The body of Janki Banerjee was lying motionless on the cold marble floor. The holy book of Bhagavad Gita which she had been reading was still lying open on the little table in front of the ivory idols of Radha and Krishna. Meanwhile, the crystal beads which the 80-year-old woman had been holding to recite her prayers just a few moments ago, was still clutched tightly between the thumb and forefinger of her right hand. Her spacious room which had been furnished opulently, spoke volumes of her riches. The tastefully decorated room- which comprised of a white four-poster bed with soft mattresses, rosewood wardrobe, crystal chandeliers, a table and chair made of teakwood, silk carpets, two tall glass vases filled with her favourite jasmine and champa flowers separately, silver photo frames with pictures of her family members- still looked clean and splendorous as it was just a few moment ago when she was busy praying. Moreover, there were no traces of blood near her anywhere on the floor and the glossy marble still reflected the light from the chandeliers. It was even creepier as the face of Mrs. Banerjee still looked entirely calm and deeply focused just as she always does when she spends time in praying, an activity she always do whenever she gets time as she believes that it was a beautiful way of escaping from the chaos of the world and find bliss.

Rima, the daughter-in-law of Mrs. Banerjee, had arrived in that mysterious room in the late hours of the evening. She had come to call her mother-in-law for high tea that the whole family enjoys together in the dining-cum-living room. With the help of their two cooks in the kitchen, the 40-year-old Rima had prepared a sumptuous spread for the whole family that evening. Besides the deeply fried kachoris and homemade sauce prepared with tomatoes plucked fresh from their kitchen garden, Rima also prepared two plates of kaju katlis with fine imported cashewnuts as she knew that her husband Suraj deeply relished that sweet. However, Rima also took care that she doesn’t forget to make her favourite sweet, which is the humble rasogolla, carefully with love as it was also well loved by her darling mother-in-law. Rima, in order to ensure that the delicious snacks are relished wholeheartedly by the entire family, concocted a kettle of masala tea with freshly grounded mixture of high quality spices. The dining table, which was lavishly spread with an array of aromatic and delectable snacks by 6 PM that evening, was literally waiting for the members of the Banerjee family to welcome them so that they can feast heartily together and make themselves, or rather their stomach and mind, happy.

As soon as Rima reached the room, she saw her mother-in-law lying unconscious on the floor. She stood rooted to the spot with eyes and mouth wide open in utter shock. “Issh Ram (Oh Lord Ram!),” she exclaimed in horror. The unexpected and horrible sight made her indecisive and she stood numb and kept staring unblinkingly at the body of her mother-in-law.

After two minutes had passed, she shook her head and decided to call her husband as fast as she could so that she could have someone near her side to face the difficult situation that they had been thrown in unexpectedly together. With her feet taking as fast as it could towards the first floor of their mansion known as Krishna Niwas, she ran with all the strength she could gain at that difficult moment. Once she reached her room by huffing and puffing, Suraj was surprised to see her. He was rubbing a dab of moisturizer across his face at that time after having a quick evening bath on returning from the office. When he was just halfway from completing his regular skincare routine, the sight of his wife rushing hurriedly towards the room by gasping with tired breaths caught his attention.

“Maa has been lying unconscious from a long time. I just got to know about it now on going to her room to call her for tea time,” she said even before her husband could ask what was bothering her. On hearing the whole story, Suraj raised his eyebrows up in shock and his mouth also couldn’t stop from opening signifying the fear that he had felt in his heart. “What! How can it be possible so suddenly? She has been going about as usual right from the morning,” he said. He immediately rubbed away the remaining portion of the moisturizer on his face hurriedly and rushed out of the room as fast as he could with his wife.

On reaching the room of Janki Banerjee along with their daughters Navya and Riya, Suraj and Rima became busy in bringing her back to senses. Both of them rubbed the hands of Mrs. Banerjee as much as they can but to no avail. While they had been rubbing her hands and calling out ‘Maa, Maa’ for umpteen number of times by tapping her on the cheeks, their eight-year-old twin kids nervously went on watching the situation of panic unfolding before their little eyes.

After seeing the condition their grandmother, whom they loved dearly, lying unconscious on the floor without responding at all, they couldn’t stop themselves from bursting into tears and crying bitterly with loud shrieks every now and then. “Maa! Maa ! What has happened to grandmother? Why is she not making movement at all?” they cried. Rima, who was herself shocked to the core, now expressed her emotions by shedding out a few tears and grieved along with her daughters. “Keep quiet now. Go to your room. The doctor is the only one who can now give all the answers,” she replied.

