, he radiated sinister-ness overwhelmingly.
“Vusa la sili galto” cried the dwarf
Everyone looked puzzled, except RP, whose eyes bore a peculiar glint which meant that something struck him at that very instant.
“Stop uttering nonsense” bellowed one of the policemen and took him towards the Scorpio.

“Gentlemen, be wary of the handkerchief it contains copious amounts of potassium cyanide.” Warned RP
I looked at the person who was attacked, I was shocked-It was a man. I assumed that women were the endangered species. The man gained composure and was now being helped by the policemen. My mind was overflowing with revelations; I needed RP to explain the happenings to me. At the moment, he was attending a phone-call from Arora.

He joined me back in a minute or so.
“Juneja, its half past twelve and we should start for home, I’ll answer all your queries when we reach 31-B Siri Fort Road, Arora will join us there” RP said dismissively

Delhi is entirely a different game at night time. The thirty-odd kilometers from Rohini to Siri Fort Road, took us just over a half an hour. I admit that those thirty minutes were like thirty hours to me, my mind became obnoxiously obscure and inefficient.

We made ourselves comfortable in RP’s living room. Arora wore an incredulous expression. RP sat down on his favorite arm-chair and yet again lit a cigarette. “You want a cigarette, Arora?” he asked.
“I’ll need one sir, we are all ears to your inferences and deductions.” Replied Arora slightly breathlessly.
“Everything is now fitting into place perfectly, the shoe size, the handkerchief, women getting murdered, autopsy report, words said by the dwarf after he was caught and to some extent the numbered cross. Let me proceed in an orderly manner, firstly the shoe size is self explanatory, a short person has a small shoe size, hence a dwarf comes into picture. Secondly, the handkerchief was used to force the lethal cyanide into the mouths of the victims. Women were murdered as they were soft-targets being relatively easier to overpower, though tonight was an exception as our friend couldn’t find any victims to satisfy his heinous motive. An abnormally short man was seen in the hospital, naturally he was the part of this cult and was there to bribe the doctor so that the cyanide trick and the cross on the bodies could be concealed and kept clandestine. Coming to the words said by the dwarf, if you followed fairy tales and folklore when you were children, dwarves were magical creatures who had prodigious skill and vicious intellect. They were revered and feared everywhere. The words said by the dwarf were from an ancient fairy tale and I caught them at once. That made me realize, how imbalanced he was, they were fantasizing about the fairy-world and following their traditions and practices to invoke magic. Patients of cretinism commonly known as dwarves are shunned for the whole of their lives, this agony got converted into lethal frustration and these folks started believing that murdering people will actually end their miseries and wretchedness and make them revered. Coming to the numbered cross, this was the pattern that was supposed to be followed to invoke the magic, I am still not sure about the weight ages and their importance, but Google has all the answers, some research on fairy tales will definitely unearth its importance. As far as the other members of this clan are concerned, that’s your responsibility Arora, everything is at your disposal, I am sure your captive will give you the required details” Said RP and gave a colossal sigh.
Arora and I listened enraptured and entranced.
Arora asked-“Sir, what do you make of the crosses on the bodies of the victims?”
“That’s self explanatory, the dwarves were brewing a potion which needed the blood of all the victims, the blood was collected from that wound and the wound was cleared afterwards so that it didn’t grab eyeballs. The cross was of course the numbered cross itself.” Replied RP glumly.

“There you go RP, every detail concerning the last night’s adventure” said I next morning, I had just googled out a substantial amount of information. I skipped work that day as the previous night’s fatigue gave me a mild headache and cramps in the legs.
“I am all ears mate” said my friend sipping on a cup of coffee.
“This tale can be traced back to the early eighteenth century, its author is anonymous. This is the era when fairy-tales were an intrinsic part of the lives of the people; this tale is possibly of European origin. The dwarves were not magical initially; they were bullied by other magical creatures. It was only after a particular dwarf invoked a magic using the numbered cross-he took the blood from a creature from every direction in the fairy-land and concocted them to brew a potion which was consumed by him. The dwarves then became vicious and feared-blah, blah, blah. Stupid fairy-tale, I still can’t believe someone applied this trash to real life” Said I with some revulsion.
“The human mind is a magnum opus my friend, its study is extremely engrossing and engaging. I am personally not incited by the general criminal world, but when the human psyche starts revealing bamboozling sides, that’s when the specialist in me is awakened.” Replied RP thoughtfully.
Both of us sipped our coffees in silence.