I stood on the balcony in front of room 203 on the second floor of the two-story building. The hallway was empty, with everyone attending the faculty meeting. The soothing southern breeze provided some relief from the heat. There were no seating arrangements, so the CR and I stood side by side, with our client in front of us. It felt like she was my client. "Who knew you brought the money?"
The girl in the teal burqa, her brown bag slung over her shoulder, started rummaging through it. Her blue-framed glasses suggested a high prescription. She was about seven or eight inches shorter than me, with a childlike face. She had exited the room with her bag and now pulled out a new phone to show us. "I bought this phone yesterday. It cost—"
I raised my hand to stop her, "One moment, I forgot to tell you something." Her response had already begun to irritate me, but I maintained a poker face.
Curiously, she asked, "What is it?"
"I want to find your money quickly, so I'll ask brief questions. Please give short answers without going into detail." Explaining this to a girl wasn't easy, but her willingness to cooperate was a relief.
"Okay, I'll try," she said, adjusting her glasses with her right hand.
"Very good," I replied. "So, who knew about the money?"
"Rima, Farhana, and Rubel," she answered.
"How much did the phone cost? And how much did you owe?"
"It was a twenty-five thousand taka phone that I got for seventeen thousand. I got an eight thousand taka discount because Shihab, our senior had only used it for nineteen days." She beamed with pride. "I paid ten thousand yesterday and brought some money to pay today, but..." Her face clouded over.
Her long-winded response irked me. We were all wasting time because of her, and she was giving lengthy answers to simple questions. People like her probably filch extra marks on exam papers with such verbosity. Keeping my annoyance in check, I asked, "How much money did you lose?"
Excitedly, she replied, "I earned four thousand taka from tutoring yesterday and that's what's been stolen today." Her excitement quickly turned to sorrow.
Her mood swings were more unpredictable than Muralitharan's spin. Trying to steer the conversation back, I asked, "Did anyone know the exact amount?"
"No, I didn't tell anyone the amount," she replied.
"Alright, you can go now."
She asked eagerly, "Did you find the money?"
Ha! Does money grow on trees that it can be found so easily? And this girl was becoming increasingly irritating. "No. I'll let you know if I do."
She left. I turned to the CR and said, "We'll now call those three one by one."
She placed her right index finger on her chin and moved it thoughtfully. "I don't understand. What did you do?"
"No problem. I'll explain later. Let's check the three people first."
She nodded in agreement and went to call someone.
The CR came back with a girl dressed in a purple outfit adorned with red mallika. Her fair complexion and timid demeanor made it hard to believe she could be involved in stealing the money. As soon as she approached, she asked, "Why was I called here? Do you think I took the money? I swear I didn't do it."
Her questions were natural, filled with curiosity and a hint of hurt. "Neither I nor the CR suspected you stole the money. We just want to ask you a few questions that might help us find it," I reassured her.
"What kind of questions?"
"First, what's your name?" I asked.
The CR looked at me incredulously. "You've been in the same class for four months and you don't know her name?"
Caught off guard by the CR's pointed question, I stammered, "Well, my memory isn't exactly sharp."
"Oh, alright then."
"My name is Rima," she replied.
I folded my arms across my diaphragm and asked, "So, Rima, what were you doing during the second period?"
"I was playing Ludo," she answered quickly.
Her confident answer made me think of two possibilities: either she was telling the truth, or she had prepared this answer in advance. "Ludo? Did you bring a Ludo board?"
Rima pulled out her mobile and showed me an app. "I was playing Ludo Star online," she said excitedly.
Why was she so enthusiastic? I sighed, realizing I was dealing with quite a character. "Did you play before Nila went to the washroom, or after she returned?"
"We played online before she left. After she came back, four of us played together," she replied, more calmly this time.
"Alright, you can go back to the classroom." She left, and I turned to the CR. "What do you think?"
"She doesn't have an alibi, so she's suspicious," the CR mused.
"You're right. Let's question the others," I agreed.
"Okay," the CR responded.
Next came a boy dressed in jeans and a yellow T-shirt with "OK" written on it. His Mohawk and bulky frame made him look like a troublemaker. "Your name is Rubel?" I asked.
"Don't you know me?" His wide-eyed expression indicated mock surprise. I had no idea my classmates were such characters. The CR interjected, "His memory is weak."
Rubel seemed to accept this explanation. "Ah, yeah, my name is Rubel. Rubel Hossain."
"What were you doing during the second period break?"
"I was reading a science fiction novel, 'Beji'."
"Oh, I've read that too. Can you tell me what happens at the end?"
"I just started it during the break. I read ten pages before we played Ludo," he replied.
His tone seemed entirely normal, as if he knew nothing about the incident. I sent him back to the classroom and asked the CR, "What do you think?"
"Nothing stood out in his story," the CR remarked, touching her chin thoughtfully.
"Alright, bring in the next one," I instructed.
The CR brought in a girl who I understood to be Farhana. Her confident demeanor caught my interest. I asked her directly, "What were you doing during the break?"
"I was playing an online game, 'Gun Grave Impact'," she responded.
I couldn't contain my excitement. "Really? I didn't know you played that game. I play it too."
