The 25th King: The beginning

By Akshay Anantharaman

Inspector Ajay Shukla is called to investigate the death of a seemingly ordinary person in an
apartment block. To him the case is mundane except for one fact – his senior officers seem to be
getting involved. Why? Ajay is puzzled, until on a return visit he is accused of murder, and finds
himself plunged headlong into a supernatural power struggle. In a world he didn’t know existed,
Ajay Shukla struggles for survival.

A detective story with a difference.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Notion Press
• Release date: Aug 6, 2012
• ISBN: 9788192455556

Akshay Anantharaman

Akshay Anantharaman was born in Hong Kong and lived there till the age of nine. Since then he has lived in Chennai, India. After a brief stint in IT, he threw in the towel to become a full-time author. This is his first book.

Book preview

The 25th King

By Akshay Anantharaman

Copyright 2012 Akshay Anantharaman

Published by Notion Press at Smashwords

This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. If you’re reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please return to Smashwords.com and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.

Chapter 1

Saturday, 3:00 am:

It was 3 am when the phone started to ring. Ajay called out to his wife to pick up the phone. His wife swore and told him to pick up the phone himself, as it would be for him only.

Ajay Shukla, Inspector of police, Shanthakumaran colony division, sighed as he forced himself out of bed. He wondered why people always chose to call on the landline and not on the cell phone, especially at night. On the tenth ring, Ajay finally picked up the phone.

‘Hello?’

‘Sir, I am Aditya speaking.’ Aditya was the sub-inspector of the Shanthakumaran colony police station. ‘Sorry to disturb you so late in the night, but there is a situation here.’

Ajay rubbed his eyes with the forefinger and thumb of his free hand.

‘What is the situation?’ asked Ajay.

‘Sir, there is a death sir. But we are not able to find out the cause of the death of the deceased,’ replied Aditya.

Ajay stifled a yawn. ‘Who is the deceased?’

‘The name of the deceased is one Vinay Sharma, residing in L.S. apartments,’ replied Aditya.

‘How old was he?’

‘He was twenty-five years old.’

‘What was he doing for a living?’

‘He was working for a small IT company.’

Ajay paused for a few moments. Aditya was a reliable man. He would not call Ajay unless it was something very important.

‘Okay, I’ll come. Tell me where the place is.’

The place was L.S. apartments in P.K. Kattur Lane. Aditya told him the landmark for the place. There would be a water tank nearby. It was not far from Ajay’s home. It was only a twenty minute drive from his place.

Ajay replaced the phone receiver and made to get ready. He observed himself in the mirror as he put on his uniform. Ajay was fair skinned, average looking and had a slight stubble. He was twenty-seven years old and had been married for two years. He had the look of a fit man going to seed. He had a slight, even if very slight belly, which could be hidden under his uniform. After he put on his uniform, Ajay looked himself straight in the eye and asked himself – am I doing the right thing? After this strange behaviour, he looked over at his wife and sighed. She seemed to be in a bad mood already and would remain that way for the rest of the day.

Ajay got into his car and made to go to L.S. apartments. He let down the window to get some fresh air. After twenty minutes, he arrived at P.K. Kattur Lane. The lane was very narrow so he parked his car at the entrance and switched off his ignition. He didn’t have to look far for L.S. apartments. Aditya was standing outside waiting for him.

Ajay caught up with Aditya and told him to fill him in about the death. Aditya obliged. Around midnight, one Raju Iyer who resided in the apartment building next to Vinay’s room, phoned the police station. For the past two days he had not seen Vinay leave his room. Today evening he tried knocking on Vinay’s room but got no response. He got worried and phoned the police.

Ajay looked at the apartment building. It was a typical middle class building, there was nothing spectacular about it. It had three floors and three rooms on each floor.

Ajay turned to Aditya.

‘What do you mean you couldn’t determine the cause of death?’

‘Sir, this is not an ordinary death. The body has not started decaying even though the person has been dead for two days. We can rule out murder as the person was in a room that was locked from the inside. The windows were also locked from the inside, so there is no way anyone could have gotten inside the room. The only available option is suicide, but that seems unlikely as there are no cut marks on the body and we combed the apartment for any sign of medication that might seem out of the ordinary, but we found nothing. We concluded it as a natural death, but there is the strange fact that the body has not decayed in two days.’

Saying so, Aditya beckoned Ajay to the apartment building. Vinay’s room was on the first floor. It was the second room, between two other rooms.

When Ajay got to the first floor, he was surprised to see a full forensics team examining the deceased’s room. There was also a doctor, two constables, and a short, balding, bespectacled man outside the room.

Ajay looked curiously at Aditya. Why were there so many people inspecting the death of an ordinary person at this time? Ajay also wanted to know what Aditya had been doing so late at the station.

Aditya answered the second question. ‘Sir, I had some paperwork to complete.’

Ajay was not convinced by this reply. Also, Aditya was avoiding answering the first question as to why so many people were inspecting an ordinary man’s death, that too at this odd hour.

