K.A.R.M.A. (The Unchristened)

A huge mob of cops encircling around the Pristine Palace was indeed a surprising panorama. To everyone's notion, it was supposed to be a special occasion marking the 100th birth anniversary of Mr. Moseley Hammington, the richest entrepreneur of the town Lavenham, but for the V-Justice, it was more about a threat case that was imposed upon Mr. Hammington, the previous night. The letter so stated, “Mr. M, on marking the special occasion of 21st of November 2022, as soon as the clock struck 12 a.m. you shall meet with the most unusual death inside the Pristine Palace. Mark my words… Hearty wishes for your last birth anniversary. With lots of love, K.A.R.M.A.”

The entire palace was decorated with the most beautiful jewels and adorning ornaments. There were lights specially ordered and placed over every nook and corner, which brought brightness all over the place, but for Mr. Hammington, it was darkness and fear filled throughout. His eyes were petrified, and constantly staring at the wall clock. He was perspiring at 7°C, in the cold and freezing wintertide. While there was a glee of joy and celebration reverberating all around, the entrepreneur could possibly hear only one sound 'Tick-Tock, tick-tock….’ All the cops were alarmed of the situation, so were the V-Justice. When everyone was busy enjoying the party, the V-Justice was busy finding out clues for the assassination that was about to take place. Yes, I sounded correct! The V-Justice is an investigating organization with members of five namely Martin Montero the healer, Caahil Rodriguez the armoury genius, Kritika Singh the tech expert, Maya Gonzalez the computer geek and Antonio Ardolf the detective, popularly known as the Sherlock Holmes and also the one to lead the team. They worked in private for the people over a long period of time. There is no such case that remained unsolved by the V-Justice. More often this organization deals with the past events that took place in order to reach the truth. However, this case was a bit different from the rest, because this time they had to deal with the present, the butchery that was eventually going to take place and above all prevent it from happening.

“Any leads ?” “No captain, not yet. We have already done with three and there are three more to go,” exclaimed Caahil. “ Now the problem arises as there is, to be accurate…4 mins and 45 secs left for us. And there it goes 4 mins and 44 secs,” continued Maya with an agonized tone.

Basically, there are six massive rooms built inside the Pristine Palace and each room is built on a seperate floor respectively.

The layout of the Pristine Palace is as follows - the first floor comprises of the Kitchen, the second floor takes you to the Lounge, the third floor to the Library, the forth floor to the Ball room, the fifth floor however was built for the special guests, it was always sealed for some reason. Nobody knows what secrets are hidden inside the room. And the last floor was built as a strongroom, specially constructed that comprised the most valuable jewels and monetary vaults. Therefore, it was always provided with atmost protection.

“We have already scrutinized the Lounge, the Library and the Kitchen and it is indeed not a surprise to find no fingerprints of the one who wrote this letter, neither any clues nor any hair samples,” expressed Kritika with a confident and empirical voice. “I suppose, we should continue our search and look for more clues before it is too late,” a subtle tone came to be heard out of nowhere. It was Darwin Brown, the newly appointed senior most officer of the Department of Crime Investigating Organization. He was given the job of having an eye over the V-Justice and keep the government updated from time to time. Although the members were not so satisfied with his presence and absurd behaviour, but they had to co-operate with the government to further continue with the investigation.

“We do not have time for that. All we can do is split into two teams. Kritika, Caahil accompanied by Mr.Brown, continue with your search in the rest of the rooms, while Maya, Martin and myself shall head towards Mr. Hammington and make sure that he is safe and secured. Listen everyone, we have got no time to waste as there is precisely, only 1 min and 23 secs left for the clock to strike 12. This is our only option left and if you find any leads, keep me updated as soon as possible. We have to save Mr. Hammington, whatever it takes…” Knowing that they had hardly any minute left, everyone got back to work. Antonio Ardolf rushed with his team towards Mr. Moseley Hammington leaving behind an eye of suspicion towards Mr. Brown.

Time was running in an instantaneous rate and there was only half a minute left for the assassination to take place. Everyone was in their respective positions, the guests enjoying the party, Kritika, Caahil and Mr.Brown busy finding hints and Martin, Maya and Antonio rushing towards Mr. Hammington.

