Nirupama

(Some Secrets May Better Remain Secrets Forever)

'I cannot bear this', 'I want to pluck my eyes out' only these two sentences were the clues which the late girl Nirupama left in writing one on a wall and one in a book quite unintentionally and involuntarily to know about the reason for her committing suicide. Her father Ranganath, detective Smaran and his niece Menaka along with Nirupama's friend Sukanya pretty well understood that Nirupama did not want the said secret to be known to anyone else. But since her father Ranganath hell bent upon knowing about the said secret, detective Smaran and his niece Menaka ruthlessly investigated the matter only to unearth the said ghastly, shocking and astounding secret which the dead girl terribly wished to keep only with her in her grave forever.

x x x x x

Smaran looked into the face of that person who just settled in the chair opposite to him. He might be aged more than sixty and Smaran could sense sorrow in his face.

"Yes. I am Smaran and proprietor to this Smaran Detective Agency. In which way I can be helpful to you?" remembering the question the old man asked him after he entered into the room, Smaran said.

The old man breathed deeply and exhaled heavily. "You need to do some detection for me." He said. There was sorrow in his voice also.

"Sure I do. That is the main service I do offer to my clients." Smaran smiled. "Give me the details."

The old man nodded his head and hung it for a moment. Then he perched his head up and looked into the eyes of Smaran. Sorrow was so obvious in his eyes also. "My name is Ranganath. I retired as a high school headmaster. I am living in this town itself." He paused for a moment and then put his hand in his shirt pocket and took a white colour envelope from it. Then he opened that envelope, extracted a photograph from it and put it on the table which was between the chairs of him and Smaran.

"She is my daughter, Nirupama aged twenty two years." Ranganath said observing the expression in the face of Smaran.

Smaran took that photograph into his hands and started observing the girl in it. 'Beautiful!' Smaran thought. The girl in that photograph has a mesmerizing effect on him. Everyone of his age would want a daughter like her. She was elegant, there was intelligence in her eyes but why this old man was unhappy like this? he was feeling wonder.

"Just six months back, on one night she committed suicide."

The photograph dropped from the hands of Smaran. Suicides and murders were not new to him but this news jerked him. Why a beautiful and intelligent girl like her had committed suicide?

"What!" Smaran exclaimed with knitted brows. "I cannot understand."

"I too cannot understand. So I have come to you." Ranganath bent down and picked up the photograph from the floor and put it into the envelop again.

"I want more details." Adjusting himself in the chair to more comfortability Smaran said.

"My daughter was aged twenty one years by the time she committed suicide. She was studying M.A. psychology first year. There was no love affair. No foul play by anyone. No financial problems. No unbearable disease. She appeared all good even by the time when she entered into her bedroom in the night on that day. The next day when her mother entered into her bedroom to wake her up, she found her hanging from the ceiling. She hanged herself with her chunni to the ceiling fan." Ranganath tried to be expressionless. But the wrinkles on his face were deepened. It was obvious that he was trying to control his emotion.

"I see" Smaran nodded his head even he was still puzzling himself with whatever he heard. "You are sure that she was not suffering with anything by the time she committed suicide?"

"Nothing I can guess of. She is the only daughter to us. She had born to us after fifteen years of our marriage. After we have lost all our hope that we could have a child. While working as a head master I earned enough and hoarded enough. Besides that I am having other properties also. There is no question of financial stress. We are having more than ample means. And..... " Ranganath breathed deeply before saying again. "Physically also she was perfect. No unbearable disease or something like that."

"But what about a love failure? It is quite common to fall into love and be rejected or to face some other problem with love at that age?" It was impossible that she would be rejected if she fell into love with anyone at all, he thought in himself.

"All inquiries were made. Nothing like that happened. She was not even close to guys not to say love. All her friends are girls."

Smaran got off from the chair and went to the middle of the room and turned towards Ranganath. "How you can say that surely she committed suicide? It might be...."

"No question of that. My daughter committed suicide. Police conducted postmortem. The report mentioned it as pure suicide. And...." He paused for a moment and then said "......I myself also sure that she committed suicide. No one entered into her room and killed her and there was no necessity to anyone to do so either."

Smaran came back and slumped himself into his chair again and hissed out.

"If you yourself rule it out as a suicide......." balancing his arms on the table placed in between their chairs and looking into the eyes of Ranganath, Smaran asked ".......what I have to find out?"

Ranganath also stooped forward and put his arms on the table in the same way Smaran did. "I know my daughter well. She is intelligent. Not a fool. I Just cannot think of that my daughter committed suicide for a simple, silly thing. There must be some compelling reason for my daughter taking such an extreme step. I just want to know that reason."

"Whatever that reason may be ...." Smaran felt uneasily. He dealt with murders, burglaries, etc. but this type of assignment was new to him. "........your daughter died and she would not come back by your knowing it."