Ajay confronted the balding, bespectacled man. ‘You are Raju Iyer?’ The man answered in the affirmative.

‘When did you become suspicious that something was wrong with the deceased?’ Ajay was unable to say the dead person’s name spontaneously.

Raju spoke up. ‘Sir, Vinay was always a peculiar person. So I usually leave him alone. Only this evening, that is, last evening I wanted to ask him for something. I knocked on his door. He did not respond. When I tried to open it, I realized that it was locked and so I did not want to disturb him. But there was something strange. I had not seen him for two days and there was emptiness about the room. So I called the police.’

‘Why did you call the police only at midnight? You said you had become suspicious during the evening itself. What took you so long to inform us?’ asked Ajay.

Raju hesitated and looked very uneasy. ‘Sir, I just mind my own business and do not want to interfere in other people’s work. I thought Vinay may be sick or something. I did not want to unnecessarily bring the police into the picture. That’s why I hesitated.’

Ajay accepted the answer without question. Usually people thought twice before calling the police no matter how serious the problem is. It was a pity that people were so hesitant to call the police. Of course there was so much paperwork and politics involved that people usually avoided calling the police rather than get involved with all the red tape. So Ajay had to agree with the public that bringing the police into any matter was an unnecessary hassle for them.

Ajay now spoke to the doctor, Dr Shivaram Sundaram. ‘Have you inspected the body? Is it true that the deceased has been dead for two days and the body has not started decaying?’

The doctor spoke. ‘It is remarkable that the body has not yet started to decay. The decaying process should start within a few hours of the death. And this person has been dead for two days. So I don’t know what to make of it …’

‘I guess when you perform a full autopsy you should be able to get more answers?’ Ajay looked questioningly at the doctor.

‘Yes. Definitely. A full autopsy is in order.’

Ajay now turned to the forensics team. ‘Well, did you find anything?’

One of the forensics experts shook his head. ‘We couldn’t find anything. No sharp objects, no unusual drugs, not even a paracetamol. That in itself is very strange.’

Ajay agreed. No sharp objects, not even a shaving blade, and the absence of any common everyday drugs in the deceased’s room was indeed most peculiar. Anyway, there was the possibility that the deceased may have gone to the barber to get his shaving done. Also, there must have been a medical shop close by where Vinay could have gotten what he wanted.

Ajay posed the final question to Raju. ‘Is there any medical shop close by?’

‘Sir, no sir, not close by.’

This answer stumped Ajay. He decided to inspect the room and the body. Ajay entered into Vinay’s room.

It was a small room. There was a bed, a bookshelf, a writing desk and a chair all cramped into the room. Vinay’s body was lying in the centre. The body was ramrod stiff and the hands lay firmly at the sides. Ajay guessed that the forensics team and the doctor had laid his body like that.

Ajay observed the body without disturbing it. After being dead for so long, some form of decay should have taken place. Yet this body seemed fresh. If he had not been told that this person was dead, Ajay may have mistaken the man to be sleeping. He chose not to disturb the body.

Ajay now scanned the room. There were many papers scattered on the desk, he stepped over the body and strode to it. He glanced at the papers. There were many confusing calculations done on several sheets. These consisted of many square diagrams with words written within the squares. Ajay had seen these before. These were horoscopes.

‘Hey Aditya, you said this guy worked in IT. But he seems to have dabbled in astrology as well. Was he any good at predicting other people’s futures?’

Aditya came into the room. ‘We were also confused when we saw these calculations. We actually found the body slumped in the chair near the table. As Raju told you, Vinay was a peculiar person. He must have had an interest in astrology.’

Something else struck Ajay as peculiar. There didn’t seem to be anybody else in the apartment building. Raju was the only resident who was present. Where were the others?

‘Sir, this is a peaceful community. Other tenants are sleeping. They don’t want to get caught in something unnecessary. They have to go to work. I also have to rest and get ready for work. Please excuse me sir,’ said Raju.

Ajay looked at his watch. It was 4:10. Ajay excused Raju but told him that he should present himself at the station if he was required.

Ajay took a closer look at the dead body. The man was quite handsome. He had some stubble and was dressed in white kurta and pyjamas. Otherwise there was nothing out of the ordinary, except for the fact that the body had not started to decay.

Ajay decided that he should wrap this up and send everyone home. He turned to Dr Shivaram Sundaram.

‘Okay. I think this may be a natural death. The fact that the body has not started decaying needs to be checked. It may be a freak incident. Doctor, please do the necessary procedures and get back to me.’

Dr. Shivaram nodded. ‘Yes sir. I’ll start work as soon as possible and get back to you.’

‘Thank you,’ said Ajay.

Ajay now beckoned to Aditya as he came out of the room. ‘You can send everyone home for now. Oh! And make sure the deceased’s body is sent to the morgue under Dr Shivaram Sundaram’s care. Otherwise I think that whatever was there to be investigated has been investigated.’