My enthusiastic response seemed to throw her off balance. Her face remained towards me, but her eyes seemed distant, like a fox pretending nothing was wrong even though its tail had been cut off. "Oh... you could join my team if you want," she said with a forced smile.
I saw through her facade. "Yeah, playing with familiar faces makes the game more fun. Moreover, I'm really good at it. Together, we could be unbeatable."
"Hey, weren't you supposed to find the money? What are you talking about?" CR said, annoyed.
"Relax, we'll get to that. Let me discuss a bit with my partner first," I said nonchalantly.
CR didn't seem to appreciate my response. She stood by, watching as Farhana activated her game on her phone. "Give me your ID. I'll send you an invitation," Farhana said, seemingly forgetting about the missing money in her excitement.
"Hmm... I was supposed to play at home, but oh well, what could I do? I have to wait because someone lost a bit of money. Otherwise, I'd be scoring some serious points by now," I said, trying to make light of the situation.
Farhana looked at me, her mouth agape. "What are you saying? Four thousand taka is a lot of money! She could do so much with that. If you have money, lend it to her."
"There's no need for that. I've found the money," I said with a sly smile.
"Are you saying Farhana took it?" CR asked, her eyes wide.
Farhana's face went pale. "What are you talking about? CR, do you have any proof of this?"
CR remained silent, glancing between Farhana and me, clearly intrigued by the unfolding drama. I cleared my throat and said, "Only you and I knew the exact amount of Nila's money. How did she know?"
CR rubbed her chin thoughtfully. "Hmm, good point."
CR then checked Farhana's purple bag. Besides some loose change, a notebook, a pen, and a few other trivial items, there was nothing of interest. Farhana snatched her bag back, saying, "See? You're accusing me for no reason. I didn't steal anything."
She started to head back to the classroom, but I stopped her. "Wait."
She turned to me, fear evident in her eyes. "Take off your shoes."
She began trembling, clearly at a loss for words. I urged, "Hurry up. I need to get home."
"Please, brother, don't tell anyone. My reputation will be ruined," she pleaded.
Reluctantly, Farhana took off her shoes and pulled out the money, trying to hand it to me. I motioned for her to give it to CR instead. Handing over the money, she continued, "Brother, I'll do anything you ask. Just please don't tell anyone. I promise I'll never do this again."
I yawned and then said, "Alright, I'll give you one chance. Now go back to class."
She expressed her gratitude and left. CR counted the money and found the amount was correct. I told her, "Give the money to Nila discreetly. There's no need for anyone else to know. Then announce in class that we'll continue the search tomorrow."
CR protested, "But everyone will laugh at you."
I smiled gently and said, "So what if they do?"
It felt like I had just dealt with a significant hassle. Entering the classroom, I grabbed my bag and started heading home. The current topic of conversation in the classroom reflected the present cultural trend: a focus on failure. Not just a discussion but also more of a criticism. However, I was not one to be swayed by such trivialities. These only waste my time and drain my energy. So, becoming the center of everyone's conversation, I grabbed my bag and exited through the front gate. As I descended the stairs, I glanced at my phone to check the time. Today, I had wasted almost an entire episode's worth of time.
"Sakib, wait! One minute, I'm coming."
I turned around to see CR, panting as she hurried towards me. She descended the stairs at a normal pace and said, "I returned the money."
"Oh, good."
Did CR really rush over just to tell me this? She could have waited until tomorrow. We continued descending together.
"Everyone in the classroom is making fun of you. You could have spoken up if you wanted to," CR said.
"It won't take long for the topic to change. It's not a big deal."
CR smiled. "Okay, but how did you manage to pinpoint the money from those three suspects?"
CR seemed very curious about the matter. We reached the bottom of the building and headed towards the main gate. Outside, the situation was quite unbearable. The intense sunlight reflected off the paved road, making it hard to keep my eyes open. It wasn't just the sunlight; the scorching heat of April added to the discomfort. Despite the midday heat, there were still quite a few people around. Just a bit further ahead, a large path lined with tall trees appeared on the right. We moved towards that road.
"It's quite simple. Girls usually don't like going somewhere alone. In this case, her friends knew about the mobile. So, I applied the 'close friend rule' here. I was sure that Nila would have gone with her friends to pay for the mobile. Plus, she went to the washroom for five minutes during the second period. Stealing and hiding the money in such a short time would only be possible by a close friend."
CR stopped in the middle of the road. I took a couple of steps ahead and turned to look at her. She seemed deep in thought. After a while, she snapped out of it and started walking again.
"Okay, I understand now. One more thing..." she began.
"Yes?"
"How did you figure out that Farhana had hidden the money in her shoe?"
"I actually caught her while she was coming for the enquire. But to get the truth out of her, I brought up the idea of playing games."
"How?"
"Her walking seemed unusual to me. Her method was correct—hiding the money in her shoe. However, because she had money under one foot, there was a slight imbalance in her walk. That gave it away."
"What? I didn't notice that."
CR looked at me in surprise. "That's why I said it was a minor detail. When she moved her right foot forward, she was cautious, just like when a pebble gets stuck in our shoe and we can't walk comfortably. She had the same problem."
CR thought for a moment and said, "Hmm, now it makes sense."
We reached the main gate and bought my favorite cold drink, Mojo, from a nearby shop before catching the bus home.