"Hello." I attended the call and said.

"Is this is Miss Dazzle Penkins, Penkins Conglomerate?" I am hearing a voice which is no doubt male.

"Yes, of course." I am saying. "Why you have called me."

"I am calling from Neptune Detective Agency." The caller identified himself. "I want to discuss a very important matter with you."

"First tell me what it is?" interest picked up in me. Someone called from a detective agency and is telling me that he wants to discuss a very important matter with me!

"May I know what it is?" I asked him again as there is no answer immediately.

"I cannot discuss that matter with you over phone. I can say this only face to face with you. Will you please give me some time? I can come now itself." I am hearing his pleading tone.

"Please come straight to me. I do wait for you." I said to him.

"It does not take me more than ten minutes to reach you." Then he abruptly cut off the phone.

"Oh, my god!" keeping my cell phone down I hissed out.

"What happened Dazzle?" Menaka is curiously looking into my face.

I am explaining to her what happened while she is listening curiously. "It surely may be a very important thing he wants to discuss with me."

"You are hundred percent right."

We both are very eagerly waiting for that person to enter into my chamber. I am startled hearing my cell phone ringing again. I took it into my hand and saw on the miniature screen. Neptune Detective Agency again.

"Hello" I attended the phone call and said.

"May I know who it is?" the other side voice asked me. It is not the voice previously talked with me.

"It is you who called me. You have to identify yourself to me. Not me to you." I angrily said. Why a different person now, I cannot understand.

"Madam." The other side voice is a little agitating. "I am the traffic inspector. The owner of this cell phone just died in a motor accident. It is the latest number he called through his cell phone. So I have called to this number to know about his details."

"No." I screamed aloud. I involuntarily stood up. "No, no, no." I am yelling in the phone.

Menaka immediately came towards me running and took me into her hands. "What happened? What happened? Just tell me." Trying to comfort me in her hands she is asking me.

"The person, the person who called me just now...." I am having difficulty to talk.

"Tell me what happened?" Menaka is trying to keep her impatience.

"Just now died in a motor accident." I slumped myself in my chair again.

"How did you have come to know about that?" still holding me in her hands Menaka asked me.

"Traffic inspector there called me. My number is the recent number in his cell phone that he called. So he wants to see if I know any details of that person."

***

"Neptune Detective Agency. Not a very much reputed agency. What all I came to know is your dad met the owner of it, Mr.Salmon, and asked him to do some investigation on something." Smaran is saying to me.

As soon as Menaka reported about the Neptune Detective Agency matter to him, detective Smaran investigated into it and came to me.

"What is that matter owner of that Neptune Detective Agency was asked to investigate by my dad?" even in the unnerving state also I am feeling curious. After hearing the death of that person so, I became completely upset.

"Your father asked him to keep it completely secret. So that Salmon did not say anything about it to any other person."

"My god! Why it is so? Why every time it is happening so?" I am irritating a lot. I am now trying to think carefully. "If it is my dad who entrusted the matter to him it was surely more than six months or so back. Why this person did not try to meet me until now?"

"I don't know. I cannot say. Either his assistant in his detective agency or anyone else who knows him well are not able to say anything at all. He kept them completely in blind about that. If your dad asked him for complete secrecy for that matter, he did it perfectly." Smaran is saying. "I think he might have some breakthrough in the matter only recently. That was why he tried to reach you only now."

"Another mystery to solve as if we are not having enough mysteries in our hand." I am still irritating.

"Solving of one mystery among these solve all the other mysteries also." Smaran is saying. "I keep my promise. You don't worry at all."

Now I am explaining to him what happened yesterday's night. He is hearing everything so carefully and patiently.

"I said that your life is in danger." He is saying. "You need to be even more careful from now onwards."

"How long I have to be careful like this?"

"Just eighteen days. Twelve days have passed already in the time I promised. After these eighteen days there shall be no problem whatsoever to you."

"Are you that much confident on this Mr.Smaran?" I am feeling very much surprise seeing the confidence in Smaran.

"Yes. Everything shall be so clear to you. I shall make everything so clear within these eighteen days. Just be patient. Don't ask me if I have got any hold on anything. Of course I already have got some strong leads but I am not going to reveal them to you now."

"Alright then. What all I do want is this problem to be solved completely. Nothing more than that." I am smiling now. I am feeling relaxed in the presence of Smaran and his saying so is making me courageous. After few seconds silence I am asking him again. "Who else is there in that Neptune Detective Agency? Besides that....what is his name?"

