The Mystic's Miracle

by Noah Alexander

  "Does that house belong to Sally Gollup," she asked the shop-keeper.

  The elderly man, dressed only in a vest and a dirty trouser, eyed Maya carefully.

  "Yes," he said in a raspy voice.

  "And that man who just gave you some money, who is he?"

  "Now, lady," said the man displeased at being enquired by a stranger, "who the hell are you and why do you want to know about that man?"

  "I need to know sir," said Maya, "It is very important. That man is my husband and I suspect that he is cheating on me."

  "Your husband," said the man doubtfully, "he must be a century older than you."

  "He is," said Maya, "He married me when his first wife died."

  The shopkeeper was still not fully convinced, but he agreed to help Maya anyway.

  "That man calls himself William Gollup," said he, "And I am sorry to tell you that your suspicion is completely true. Sally Gollup is his wife. She also has a small kid with him."

  Maya pretended to be devastated by the shopkeeper's statements, who offered her a free candy to calm her down.

  "These are bad times," he told her as Maya chewed on the candy, "you cannot trust anyone."

  Maya nodded and took her leave. Since she now knew what she had wanted to, she turned back towards the ashram but was halted in her steps by Bill, who had suddenly emerged out of the house. He was followed by a middle-aged woman who Maya assumed to be Sally.

  She was screaming in rage.

  "Don't bring your dirty face here if you cannot afford to feed your family."

  “Who paid for your grocery bill,” shot back Bill walking towards the road.

  Maya hid in the shadows expecting Bill to return to the circus, but instead, he started walking in the opposite direction. Maya trailed him once more. This time their journey lasted a quarter of an hour and came to a stop in front of a building which was quite clearly a brothel. But Bill did not enter the building. Instead, he went into a small house beside it. The letterbox told Maya that it belonged to William and Joanna Reina. Maya waited for Bill to come out of the house, but he didn't for a long time. So Maya took up her seat on a bench nearby. She could have walked back to the ashram but she had a sudden idea and she needed Bill out of the house for that.

  But he didn't come out of the house all night. At least not till Maya had closed her eyes to rest, and had fallen asleep on the bench.

  She now examined Joanna Reina's house, trying to gauge if Bill was still inside. She didn't have to wait long, for there was soon a movement inside the house and the main door opened. Bill peeked into the deserted street. After looking on both sides he slipped out of the door and swiftly made his way towards the circus.

  Maya opened her purse and took out two slips of paper, on which she penned a similar note.

  Your husband is marrying someone else secretly tomorrow at noon. Come to the East Ground if you want to save your marriage.

  Your well-wisher

  She then tiptoed to the house, kept the note near the door, and knocked before rushing away. She did not wait to see Joanna pick up the note.

  Maya did the same with Sally, then gleefully made her way back to the circus. She couldn't help but grin at how Bill would react to the surprise that she had arranged for him.

  THIRTY-ONE

  The Cold Rope

  The chemist’s sudden betrayal really hurt Ernst. He felt that he had built a strong rapport with him (agreed that he was drunk to the eyes) and the way he ordered him away, as if sentencing him to the guillotine really impacted Ernst and hampered his ability to think clearly.

  Manu, though, gleefully accepted his master's command and quickly ordered his men to carry Ernst out, lest the chemist changed his mind.

  The men lifted Ernst up like a sack, one holding his feet, while the other his hands, and lugged him to the door. But they were halted in their tracks by a guard who was clambering down the stairs in such panic as if his house was on fire.

  “Sir,” he said to Manu, panting and visibly distressed, “There has been a break-in. More than 20 goons have entered the ashram and are wreaking havoc. They say they want to see the Guru. We need you to come up quickly.”

  Manu was torn for a few moments between personal vendetta and professional duty. He looked from Ernst, hanging a few inches from the ground, to the man who had informed him about the break-in. He decided, finally, to heed the call of duty, at least temporarily.

  “You,” he pointed at the men holding Ernst, “stay here with this man and keep the door closed. I would deal with him when I have dealt with these goons.

  The men nodded and straightened Ernst once more, pinning him to the wall.

  “Today is a wretched day,” muttered Manu, hurrying away and closing the door to the basement behind him.

  Ernst looked at the chemist sullenly, wanting to give him a piece of his mind, but the old man was asleep on his table, snoring gently.

  “Can I at least sit down,” Ernst asked the two men. They contemplated amongst themselves for a few moments before rejecting his request. Though the men were not as large as Manu, they still looked more than a match for Ernst. One of them had a knife tucked into his belt. If Ernst could somehow get his hand on the knife, he might have some chance against them. But he needed to be quick, whoever had broken into the ashram would not last long against Manu and his gang of wrestlers.

  A few minutes passed without any sound apart from the chemist’s slow snoring. This basement hall seemed to be immune to any sound from the ashram above it. With no sign of their chief, the men grew tired of holding Ernst and they contemplated again, this time deciding that it would be better to let Ernst sit. One of them scavenged the many racks in the laboratory and finally found a rope tucked away in a box.

