The culprit's face was hard to make out in the dim light. I told him to turn on the switch, and when the light spread around us, I saw a tall, fair-skinned boy, two or three inches taller than me. He wore glasses with an ancient-looking frame, much like the small rectangular frames my father used. He had a device next to him that looked like a mobile phone but with a joystick-like feature. I realized how he had created the three-dimensional ghost. Seeing him, I was more angry than pleased. However, I had to keep my cool. "Because of your pointless antics, I've wasted two days."
The criminal seemed remorseful for his actions. "I'm sincerely sorry. I had a personal reason for doing this."
He apologized again, but there was no time to hear his reasons. "No need. I forgive you. Just don't do this again." Turning to Rima and CR, I said, "Let's go home."
The criminal looked disappointed after hearing the mention of going home. "Please, listen for a moment."
It seemed he wanted to say more. I quickly said, "I told you, I don't have time to listen."
But CR interjected, "Let's hear him out. We can leave by ten."
CR's face showed sympathy for the culprit. What a hassle! Controlling my irritation, I said, "Okay, fine. Let's go outside. The library building will close soon."
Everyone agreed, and the criminal thanked me.
Outside the university, there was a wooden bench. The spot wasn't bad, and today's weather was pleasant. A cool breeze was blowing amidst the heat, and the sky was overcast, suggesting a possibility of rain. The environment felt great, except for one issue: mosquitoes. I have O-positive blood, which attracts mosquitoes more. So, I bought a coil from a nearby shop and lit it.
As soon as I sat down, CR said, "Alright, now tell us. Why did you do this?"
The culprit began, "Seven days ago—"
"Wait a minute," Rima interrupted, tapping his arm with her left hand. "A proper introduction would be good first."
"My name is Hasan. I'm in the first year of the Pharmacy Department."
Rima said, "We're in the first year too."
Hasan seemed pleased to hear that we were batch mates. "Then we're batch mates."
I was getting impatient. "Just tell the story. The introductions can wait."
"Okay, Seven days ago, my grandfather passed away. He was a biochemist. He died in his laboratory on the fifth floor. The room was locked from the inside. When the police arrived and searched the room, they concluded that he had committed suicide."
Hasan sighed deeply, and I could sense his deep sadness. We all remained silent for a while. It was truly a tragic incident, but one thing didn't make sense to me. "What does your grandfather's suicide have to do with the ghost you created?" I asked.
"No, there's no connection. I'm truly sorry for my actions. I did it to catch the real culprit."
I asked, "Are you suggesting that your grandfather was murdered? Who do you think the culprit is?"
Hasan nodded silently. "I don't believe my grandfather would commit suicide. He had no reason to."
Rima asked, "Why do you think he didn't commit suicide? Explain clearly."
Hasan's face turned somber. "For seven or eight years, my grandfather had been researching a virus and its cure. He recently completed his research successfully. All his data was stored on his laptop. After his death, the laptop went missing. I believe someone killed him to steal his research and publish it under their name. My grandfather always used passwords for everything, so the thief hasn't been able to crack it yet."
Hasan paused, his eyes brimming with tears. He wiped them away with his shirt. CR tried to comfort him. "How tragic! Killing an old man for a bit of fame. It's heartless. But crying won't bring him back. You need to be strong."
I always carry tissues in my bag. I handed one to Hasan, and he thanked me. Rima asked curiously, "How do you know the thief hasn't cracked the password yet?"
Hasan seemed surprised by the question. I answered, "It's simple. The research hasn't been published yet. Otherwise, you would have heard about it and seen posts on Facebook praising our scientist."
I was speaking correctly, but Rima looked irritated. If I said more, she might lash out at me. So, I turned to Hasan and asked, "So, Hasan, what do you want from us?"
Hasan pleaded, "I need your help to find my grandfather's laptop and catch the culprit."
I understood his situation. The police had given up, so he turned to us. But it seemed impossible. "You should go to the CID for this."
Hasan sighed deeply. "My uncle is an SP. Going to the CID would insult him. You're my last hope."
To the police, the case was like the fox declaring the grapes sour because it couldn't reach them. Just as the fox gave up on the grapes, the police declared it a suicide to hide their failure. CR and Rima seemed interested in the matter. If we got involved, I'd lose another day. Seeing no other way, I asked, "Why us? You could find someone better."