While this chaotic scene had been going on, the workers or employees of Krishna Niwas were silently standing outside the room and witnessing everything without stepping in as they didn’t dare to intrude into the privacy of the Banerjee family members at this difficult hour. On seeing that his mother was still in deep and peaceful slumber in her white silk saree even after she had been called a number of times by him and his wife, Suraj sensed that something was deeply wrong and decided to take her to hospital.

He decided to call his trusted secretary Vinay Batra. “Come to Krishna Niwas soon with an ambulance, Vinay. Maa has suddenly become unconscious,” he said. On hearing the condition of Janki Banerjee, Vinay became highly shocked. “What are you saying Sir? How can it be possible? I am soon coming to your house. Don’t worry,” said Vinay. He decided to do whatever was asked by his boss Suraj who was a billionaire and owns ten private educational institutions, five hospitals and a jewellery company.

With his fifteen-year-old son John, Vinay arrived in an ambulance to take Janki Banerjee to one of the best hospitals owned by the Banerjee family in the city of Neempur. As soon as the ambulance arrived near their mansion, an anxious Suraj along with one of their servants carried Janki Banerjee from her room towards the vehicle so that she could be driven soon for treatment at the hospital. After her body was placed properly on the bed in the ambulance and the vehicle was on its way, Suraj, who was 45 years old, couldn’t stop thinking anxiously as to how long his mother had been lying motionless in the cold marble floor of her room back in the mansion. The son of Janki Banerjee, who was also her only child, also became further tensed when the thought of his mother lying senseless without raising any sound or alarm struck his mind. With so many negative thoughts playing havoc on his head while on the way to the hospital, Suraj didn’t bother to talk with Vinay and John who was also sitting near him in the ambulance besides Janki Banerjee who was still deep in slumber sans any movement.

As soon as the driver of the ambulance parked the vehicle right near the entrance of the hospital, Suraj along with Vinay and John hurriedly got out of it and with the help of a ward boy took Janki Banerjee in great speed on a stretcher towards one of the premium rooms for treatment. A senior doctor named Dr. Sheila Roy immediately decided to attend to Janki Banerjee as she was herself the owner of that hospital. She didn’t even asked Suraj, Vinay and John to go out of the room and decided to treat Janki Banerjee near them only.

When Dr. Roy put her stethoscope on the chest of Janki Banerjee, her face fell open in shock. On seeing the numb expression of the doctor, Suraj’s eyes started getting moist and he couldn’t stop the tears from falling freely down his face. “What is wrong? Doctor, is everything all right?” asked Suraj. Although he had himself understood from the expression of the doctor that his mother was no more, he had to ask the doctor for confirmation. Dr. Roy, in a soft voice, said “Janki Banerjee is no more.” After hearing this sad news, Vinay and John went towards Suraj to offer their condolences and comfort the latter.

Suraj had now decided to break this bad news to his family which now only comprises of his wife Rima and their daughters Navya and Riya. By picking up his mobile phone, he called his wife who was then outside her home and engaged in praying at a temple of Goddess Lakshmi and Lord Narayan. Rima was then engrossed in listening to the melodious bhajans or devotional songs being sung by a religious troupe at the temple. As Rima’s phone kept on ringing and she couldn’t hear it continuously beeping in her leather handbag, Suraj became both angry and fearful at the same time and kept on continuously trying to call her for five times. Rima, luckily, could hear her phone at the sixth ring because the religious songs had ended by then and she nervously picked up the call when she saw that her husband was calling her.

“What have you been doing for so long? Learn to pick up calls on time. Keep your ears open,” he said angrily. Rima, who was hearing Suraj shouting at her, replied shyly, “Sorry dear! I was engaged in listening to the melidous bhajans at the temple and couldn’t hear the phone ringing.” However, the expression of her face changed suddenly and it screwed up in a number of folds literally as she bursted into loud tears on hearing about the death of her mother-in-law. Suraj and Rima then comforted each other with pacifying words for a while over the phone. With the help of two of her friends, Rima went home and broke the news of passing away of Janki Banerjee to the staff of the mansion and her daughters. Besides the mother-daughter trio who expressed their sadness in loud shrieks, the staff of the mansion also grieved over the loss of the matriarch and their dear employer as she treated them very well and gave them good salaries and other perks too.

Once Suraj could get over his grief, he decided to call Dr. Roy. “What was the reason behind the untimely and unexpected death of my mother?” he asked. The doctor called him to her chamber and replied, “I have no inkling over the cause of death of Janki Banerjee.” On seeing Suraj screwing up his face in disbelief, Dr. Roy said, “Your mother was fit and fine at the time of her death and the reason of her passing away was not due to any health problems. What has shocked me the most is that it looks Janki Banerjee had been murdered and now only a post-mortem done by forensic experts could ascertain the cause of her death.”

