The Passing of a Legend (Part III)

Here’s the story, The Passing of a Legend (Part III). I penned this story a few years back after a famous actor was found dead in a Middle Eastern resort.

The Passing of a Legend (Part III)

That night, it was decided that they would go to the third-floor room where Prakriti’s body was found and investigate further. They had already had a light dinner at the dining hall on the ground floor. The girls went first, trying to behave casually. The men followed them, making sure no one saw them. On the third floor, there was nobody keeping a watch. So, the fivesome carefully passed the police-made barriers and moved toward the room where the deceased actor was staying before she died.

They were about to reach the room where Prakriti was staying before her death when Asha detected some movement from the direction of the service lift. The fivesome began to look for a hideout. They found the storeroom, which was not locked. They went into the small room. The space was cramped. But they managed to squeeze inside. Keshav opened the door just a crack and he saw a room-boy pass them with a trolley having covered food-filled dishes on it. The fivesome could smell the delicious aroma of the food from their hideout.

Keshav immediately closed the door carefully. When he opened it again, the room-boy was not to be seen. The fivesome came out of hiding. Kartik asked, “This floor is sealed. Nobody is supposed to be here. Where is this room-boy taking the food?”

The fivesome looked around, again and still could not see the room-boy. So, they advanced toward the room where Prakriti was staying on the fateful day. Keshav fished out a Swiss knife and tried to open the built-in lock of the door. Initially, it did not budge. But minutes later, it opened silently. They entered and closed the door behind them, just in case they were found by someone. They searched the room. But none of them came up with anything. It appeared that the police had made a thorough search.

This time Katherine heard someone outside the room. The knob turned and the fivesome ran helter-skelter looking for places to hide. It was the room-boy. The young man looked around in suspicion, went out and closed the door. The fivesome came out of hiding and found themselves locked inside the room!

To be continued…