The Missing Owl — #1
Before you start:
We were returning back from our morning bird-walk tour with my clients — Uma, her daughter, and son. The son drove tirelessly through different terrains. I was explaining and listing out all the birds we saw.
Uma asked, “Did we miss something, sir?”
‘Yes ma’am. This is a season of Srilankan Frogmouth. It rained well last night there, right? And we saw the other group right? That man Mr. Mani had seen it yesterday morning. It’s missing now.”
The son took a sharp turn while he casually asked, “Is it getting late for you Mr. Sameer?”
‘Yeah it is, but it’s fine! Why don’t you take the next left and we can reach you sooner? And my client is at home only. He just arrived and I got the message.’
Uma — “Since you’re a criminal lawyer by profession, watching birds would calm your mind right?”
‘That’s true. I’m calm now, so I can get back home and court and deal with this case. It’s a headache with this guy. A murder case.”
Uma was curious, “Are you allowed to discuss this with us?”
‘I mean, I can tell you what is the case, what happened but not any important case details. So, this guy Jobi — acquitted by others for killing his friend’s husband. They were family friends and once during a quarrel, he went overboard. So, this is the gist of what happened according to an eyewitness statement to the police. I am supposed to be the defendant but most cases end up, me being the prosecutor. That’s why I am a controversial criminal lawyer.’
The son wooed — “Nice! That’s great. So, now you think that he is just an arrow with a very costly bow somewhere.”
And I was intrigued as I was just opening up about my profession since they arrived at my homestay yesterday afternoon — ‘That’s a pretty good observation. You’re not so bad for being a forensic sciences student,’ and I looked over near the house and my client along with a few people were standing.
‘So, Aravindha... Would you like to be present during the discussion?’
“Yes sir. I may be of help. This could work!”
The sister giggled and said, “Yeah, ma let him go. At Least, he will stop bothering me. Idiot!”
We all shared a laugh and I continued — “I would love to have Aravindhan to be in the discussion. He could sharpen some skills.”
We went inside to our room, parking the car near the house. Aravindhan said he’d come to his office room in 5 mins while I was beginning to collect all the documents.
I asked my client’s friends to leave us alone as it is my habit to speak with my clients or the acquitted person alone. A gentle knock on the door and it opened.
Aravindhan who was wearing an old dark green shirt and shorts was now in very formal attire.
‘Hello, Aravindhaa! Looking sharp. Please come in and sit down. So, Mr. Jobi — this is Aravindhan and he’s a friend of mine. Forensic specialist! He’s here to assist me in the case. Now, tell us what exactly happened? As you’re already aware, you’re in good hands.’
Jobi kept staring at Aravindhan and was hesitant to open up first. The boy got tricky and began a general conversation about his relationship with the man whom he murdered.
I was admiring the capability of the boy. Such clever skills. I really liked the entire narrative of questions. If he were the police, the accused would admit his crime.
‘Aravindha!’ and I showed him my hand to stop.
He understood and said, “All yours, Mr. Sameer!”
I asked Jobi — ‘Jobi! Now tell me. You believe us, right! Be honest. This doesn’t leave this room. I have to know the truth so I’d know how to defend you.’
Jobi — “Sameer Sir! Yes, I pushed him towards the slab near his house and he hurt his head so bad. He hit his forehead pretty bad and passed out. I ran away then. But I said to my friends and police that we did have a fight and he hurt himself in the head while trying to chase me. It was in the night and I thought nobody was seeing us. Sir, please. You have to help me.”
I looked at Aravindhan and he had a cunning smile.
Aravindhan — “Now, you owe us a missing owl, Sameer Sir!”
~to be continued~