Aditya nodded and said that he would take care of everything.

As Ajay drove back home, many questions entered his head. Why had the body not started decaying? Raju had said that Vinay was peculiar. Peculiar in what sense? What was Aditya doing at the police station so late in the night? And why were there so many people present for the death of a common man? That too so late at night? And why was the apartment so empty? As though nobody resided in it?

Ajay tried to push these questions to the back of his mind. His wife was angry and he would have to face her for now.

Chapter 2

Saturday, 8:25 am:

‘But you’re not making any sense!’ Ajay shouted at his wife exasperated.

Ajay’s wife, Janani, was sulking and had her back towards him. ‘You’re always saying you have work to do. Can’t you even spend some time to go shopping with your wife?’

‘As a police officer I don’t know when I’ll get work and when I’ll not get work. I clearly warned you about all this before we got married.’

Janani quickly retaliated. ‘It’s Saturday! Don’t lie to me that you have work on a Saturday!’

Ajay sighed wondering how he was going to convince his wife that he had work to do. It was just some routine paperwork, but it had to be done. To be honest, Ajay was actually avoiding going shopping with his wife. She took hours and hours to select an item which really irritated him. Ajay looked at his wife. She was quite beautiful. Not a ravishing beauty, but pretty enough. Her hair appeared golden brown in the sunlight; she had soft brown eyes and an oval face. She had light brown skin.

Theirs was a love marriage. Well, not exactly a love marriage, they had gotten into the marriage quite hastily according to many. Even though they were set up in the first place, their relatives had not expected them to click so fast. They had known each other for all of three weeks and had decided to tie the knot.

They had met at a common relative’s wedding. Ajay had had no interest in attending the wedding. He didn’t even know the married couple very well. Still, people close to him insisted that he attend the wedding and so he finally went, even if somewhat reluctantly.

Once he entered the marriage hall, he instantly realized that he was being set up. That was the first time he met Janani. At that time he was twenty-five and she was twenty-three years old. The conversation was awkward and embarrassing at first. Finally, Janani asked him the question that changed his life – why did you choose to become a cop?

Almost everyone he met asked him more or less the same question. But something about the way Janani posed the question startled Ajay. It was as though she knew that deep inside, Ajay asked himself the same question every day. Ajay’s father, Balaram Shukla, had also been a policeman. He had been well respected within his circles. He was never known to accept a bribe nor did he have any known bad habits.

Balaram Shukla was a typical tough, straightforward cop. This being the case, he was tough on his only son, Ajay. Yet, Ajay had witnessed his father accepting a bribe which had shattered his image of his father. But something had happened that had motivated Ajay to become a police officer. It was very complicated. The very fact that his father had accepted a bribe had pushed Ajay into becoming a cop. This dilemma had caused Ajay, everyday for the past ten years, –ever since he decided to become a cop – to look himself in the mirror and ask himself – am I doing the right thing?

Choose. That was the magic word. Because don’t we all have a choice in our life? At crossroads, don’t we all have the ability to choose what we really want to do with our lives. One simple split second decision can turn your life around. Ajay had chosen the path of the khaki uniform. It was not as though he was a great cop. Important tasks were hardly assigned to him. He was stuck with routine domestic cases. Even these were horrid in themselves. In the beginning, Ajay had been shocked at the kind of cases he was faced with. But over time, he had developed a thick skin towards such cases. It wasn’t as though he was a bad cop either. In the beginning he had been quite enthusiastic. But in this field, eagerness and enthusiasm, especially of youngsters, is nipped in the bud early on.

Janani phoned Ajay two days after they had met at the marriage. Ajay wondered how Janani had gotten his phone number but agreed to have dinner with her that night. That night, Janani opened her heart to Ajay. She said she worked in a multinational company. The job paid well and the security was good but she longed for excitement. She said she was usually scared of the police which was why she felt a little uncomfortable talking to him in the beginning. But now that she had warmed up to him, she felt more comfortable. Ajay tried to warn her that his job was not exciting and she should not expect anything much from him. His salary was not great either. He tried to put her off but she said she didn’t mind. In fact, she seemed to be more interested in him the more he tried to put her off. Two weeks later, they decided to get married. Ajay only agreed to the marriage because he thought that Janani would be an adjusting wife. He did not feel too strongly about her at the time.

And so they got married only three weeks after knowing each other. Their marriage immediately got off to a rocky start. Just before their honeymoon, the deputy superintendent of police, Kumar Palanisamy, had some work for Ajay. Since it was a direct order from a superior, Ajay had to cancel their honeymoon. They were never able to make up for that honeymoon even after two years. Even Ajay’s promotion shortly after this incident did not help matters.

Now, once again, they were fighting over some petty issue like shopping.

Ajay was thinking how he could pacify his wife when the doorbell rang. Ajay gave a final glance at her before dragging himself to the door.

He opened the door