“Where is Mr. Hammington?” cried Antonio in an astonishing voice. “Sir he had an emergency and was immediately sent to the restroom upstairs,” replied one of the homemakers in a quavering tone. “What did he have in the course of time ? I already mentioned not to let Mr. Hammington intake anything, without my consent.” “Yes sir, we did understand your command and truly respect it. But sir, I am afraid to say that it was you who offered Mr. Hammington the Royal Fish Pie, about 5 mins ago.”

Antonio started to understand everything from the root. He immediately called upon all the members of V-Justice towards the restroom and without making any further delay, rushed towards the spot hastily and panic-stricken. There were only few seconds left. Antonio slamed at the door and with a dreadful expression, he shouted, “Mr. Hammington, please open the door. Mr. Hammington open the door….” Unfortunately, there was no reply. Antonio started hitting the door as hard as possible, and finally managed to break through it. But what he and the others saw was simply astonishing and stupefying.

The clock struck exact 12 a.m. and the entire Pristine Palace could hear the sound of the wall clock, 'Tick-Tock, tick-tock…’

It was Mr. Moseley Hammington's 100th birth anniversary. Happy Birthday Mr. Hammington! Wait, but is he still alive ? Or did the anonymous who wrote the letter, actually murdered him just as mentioned? When the entire atmosphere was rejoicing over the special occasion, all of a sudden they heard something falling from a great height. Everyone rushed towards the veranda to see what happened. To everyone's surprise, it was a body, probably a dead one and what surprised them more was Mr. Brown. Yes, I sounded correct once again. It was Brown's body which fell from the rest room's windowpane. So does that mean Mr. Moseley Hammington is still alive? This particular question was wandering around everyone's mind including Antonio. How's that even possible? This question could only be answered by one person, Mr. Hammington himself. “ Mr. Brown tried to kill me. He tried to stab me with the dagger. When he stepped forward to do so, I had no other choice but to push him, to defend myself and the rest is in front of you,” crying out of fear and shock, Mr. Hammington started explaining from the very root. Everyone was overjoyed especially the members of the V-Justice to see Mr. Hammington safe and secured. “Finally the case is solved and the murderer is dead. Let's celebrate this victory,” cheering out loud, everybody got busy with the party. But on the other hand, Antonio was not yet satisfied with the result. He felt that there was something fishy going around. He stepped down towards the dead body and started examining it crucially. A sign of ‘M' was imposed on Mr. Brown's chest with hot molded ink. Antonio started to recall the previous death records that took place in an unusual way. He found something similar in each case.

First and foremost, all the previous deaths took place at the time of the birth anniversary of the respective victims. And each victim was imposed with their initial on their chest with hot molded ink. To begin with on 13th of August, 2022 Mr. Kinsley Taylor was brutally killed at his guesthouse, inspite of the severe security. Secondly, on 25th of September 2022, Mrs. Andrea Walker was shot dead with her initial and with the same hot molded ink. The next comes Mr. Ryan Adams, on 3rd of October 2022, burnt to death with his initial with the same ink and now it is Mr. Moseley Hammington. If it was not Mr. Hammington, then why would the letter ‘M' be imposed on Mr. Brown's body?

After having a keen look over the body, Antonio found out that the man was masked. He immediately unmasked the face and was stunned to see that it was none other than Mr. Hammington. When he called out for Mr. Hammington, he was informed that he already left for his guesthouse. Antonio was in total distress and trauma. He stated, “V-Justice, we failed to save Mr. Hammington. We failed in our mission. Mr. Moseley Hammington is dead. He was masked and assassinated by the murderer who named itself as Mr. Darwin Brown. I also understood that K.A.R.M.A. is not the name of the executioner either, infact they are the initials of the ones executed before.” “Then we should immediately find it before it marks it’s next bait,” exclaimed Kritika. “We need not find the assassin. It will reach out for us by it's own. If my calculations are correct, then it's next bait is none other than…me and I am ready for it. Whatever it takes.” The entire crowd was left in a sense of shock and curiosity.