It finally was the time for the Party, everyone had gathered there just like the old days, the only one missing from the party was Arthur. He always was the life of the party, it seemed rather dull without him in the beginning.
Everyone gathered and stood in silence for a few moments and then eventually got on in conversations with each other. We all raised a toast to Arthur, thanked him for his impact on our lives and moved on with the party. The entire party was a reflection of life and our importance to others. Like the party world moves on and you slowly begin to matter less. Arthur was the life of this party, though it began dull, it eventually gained its cheer and moved towards the night.
Some of us who were deeply impacted kept smiling and looking at each other throughout the party. Detective Vardhan stood by the corner and was observing each one that night. His presence in the party was almost unnoticed.
After the party all of us gathered and Mr. Clarke as promised read the will of Arthur.
“I, Arthur Johnson, being of sound mind and body, do hereby bequeath the following items to the following individuals,” the attorney began. “To Mrs. Pettersen, I leave the sum of two million pounds, in recognition of her loyalty and as a symbol of my love.”
Mrs. Pettersen ‘s eyes widened in shock and disbelief as she heard the amount. She had not expected to receive so much money from Arthur.
“To Tom Orlando, I leave all of my businesses, including my shares in various companies and corporations. I trust that he will continue to run them with the same level of efficiency and dedication that I have always demanded,” the attorney continued.
Tom smiled smugly to himself, clearly pleased with the news. He had always been ambitious, and now he had been given the opportunity to take over Arthur’s business empire.
“And finally, to my son Mark Johnson, I leave all of my properties, apartments in the city and including this mansion and all of the surrounding land,” the attorney concluded.
Mark looked overwhelmed and emotional as he heard the news. He had not been particularly close to his father, but he had always wanted to inherit his property and keep it in the family.
As the attorney finished reading the will, everyone in the room was lost in thought, processing the news. Vardhan, however, was keenly observing everyone’s reactions, trying to gauge their true feelings. He noticed that Mrs. Pettersen looked like she was on the verge of tears, while Tom looked smug and self-satisfied.
The whole environment was strange, as if Arthur’s will had caused more tension than closure among the people present in the mansion.
Later in the night, I and Detective Vardhan were sitting in a dimly lit room, surrounded by stacks of files, photos, and notes related to the Arthur case. The atmosphere was tense, and both us were deep in thought, trying to connect the dots and find the motive for the murder.
Oliver cleared his throat and began, “So, we know that Maria was Arthur’s housekeeper and has access to the entire mansion at any time whom Arthur trusted the most. She was the one who found the body but we don’t have any evidence that directly implicates her in the murder.”
Vardhan nodded in agreement and added, “Yes, that’s true. We also have Alfred, who was out of town when the murder happened. And he received a letter informing him about the murder from Maria.”
“Then we have Mark, the annoying rich kid who is lost and doesn’t really know anything.”
I leaned forward and asked, “What about Mrs. Pettersen and Tom? They both seemed to benefit from Arthur’s will, but does that mean they had a motive to kill him?”
Vardhan leaned back in his chair and replied, “It’s possible. Mrs. Pettersen was romantically involved with Arthur and had a lot to gain from his will. And Tom was given all of Arthur’s businesses, which could have been a motive for him to get rid of Arthur. But we don’t have any concrete evidence to prove their involvement either.”
In frustration I asked, “So, where does that leave us? We have a handful of suspects, but no clear motive or evidence to pin the murder on anyone.”
Vardhan continued, “Yes, it’s a tricky case. But we need to keep digging and gathering more evidence. There’s always a possibility that we may come across something that can help us crack the case.”
I started rethinking and saying it out loud, “Let’s say it was Tom who has done this criminal act; he is physically fit to attack Arthur, he has been ambitious about business, possible fraud cases registered on him, he has big contacts in the city; he could have easily got us followed.”
Vardhan: ”Why would you think one has to be fit physically to kill Arthur? Well, it’s quite late in the night and we have some early morning digging to do.”
That conversation ended rather abruptly as if some realization hit the detective and he walked away to his room.
Next morning Vardhan left early to do some research. Everyone at the mansion was getting ready and packing up to move back to their residences today when an assistant cop arrived at the mansion.
He informed everyone to stay back for some time while Mr. Frederick was reaching the mansion in a few hours.
Everyone seemed a little too irritated to deal with it but Tom and David both were particularly unhappy.
David: “Do we have the culprit or not? Otherwise, it’s an absolute waste of time”
Tom: “Yes, we have a thing to attend to, we cannot keep waiting here forever for you to solve the case”
The cop was patient and requested some patience for another hour.
After two hours the detective Vardhan, Mr. Frederick and a few other cops arrived at the mansion.
By the look on their faces, it was quite clear that they had the culprit. Everyone was excited and were waiting to hear the news.
Detective Vardhan came up front and said “I promised to bring the criminal to the spotlight who was hiding in the shadows so far and first inform the dearest friend of Mr. Noah, David.”
Mr. Frederick if you will please *in a dramatic manner* “Mr. David, you’re being charged for the murder of Mr. Noah and you’ll be facing the trial in the court for the same”
We all were shocked and could not believe what we were listening to. Everyone looked at each other.
David: “What is this officer? Is this some kind of joke? You should be out looking for the real criminal and not playing jokes. Mr. Vardhan, what thoughts are you feeding them?”
Vardhan: “One often gets caught when the stories are too perfect, you of all should have known that David.”
I stood up all confused and went up to Vardhan asking him” are you sure about this? This somehow doesn’t look right to me.”
Vardhan: Let me prove it to you. Dear David, how did you come to know about Arthur’s death?
David: After a moment’s silence “someone called me”.
Vardhan: Who?
David: I do not remember, but someone did.
Vardhan: Here is a record of your call logs on the day of murder, which say otherwise. Now why would you lie about that?” As he pulled out the paper from the telephone company.
Vardhan: “And if you were not informed then how did you reach the mansion in time? Is there anyone who saw David coming into the mansion after cops arrived? No one! Because you were already there at the time of Murder, you did not get a chance to run.
It’s done David, there is no escaping this now!
Mrs. Pettersen: “Why would you do such a thing? Arthur trusted you and supported you throughout your career” *wiping her tears from her eyes*
David had lost hope to defend himself and get out of the situation by then. He sat down on the floor with his tears filled with eyes.
We all were still in shock and did not know how to exactly react to this.
Detective Vardhan sat across from David in the room, his eyes fixed on the suspect as he waited for a confession. David sat slumped in his chair, his face contorted in anguish as he stared down at his hands.
David looked up at the detective, his eyes filled with tears. “I didn’t mean to kill him,” he said in a trembling voice. “It was an accident.”
David took a deep breath and began to speak. “Arthur and I were business partners years ago, but things turned sour for me eventually. My years of loyalty to him had got me into trouble now. I knew he had some old papers in his study that could ruin me if they ever came to light.”
He paused, his voice trembling. “I went to his house that night to steal the papers. I didn’t think anyone was home, but Arthur surprised me when he walked into the study. I panicked and hit him with a vase. I didn’t mean to kill him, I swear.”
Everyone was silent for a minute; we all were in tears and didn’t know what to say. I had thought of every possible person but David himself so far in the case.
I went ahead and asked Vardhan, “How did you find out it was him?”
Vardhan: “ here is what happened;”