Noise is Good – Part 8 C

Today, we are posting the eighth C of the 8-part murder mystery – Noise is Good. You can refer to the eighth B sub-part here.

Part 8C

Pramesh ran toward the open terrace. Before the police could reach him, he jumped from the top uttering, “Take care of my children.” Within minutes he reached the ground and due to the impact with it, died, immediately!

Pramesh’s children and the society people assembled in front of the building, in the brightness of the porch light, as the police began another set of questioning in the light of the new development. The others living in the building confessed to have mentally tortured Pooja and her family due to the pressure from Vageshwari. They told the police that Pramesh’s son would blackmail them and compel them to do what they had done. They confessed that they had done some crimes against Pooja’s family, thinking they would leave the place.

Pramesh’s son began to run. Before he could move further, Pooja’s mother caught hold of his collar and said, “You have a younger sister. Her responsibility is on you now. Turn over a new leaf and take care of her.”

He did not listen, pulled his dress and ran away because he had committed 90% of the crimes. His collar came off in her hand. The police were busy taking care of the dead body and were interrogating the other members of the society. They had not expected that he would try to escape. 2 constables ran behind him but couldn’t catch him. The police began searching for him.

The girl also took off into her home and was about to drink from a pesticide container when a lady constable, who had followed her, stopped her. The older woman slapped her and the girl lost her consciousness. The girl was taken to a hospital and then, to a juvenile home.

The deputy inspector of police came to the society to warn the members, “If you had come to us in the beginning, things would have been under control. Because of your support to Vageshwari, 2 families had to suffer. If Pooja files a court case against you, there is no way you will be able to escape imprisonment and penalty. Where will you hide your guilt? What will your children learn? What you did was disgusting and shameful.”

Pooja said, “Each one of them is in a high-profile job – medical, educational, and the like. None of them considered this a crime and said they would deal with it themselves, if it was illegal. They did not know that Vageshwari had been stealing costly stuff from our home. They could only see Vageshwari’s supposed increase in status, in small steps when they bought small things from the stolen money and stuff. She had created a myth that if they stole from our home, they prospered. When they realized the truth, it was too late. Vageshwari’s son had begun to blackmail them. Then, they were busy saving Vageshwari and were not interested in thinking about our suffering. They expected us to leave after meting out the torture on us. They also did not care if we died in the process, if Vageshwari’s son had killed us.”

Nitya, said, “Many people escape being convicted. But, there is always the Almighty, who is there to punish sinners. They cannot escape that. This is my experience.”

Pooja realized that her parents argued and got the burden off their chest. The argument itself was due to Vageshwari. Pooja’s mother knew what the woman was doing. But, Pooja’s father did not believe that neighbors could steal from their next door. It was not like Pramesh and his family, who suffered mentally at the hands of Vageshwari, without protesting. Thus, noise is good. It is silence that can be ominously indicative of an impending disaster.