On hearing Dr. Roy’s words, Suraj’s face became white in shock and he suddenly realized that his family was not safe and danger was looming over them. He now called up a security agency to provide them with the best bodyguards to guard over Krishna Niwas. When the forensic experts had done the post-mortem of Janki Banerjee, they revealed to Suraj that a hole has been found in her heart and it looked like that she had been shot with a pistol from a short distance. They also expressed their astonishment that no trace of blood or any other signs of injury had been found in the body or the attire of Janki Banerjee. According to the forensic experts, Janki Banerjee had been ‘cleanly shot’ sinisterly with a bullet of rare quality or rare metal of whose source or origins they had no idea and was yet unknown to the world.

After the last rites of Janki Banerjee had been held, Suraj revealed to Rima about the unknown reason of his mother’s death. “Be on alert at all times and take care of the children because some dangerous murderer is on the loose and all of us can be killed in cold blood if we are not careful,” he said. Rima, who went numb for a few moments, cried “Yes! All of us definitely should be on alert at all times. Oh Lord Krishna! What sin have we done in our lives? Why have you thrown us in such a difficult situation even after we worship you regularly?”

Although Krishna Niwas was well guarded with highly skilled security guards now, Suraj and Rima were also extra careful about their movements now and they soon became overprotective parents of their daughters. During this difficult time in their life, they got another shock when the police personnel who were investigating around the premises of their mansion disclosed that they couldn’t find a single trace of any killer of Janki Banerjee. Suraj, who now went into a state of depression, due to the loss of his mother as well as by worrying over the safety of his family, became a devout worshipper of Radha Krishna and even started reading holy books and taking part in religious activities besides his work as a business tycoon as he found solace by embracing a newfound spiritual side of him. He often prayed to God to help him know the reason of his mother’s death so that they could find mental peace with a closure over one of the saddest episodes in their lives.

A year soon passed after the tragic death of Janki Banerjee. No one knew how she had to meet a cruel death at such an old age in her life. One fine day, Navya and Riya came back excitedly from school and revealed to their parents that they wanted to go for a summer camp with their classmates at the foothills of Banapahar, a beautiful mountain covered with abundant greenery and filled with varieties of wild flowers of different hues and shapes. It was a habitat of many kinds of rare species of birds and varieties of deer and other types of fauna also resided in the mountain.

“Maa! Baba! We are going to a summer camp with our friends. Please allow us to go,” said Riya. “Yes! It is going to be quite fun and we aren’t going to have such an exciting time in our life again after we leave school and go to college,” said Navya. The excitement of the young girls soon turned into gloom as they were straightaway refused by their overprotective parents. “Have you lost your senses, my dear girls? You know how your grandmother died mysteriously and we still haven’t got the faintest idea as to how it happened. No, you can’t go. Listen to your parents and don’t ask questions. You are still kids,” said Suraj.

However, the twin sisters went on pleading profusely to their parents to let them go and enjoy a good trip with their friends during their childhood because they wouldn’t get a golden chance like this after they grew up and become busy in their lives as adults. “Let them go, Suraj. They hardly go out these days. They are growing up and we definitely don’t want them to be sad,” said Rima. After some moments of hesitation, Suraj replied, “Okay!”

The girls were allowed to go after a series of warnings from their worried parents. They were asked to remain together for their weeklong summer camp and never venture out anywhere alone. The hearts of Suraj and Rima felt relieved when they came to know that their trusted secretary Vinay’s son John was also going with their daughters to the summer camp. Besides being a close friend, Vinay was also like a son to Janki Banerjee. While Suraj and Rima treated him as their brother, they loved his sons Ivan and John as their own children and often lavishly spoilt them just as they did for their own daughters.

Banapahar was located about 300 km away from Neempur. After a long joyful journey of 6 hours, Navya, Riya, John and other children of Great Minds High School reached the site of the summer camp late in the afternoon. Once they had finished setting up their tents near a beautiful stream, it was almost late in the evening and the sky began filling up with the twinkles of tiny pricks of starlight. The children were delighted when they could witness the ethereal beauty of the starlit sky and their happiness was further heightened when they could see the wonderful curvy shape of the half-moon magnificently positioning itself like a king among the numerous tiny stars. They celebrated their ecstatic mood with a number of songs and dances around a huge bonfire. Soon after a session of merrymaking, the children and the teachers feasted together with a hearty meal of pulao, palak paneer and kheer. While they were sleeping that night by occasionally giving an admiring gaze at the starlit sky, which literally felt like a glowing universe altogether, they could hear some strange sounds coming from the direction of the mountains. The next morning, while having a breakfast of chappati and fried potatoes, the students along with the teachers couldn’t stop themselves from talking about the strange sounds that they had heard in the night. For six days, the summer camp went smoothly with students and teachers enjoying themselves fully by participating in various kinds of fun activities and, of course, also by discussing about the strange groanings and knockings which they heard continuously for six days in a row.