  “This old man is crazy,” he told his colleague, “keeps the rope in an icebox.”

  “That is nothing,” said the other, “I hear he has a secret chamber somewhere here and he sleeps with scorpions and worms.”

  They chuckled at each other before pushing Ernst on the floor and tying his hands behind his back. The touch of the rope upon his hand did not feel right. It was understandably cold, from being kept in an icebox, but it also itched slightly.

  “This rope itches,” complained Ernst, “Can you not find something else.”

  “Anything else, my lord,” jeered one of the men, “should I also bring you a drink and some snacks.”

  Ernst scowled at the man but said nothing. An itchy rope was better than an angry man with a knife. He needed to think of something to escape. And quick.

  But it was too late. He soon heard the door to the basement burst open and more than one man rushed down the stairs. There was a pause as the burst of light from the ceiling struck the eyes of the newcomers. Then the steps inched nearer, and Ernst prodded his mind, searching desperately for a plan to escape. The intruders now out of Manu’s way, he was surely here to kill him.

  Before Ernst could think of anything, though, he realized something was really off. The man who came into the laboratory first was indeed Manu, but he did not look like he was here to finish off Ernst, in fact, it was a wonder that he was on his feet at all.

  Manu, the big burly chief of security had his hands tied behind his back, just like Ernst’s, but his condition was far worse than the High Guard. He had been beaten quite mercilessly, his right brow was so swollen that he could not possibly be able to see from that eye, the left cheek had a big gash and Ernst could see, even with all the blood pouring from his mouth, that a couple of his teeth were missing. His well-ironed uniform was torn to expose his belly and arms, and bits of it still left were soaked in blood. One of his shoes was missing and he was limping.

  He was followed by two other men, small in stature and dressed in all black. Even with the clubs in their hands, Ernst was surprised that they had been able to beat Manu to a pulp. His doubt was removed when he saw the next man who entered the basement. He towered at least a foot and half even above Manu, and his f
ist still had the blood of his captive victim shining upon it.

  He had long brown hair that seemed oddly like the mane of a horse, and every inch of his face was covered in strange tattoos. Ernst knew who this man was. He had never seen him before, but there was no High Guard in Cardim who had not heard about him.

  If there was one man that Ernst did not want to face, his hands tied behind his back, it was Regulius Crow.

  THIRTY-TWO

  The Guilty Brother

  The sun was shining brightly in the sky by the time Maya made her way back to the circus. The answer to the mystery was almost in her grasp now. Parts of it were so convoluted that her mind hadn’t even wandered in that direction till she had stumbled upon the facts.

  She sneaked into the circus ground and hurriedly made her way to Harold’s cabin. If all went according to plan, Bill's two wives would be here in a couple of hours. Even if one of the two arrived, Maya wouldn’t fuss, she needed just the one to make a sensational revelation to the circus artists. She liked to think of it as vengeance, but she doubted if she would be satiated even if her plan was successful.

  Anyway, she had some time till then, and she planned to utilize it to clear some last doubts about the mystery, tie some loose ends to form a continuous narrative. Like always when she was close to the mystery, her heart raced with excitement as she opened the lock on the door of Harold’s cabin with her set of skeletal keys. These keys were a gift from an escape artist who worked in the same circus. Maya assisted him in his acts sometimes and when he was leaving the circus he had given her the keys as a parting souvenir.

  Harold’s room lay in the same state as when Maya had been here last. She went straight to the pile of newspapers kept in the corner. They had stood out to her when she had first examined the room, Uncle Harold was never in the habit of reading or being up to date with news, but she hadn’t given them much thought. But after seeing Guru Ramdas have a secret meeting near the boundary wall, Maya had been reminded of the newspapers once more. As she flipped through the bundle, it was clear why. The newspapers were all filled with articles about Guru Ramdas. They had been specifically collated as if by someone researching on the Guru.

  “A Hindu Mystic who can do miracles is the new sensation of Anthill” ran the headline in The Daily Harbor.

  Another article was titled “Guru Ramdas's palatial new ashram is twice the size of the council building.”

  “City businessman donates half his wealth to an Anthill Mystic.”

  “From obscurity to fame in half a year: The story of Guru Ramdas.”

  It took Maya more than an hour to flip through all the articles about the mystic. He had a rather interesting story. He had arrived in Anthill six months ago and started preaching under a tree near the town center. In a few months, his following had increased so much that he had been able to build a grand ashram. No one knew what he did before he became a mystic. But he seemed to have a rich clientele of devotees who did not think twice before dedicating their wealth to him.

  One article was especially educational, it talked about a businessman from Cardim who had sued the Guru for extorting money. The businessman claimed that he had been forced to make donations to the Guru under influence of a very strong ‘alcohol’.