"Salmon...I think I said it to you....he is the proprietor of that agency. He is not very much talented or skilled and very ordinary. He has only one assistant and she is a divorcee. He has no family. I presume that there may be a relationship between that divorcee and our Salman."

"My dad could appoint big talented and famous detective if he wanted. Why did he go for an unfamiliar and un-reputed detective I cannot think." Knitting my brows together I said.

"Might be your father knew him personally. Moreover your father wanted not to give much publicity to the matter. So he selected someone like him."

"What is that divorcee's name? How much aged she is?" inquiringly looking into the face of Smaran I am asking "Surely she can shed some light on our matter."

"I don't remember her name now. She is aged thirty eight. A recent divorcee. Have no children. I have asked her all sorts of questions. I think I said this to you before." Smaran breathed deeply and hissed out before continuing again. "That Salmon did not say anything at all to her. She herself is feeling lot of surprise that he maintained such secrecy in this matter. It is never before like this. He used to discuss with her each and everything he investigates."

"Alright then. I cannot think any more on this." I am feeling headache now.

"I suggest you not to worry about any of these. But I wanted to say one thing here."

"Tell me what it is?" interest picked in me once again.

"Some people don't want at all that you do know about what Salmon was going to say. In my opinion it was not an accident. It was a murder."

"I am also having a doubt like that in myself. You have just confirmed that." I am feeling intensive fear again. Who can be those crooks?

"I want to caution you again. Your life is in danger. Be very careful. I asked that Menaka be with you all the time. Where is she?"

"She went into the market to buy something for herself. She shall be here in no time." Suddenly my face lit up with pleasure. "Hi, she has come."

"Hi, uncle when you have come?" smiling charmingly and looking into his face Menaka asked him.

"I said to you not to leave Miss Dazzle even for a moment. Where have you gone?" he asked her angrily.

"I am sorry. I went out for little shopping to purchase some very personal items."

"Its alright." Smaran became normal and nodded his head before continuing. "But you both may please try to understand that the situation is very precarious. Miss Dazzle is in real danger. Don't leave her even for a moment."

While Smaran is going away a thought crossed my mind making me feel full fear once again. I called after him "Mr.Smaran." I got off from my chair and went near to him.

"Yes, please." He turned back and is looking into my face.

"One detective was murdered just because he was going to tell me some secret. You are another detective trying to know a secret which is causing all the problems to me. We both are positive that it is the same secret that Salmon wanted to tell me and you are going to unravel......" I am trying to say something more and Smaran intervened

"And your father so desperately wanted to tell you."

"Alright I agree." I am saying after a positive nod. "Some people are so desperate that it should not be known to me and they silenced Salmon in such a way. What is the guarantee that they don't try such a thing on you also?"

"What Miss Dazzle saying is worth thinking uncle." Menaka also expressed her fear.

"Thank you very much for your concern Miss Dazzle." Smaran is smiling and there is no fear in his face. "I shall be in my care. They cannot do anything to me."

***

"What you are telling me is true Dazzle? Is it is true?" Viola's face is clouded with fear and we are all assembled in the hall itself. Menaka, my aunt and Williams are also with us.

"Hundred percent true." I confirmed them.

"My brother appointed a private detective for investigating something. Not a very much surprising thing. In business he might have had such a necessity. But why that detective remained silent all these months? When he was trying to say something why he died like that?" there is lot of surprise and fear in my aunt's face.

"Smaran said it is possibly a murder."

"I am also thinking about it like that." My aunt nodded her head and is saying. "But what I cannot understand is what on earth what he wanted to tell you and why did not do that till now? If it is your father appointed him, it must be months back."

I hissed out heavily before saying. "That Smaran said he was about to say the same thing which my father so desperately wanted to say to me and he came to know about it only recently."

"Is it is just an assumption or he knows it for sure?" Viola asked me.

"Of course, it is an assumption."

"But what that Smaran is assuming appears to be true." Williams is saying. "I heard about that Smaran. He is quite a capable one."

"He is quite confident that he can solve the problem within the time he promised to me. That means in these eighteen days or so."

"What else we do want dear? If the problems are solved in all respects that is enough." With relief in her face my aunt said. "I really want to talk with that great man. Can you take him to our home?"

(..........to be continued)

(I hope you enjoyed it so far. Please don't forget to rate and review it. I update the next chapter as early as possible.)