"You need not tell me about that." with an emphasis Ranganath said and once again leaned back in the chair. "I just don't like people think that my daughter is a mental freak and committed suicide for a silly reason or for no reason at all. I just want to know what is that compelled my daughter to commit suicide."

Smaran nodded his head thoughtfully and he also leaned back in his chair. "I understand. I take up your case. But..."

"Tell. What else you want to know?"

"I agree that your daughter committed suicide with a very strong reason. That reason whatever it may be is stronger enough to compel your daughter to commit suicide." Fixing his gaze onto the face of Ranganath, Smaran continued. "But once it is revealed and came into light, it may have the same effect on you also. It may not be soothing to you as you are thinking."

"Whatever effect it may have on me even if it leads me to hang myself as my daughter did, I have no objection. But I must know the reason why my daughter committed suicide."

The firmness in Ranganath's voice prevented Smaran from entertaining any other views on taking up this case.

"The total time I do take for completing this assignment is one month. My total fees for this is two lakhs. You have to pay one lakh before I start my detection. The remaining one lakh rupees you have to pay to me after I have submitted my report to you with positive result. If I cannot submit the report with positive result, that means, if I cannot find out the truth, you need not pay me the remaining one lakh rupees." Smaran said.

"Money is not a problem. I want you to find out the truth." With hope filled voice Ranganath said.

"I do try my level best. Of course, I am feeling positive at present." Smaran said.

Ranganath remained silent expecting Smaran to continue.

"I make a contract in duplicate and we both are going to sign on it and both of us keep a copy of it. All the terms and conditions will be detailed in that. Anyhow I shall tell some of them orally to you now."

Ranganath continued his silence. This all appeared tedious and he had not expected this. But he understood that he has to endure that.

"I do go on with my investigation in the way I like within the precincts of law and you must not obstruct it in any way at any point of time even it appears so absurd to you. You do have to give me all the cooperation all the time I need."

"I have no objection whatsoever to this." making himself straight in the chair Ranganath asked Smaran "When I have to pay the first part of your one lakh rupees?".

"I prepare the contract ready by nine tomorrow morning. You pay that amount in cheque. My services start after we both signed on it." Smaran said. "Anyhow as I have decided to take up this assignment, I want to ask you some important questions now itself."

"Ask then. I am ready to answer." Ranganath adjusted himself in his chair for more comfort.

"Has your daughter the habit of writing diary?"

"Yes, of course. My daughter has the habit of writing a diary." Ranganath nodded his head positively. "But not in a regular way and she noted down the events only she wanted. Anyhow she stopped writing that diary for some fifteen days or so before the day of her committing suiside. She did not leave any hint or clue for her committing suiside like that in her diary either."

"What about her social profiles, friends and followers therein. Now a day youth are so much obsessed about that face book, twitter, etc. and they do share even those things also in them which they don't want to share with anyone in any other way."

"My daughter has Face Book, Twitter and LinkedIn accounts. She has a close friend Sukanya and she knew about the passwords of those three accounts and a thorough search of those three accounts also made. She did not leave even a simple clue also in any of them regarding her suiside."

"I see" Smaran nodded his head. "What about her smart-phone? Her phone calls and other data......."

"She has a smart-phone and laptop. Passwords of them were also known to Sukanya and both the devices were searched thoroughly in all the ways needed. She took particular not to leave any trace about that reason which compelled her to commit suiside." Ranganath hissed out heavily.

"Before we both sign on the contract and before I start investigation in this matter...." Smaran paused for a second as if he wanted to reiterate what he was going to say. "By the conduct of your daughter it has become so evident that she did not want anyone to know why she has committed suiside. If you make me investigate to know about why she committed suiside, you are doing something that she does not like at all. It is against the will and wish of your daughter. She may feel very unhappy wherever she is, if we do this investigation."

"To think about her unhappiness by this investigation, she did not do something which would make me feel happy." There was firmness in the voice of Ranganath. "She knew very well how much I do love her. I would have done anything if she asked me. I would have excused her even however much big wrong she committed. I never would say a 'no' whatever her wish may be and she too very well knew about it. Then without bothering about me even a little bit how she committed suiside like that? No, the reason for her committing suisde must be known to me."

"Alright then." Smaran nodded his head and said "I just see whether I have forgotten to ask anything." Then his face suddenly brightened. "I just don't know how I have forgotten to ask about it. How about your wife? Is she also feeling as much curious as you are to know about the reason for her daughter's committing suiside?"

(..........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.)

#investigation #detection #psychology #hypnosis #hypnotism #love #romance #romantic #suspense #thriller #sentiment #family #suicide #psychology #hypnosis #self-hypnosis #psychiatry #psychiatrist