After the
very sentimental inquiry, Detective was emotionally exhausted. He decided to
visit the “beautiful yet creepy” house as Miss Taylor called it. Next day arrived. It was noon; sun was standing right above their heads.
Detective, along with his assistant, went into the house Dr. Fudge and Mr.
Sherman were thinking of buying. The
house was situated in the most isolated part of the city. It was a typical
house. It was picturesque yet it felt a little unusual. It had a large backyard
and it seemed to be full of beautiful flowers when it was well maintained. It
was covered with thick mosses and surrounded by a variety of wild trees. The
surroundings were as silent as a forgotten melody. Seeing
the house, Detective thought to himself ‘It is such a beautiful house, why
would anyone abandon it?’ Soon his question was answered. On the old dusty door
hung a name plate trapped in the spider webs and it read- The Shermans’.
And that was a major twist in the pursuit. Detective
tried opening the door but it was jammed. He decided to be patient with it and tried
again. In the next attempt the door creaked opened. The house seemed dusty and
old from the outside but on the inside, it was as clean as a new pin. Detective
knew at once that someone had been there before them. He then started searching for any evidence
about the whereabouts of the missing men. He first walked around the room. He
observed a series of faint footsteps. He followed them and reached into a room
which appeared to be a child’s room. He saw some photo frames by the window.
Everything was ragged and messy except these photos. When Detective took the
pictures for a closer look, he observed something written on it. It read- ‘My
darling baby, Susan, on her first birthday’. The picture was of a woman holding
a chubby baby. At once the case was
clear as crystal to Detective. He instructed his assistant to arrange an
interrogation with Susan Parker.
Susan was
sitting in the room waiting for Detective, unaware that he was actually
observing her. She was fidgeting again. She stood up and started pacing across
the room. Soon Detective entered and she sat down.
“Why are you so nervous?” asked Detective. “Huh… oh…umm…..I’m not!” exclaimed Susan. “Okay then. Do you remember the house you lived in with your mother?” implored Detective. “Yes…….” said Susan hesitatingly. “Is there something you want to say?” She sighed. She was staring at her intertwined fingers. Then suddenly
she looked up and began, “It was two months ago, I was talking to Daisy. She
told me that Dr. Fudge and my dad were friends before I was even born. He loved
my mom a lot. Soon they got married and bought the house you must have visited.
When she got pregnant no one knew. When she was about to tell him, he met with
an accident and lost his memory. She decided to stand by his side but pregnancy
was hard enough to handle. Her sister suggested her to call uncle Fudge as he
was the only one he could identify and invited her to live with them till I was
born.” She took a long deep
breath and continued, “After I was born my mom raised me alone for 5 years
until he showed up on my birthday. He had revived his memory and knew that I
was his daughter.” She looked up again and giving an apologetic shrug said, “I
lied to you. She didn’t go missing that day. A month later, my mom went grocery
shopping when similar accident took place and she lost her consciousness. She
was in a com a for years. The cops thought of it as a simple accident but my dad
knew that it was a planned attempt to murder. He told me that he was going to
search for the person who was causing trouble to my family.” She stopped and fainted out of nowhere. Soon
she was taken to the emergency. Detective now heard everything that he had interpreted.