"You figured out the ghost case without knowing I was behind it."
I realized Hasan hoped to use my skills to find the culprit. His effort wasn't wrong, but I doubted we, mere university students without experience, could succeed. Though there was a slim chance, I admitted, "Sakib is very skilled. Everything he predicted happened. He could become a great detective if he wanted, but he's always busy. He spends so much time with his girlfriend that he can't even make time for assignments."
I glared at Rima. She was trying to flatter me, but it was pointless. I ignored such things. However, she lied about me having a girlfriend. I stayed silent, so CR said, "Sakib, let's help him. Otherwise, he won't be able to fulfill his grandfather's last wish."
Taking responsibility seemed the right thing to do. At least it would help the country. "Where is your grandfather's lab?" I asked. Everyone looked pleased to hear this.
"It's near Chankharpul."
I closed my eyes and said, "Okay, we'll check it out. But I can't promise we'll succeed. We'll meet tomorrow afternoon in front of New Market. From there, we'll go to your grandfather's lab."
Everyone agreed. Seeing hope in Hasan's eyes, I knew we had made the right decision. But it was nearly midnight by the time I got home.
As soon as I entered the house, Naeem started teasing me. "Brother, what's your girlfriend's name?"
"Why are you suddenly asking about a girlfriend? I don't have any."
"No, brother. You're late again today. I thought you were spending time with your girlfriend."
"I told you, I'm a VIP. I have to attend various meetings now. Let me eat. I have work again tomorrow."
I thought Shariful Sir might forget about the matter, but he didn't. Today, he caught me properly, and as punishment, I had to submit two assignments by Sunday. CR offered to help by doing part of the assignment for me, but letting others do my work hurts my pride. So, like a great hero, I declined CR's help. Anyway, after eating, I sat down to write. I'll write twenty-five pages before sleeping tonight. Tomorrow is Friday, and I can sleep in the morning. Once again, I couldn't watch any episodes. What a drag!
It's almost four o'clock now. I'm standing on the bridge in front of New Market. The place is bustling. People are coming and going non-stop. Four or five vendors are doing good business. One person is standing with many earphones in hand. Two people are inspecting the earphones thoroughly. Next to this vendor, a boy around my age has set up a glasses stall. A passerby is trying on blue glasses with white frames like Harry Potter's and checking himself in the mirror. The vendor suggested another pair, "Sir, take this one. It'll suit you perfectly."
What strange glasses! Beside him, two others are selling clothes. I wouldn't have known this over bridge was their place of business if I hadn't come here. The good thing about this over the bridge is that it's sheltering me from the rain. It's been drizzling for almost two hours with no sign of stopping. There's a wide road ahead, with countless buses, micros, CNGs, and rickshaws. It's tough to walk because of the crowd. Both sides of the road are occupied by street vendors. Calling it the roadside would be wrong; the vendors have taken over ninety percent of the footpath. People are using the road for walking. Most people are also buying items from them, making it better not to use the footpath at all. It's a densely populated area.
Soon, CR arrived with a white umbrella. Today, she's wearing a light yellow dress, which looks nice on her. She looked both happy and tired. I greeted her with a smile, "Good afternoon, CR. How are you?"
She seemed a bit taken aback. "CR! My nickname isn't CR. Don't call me that here."
"Sorry, you never introduced yourself to me. So, I didn't know your name."
"Why didn't you ask?"
"The name CR was quite unique."
She got angry. "Wait, come to campus the day after tomorrow. I'll have the seniors rag you. I am the CR and you don't know my name."
Oh no, seniors again. I said nervously, "There are over sixty students in the class. It's tough to remember everyone's name."
"Huh!" She said, annoyed.
"Okay, I'm asking now. What's your name?"
"You're asking now? Alright, be ready to be ragged in the next class."
Ugh! Give me a break! Such a fuss over a name. Why did I even ask? Suddenly, she said sternly, "My name is Meem. Remember it. If you forget, there will be consequences."
Finally, I sighed in relief. "Okay."