  Maya scribbled down the details of the articles in her notebook then kept the newspapers back where they were. This bit done, there now remained just one more task before the final reveal. Maya closed the door behind her and moved to the ladies' dormitory.

  *****

  Maya rushed out of the tent smiling with satisfaction, as shrill cries rose near the main tent. The ladies had arrived, both of them, and unluckily for Bill, both at the same time.

  “Bill, you swine,” shouted Sally, a small boy in ragged clothes stood beside her. “You coward, where are you. Come face your wife and kid before you marry off that bitch.”

  The circus workers, looking for any excuse to rest for a bit, gathered hastily around the ladies. Natasha, who had just returned from her errand was also among them. Someone had the wiseness to go and call Bill who was in his cabin, sleeping after a night out. He came after a few minutes dressed in his nightclothes, an eyepatch over his eye.

  He saw the two ladies and kid at the center of the commotion and instantly his face contorted in panic.

  “Wh…What are you doing here,” he stuttered squeezing through the crowd and joining them.

  “I was here to remind you that you are a married man,” said Joanna, “but I did not know that I was to be surprised myself. Not only do you have another wife outside of my knowledge but you also have a kid."

  “I cannot believe,” added in Sally, “how foolish I had been to marry a rascal like you. You are already married twice and now you are getting married a third time?”

  Bill’s eyes widened. “Who said I was marrying again,” he asked

  “Somebody did,” said Joanna, “and I thank him for that, or I would have never known how big a fraud you were.”

  “Look,” said Bill trying to take them away from the crowd but the ladies wouldn’t budge, “I am not marrying anyone and I can explain both of you about each other.”

  “You can do that in your own sweet time,” Maya broke in, her voice laced with confidence and unmistakable pleasure, “but first you owe an explanation to all your circus brothers.”

  Maya produced the account book and waved it around for all to see.

  “This is the account book of the circus. All the money that comes in and all the payments that go out are listed here. And you are the one who maintains it, you are responsible for keeping track of it, are you not?”

  “Yes,” said Bill defiantly

  “So, I think you would be best placed to tell us how you are bulk procuring rice at a rate of 15 Cowries a ton when the same shopkeeper retails it for 10. You also need to explain how Helena and all the other artists get only three fourth of what it says in this notebook that they are being paid. You also need to tell us where the new canvas sheet and the hoops and the new cage for the lions mentioned in this notebook are.”

  Maya paused to wait for Bill’s response.

  “I don’t have to comment about anything this filth says,” said Bill spitting on the ground, “she is a thief and a liar.”

  “It seems clear to me Uncle Bill,” broke in Natasha, “that you are the thief and liar here. And I don’t know but it seems you also had a hand in killing father.”

  Bill was stunned by Natasha’s remark and before he could muster words to speak Maya continued.

  “It is evident that Uncle Bill has been defrauding the circus and the people who have fed him and been a family to him for around a decade. Now, I have not analyzed the accounts as minutely as I would have liked, but even based on conservative estimates, he has misappropriated close to 20 thousand Cowries in this year alone. That is almost twice the loss that the circus has made in this year and a third of the total circus debt. It seems to me that a large part of the financial problems that the circus is facing, is down to this single man alone and his frauds. And what does this man, who supposedly has no family or kids, do with his money? Well, it turns out that, after all, he does have a secret family. In fact, not one but two secret families. He married Sally six years ago and Joanna two years ago. He maintains two households with the money that he swindles from the circus. It turns out that Uncle Harold had examined the account book and found out about the malpractices that he was indulging in. On the day of his death, the two had a major fight regarding this, and Harold had actually asked Bill to leave. That is why when Harold was dead, he had broken into his room to reclaim the account book so that his fraud did not come to the fore.”

  “She is correct,” said Bill looking down at the ground, “I did embezzle money but I had no hand in killing Harold. I swear on God. I swear on my kid.”

  Natasha rocked her head in disbelief.

  “I cannot believe any word of what you say, uncle. If you can loot your brother, there is no reason
why you cannot kill him,” she said.

  “No,” Maya broke in, “I am disappointed to say that I believe him. He did not kill Uncle Harold. Someone else did and she is standing right here amongst us.”

  Maya turned around till her glance rested on a woman who was trying to slip out of the crowd.

  “Olivia,” said Maya, “How could you kill someone who loved you so much?”

  THIRTY-THREE

  Olivia's Tale of Love, Loss and Love

  Olivia burst into tears as soon as Maya mentioned her name. She held her face in her hands but tears still streaked through the crack between her fingers.

  “Olivia!” exclaimed Helena and Natasha at the same time, their mouths gaping in shock.

  “But how could she kill him. He jumped in front of our eyes,” said Chang.

  “He jumped but not on his own accord," said Maya, "Olivia lent him a hand, it might be invisible but it was there. But that is for later. The first question is why. Why did she kill Uncle Harold? That has a simple answer. He loved her and wanted to marry her.