When Meem got a call, she informed them of her location. Shortly after, Hasan, wearing a denim shirt, and Rima, in a sky-blue dress, arrived together. I felt curious about why Hasan was wearing a denim shirt in this heat. He had a small bag slung over his shoulder. One of my school teachers used to call it a parachute. Resisting the urge to ask, I inquired, "Where did you say the lab is?"
"It's close by."
"Okay, let's go."
We followed Hasan and boarded the 'Thikana' bus heading towards his grandfather's lab. We all sat at the back of the bus. Meem and I took the window seats, with Hasan sitting next to me, and Rima next to him. We were stuck in traffic, which I guessed would take two or three minutes to clear. Suddenly, Meem asked, "Tell us something about your grandfather."
"My grandfather's name is Abdul Khalek. He is a biochemist. He recently completed research on a new medicine. I'm not sure what disease it's for, but from what I've heard, if the trials are successful, people will be able to buy it at a low cost with minimal side effects. He's been working on this for seven or eight years."
How interesting! I asked, "Do you have any photos of the crime scene?"
"Yes, I brought some with me." Hasan took an envelope from his bag and handed it to me, saying, "Here you go."
I started examining the four photos. Each photo had a number written on it, and they clearly showed his grandfather lying on the floor with a knife in his chest. All the photos were taken from a distance. From photo number five, it was evident that the knife's position and angle supported Hasan's claim. Normally, if someone commits suicide, they would stab themselves in the stomach or cut their wrist arteries. But no one would deliberately stab themselves in the heart. Even if we assume it was suicide, the knife's angle would typically be finer. Here, it was slightly over ninety degrees, indicating that he was murdered. I asked Hasan, "What did the post-mortem report say? Time of death or any marks?"
Hasan thought for a moment. "When we called them, they came about forty minutes later and said the death occurred exactly one hour prior. So according to their report, we informed them twenty minutes after the death."
"Who went to the scene first?"
"Seven of my grandfather's assistants went to the room after hearing his scream. Then they informed us. They told us the door was locked from the inside, so they had to break it open."
So many assistants! Two at most would have been enough. Now the case has become complicated by the number of people involved. Rima suddenly said, "There's a window in the photo. The culprit could have escaped through the window."
Hasan immediately replied, "Impossible. Jumping from the fifth-floor window would be suicidal."
Meem called me over. She handed me a photo and said, "Look, Sakib, none of the lab's glass is broken. Everything looks perfectly intact. If it was a murder, there would be signs of a struggle. The lab would be somewhat messed."
That's true. What really happened? Hasan immediately said, "Yes, that's the second reason the police declared it a suicide."
I pondered and said, "Let's go and see what's going on. The situation seems mysterious."
Everyone agreed, "Okay."
We got off in front of a street. Surrounding the street were tall buildings and shopping malls. There were alleys beside two of the buildings. We entered one of the alleys. It was so narrow that two microbuses couldn't pass side by side. Some people were smoking and chatting together. Except for a couple of people, everyone there was male. They glanced at Meem and Rima in a way I didn't like, so I walked ahead of Meem. At the end of the alley was a multi-storied building. There were no other buildings nearby except for another one some distance away. There was no elevator in the building, so we climbed to the fifth floor. Climbing to the fifth floor on a rainy day was very annoying. Even though Hasan's grandfather was an old man, he still had his lab on the fifth floor. What a grandpa!
We entered the lab on the fifth floor. Usually, these crime scenes are not easily accessible, but we got permission because of Hasan's uncle. This flat was very different from the other typical apartment buildings. After entering through the main door, there were two paths. One to the left leads directly to a small sitting room with a table, chairs, and sofas arranged in two sets of three seats each. There was also an air conditioner, some notebooks, and pens. The table held the project's computer, making it look like an office. The room to the right was the lab, a large room with many tables and various electrical devices like autoclaves, DNA sequencers, refrigerators, scales, and clot-emerging machines. The room had a closed window, and outside was an open field, making it impossible for the murderer to escape through the fifth-floor window. In the north corner of the room was a door leading to another room, and next to it was a bathroom. There were four sinks, one in each corner, with a good water supply.
"Okay, you three search the room thoroughly. Let me know if you find anything," I instructed.
"Okay, we are on it," everyone replied and began searching.