On the sixth night of the summer camp, Navya who was brave and enjoyed being outside, decided to admire the mesmerizing beauty of the mountain in the dark as they would be going back to their homes the next morning. As soon as she came out of the tent, she saw the figure of a young boy silently tiptoeing from the campsite towards the direction of the mountain. When Navya stared unblinkingly at the figure and came to know that it was of John, she also silently went towards him as fast as she could on her little feet and tapped him on the back once she reached there. John, whose body shook uncontrollably for a few moments on being caught unawared, soon calm down when he recognized that his caller was Navya.

“I went out on a little excursion on the first night of the summer camp to discover the source of the strange sound,” said John before Navya could ask him where he was going. “What?” asked a shocked Navya. Before she could ask more questions, John continued, “I found a thick undergrowth which hides a big cave that goes right into the depth of the mountain and it seems that the strange sound which we were hearing at night was coming from there. The most shocking yet intriguing thing that I found were rows of big trucks inside the cave parked in a neat line. I didn’t went inside further as morning was about to arrive by then so I had return to the campsite.”

As it was the last day of the summer camp, John thought of exploring the cave and discovering the source of the sound. When Navya insisted on following John, he was at first hesitant but later allowed her to accompany him as he was not in the mood to waste any time and he also knew that he must safely come back with her before dawn so that they don’t fall in trouble later from the grown-ups.

On reaching the site of the hidden cave, they had to use their hands in going inside as the thick branches disturbed them by pricking right in their soft skins. Once they reached inside, their mouths felt open in shock as they could see that stacks of pistols were arranged neatly all over the floors. Moreover, the rows of trucks also had boxes filled with pistols in a neat arrangement. However, the thing that caught their eyes was a stream of grey liquid flowing smoothly right at one side of the cave. They became astonished to see that the liquid was itself emitting smoke every now and then indicating that it was a chemical of high temperature. On being unable to make out the name of the liquid, they look at each other and shook their heads. Their eyes soon caught sight of some manufacturing equipment. By going near it, they could see that the cave was being used as a factory for manufacturing pistols. They could also see bullets being manufactured. However, they became highly astonished when saw that the curious smoky grey liquid was also being used as a filling for the bullets. While they were busy examining the mysteries of the cave, there wasn’t a person in sight so they had been carefully going around without needing to hide. The next event shocked them thoroughly and they couldn’t believe their eyes at first. Vinay, along with another man whom they didn’t know, was coming out from a room in the cave. Before the children could call him out, he had already walked in a fast pace towards one of the trucks parked there. When the children saw that the truck was about to move, they hurriedly got inside the back and hid themselves between a few boxes. They couldn’t even settle themselves properly when someone had covered the back with a thick black cloth and they had to sit in complete darkness. Although the truck was now moving to some destination, they didn’t feel afraid because Vinay was right in the front and sitting with the driver.

When the truck finally stopped and voices of people could be heard, Navya and John moved aside the black cloth to peek outside. However, they couldn’t believe their eyes on the unexpected scene that they next saw. Vinay was seen by them shaking hands with Sherraja, the head of a dangerous militant outfit called Khatarnak Gang. He was one of the most wanted terrorist and news of him and his militants wreaking havoc with bomb blasts and murders often cropped up in TV and social media sites along with newspapers and digital media portals. They didn’t need to keep guessing for long regarding the association of Vinay with Sherraja.

The children could hear Vinay thanking Sherraja profusely for giving him Rs. 500 crore to buy some rare varieties of pistols for their militant outfit. “Don’t say thanks, Vinay Sahab! I have allowed you to stay alive because you have helped me in getting such precious things that was even beyond my expectations and thinking,” said Sherraja with a wicked grin. With a cold nod, Vinay now disclosed to Sherraja that he had set up an illegal arms manufacturing unit by sensing a rare golden opportunity once. “When I was once hiking up here, I accidentally stepped on a dog which soon bit me. As I had an arms license, I furiously took out my pistol to shoot the dog. Once that beast was dead, some other dogs came up and started attacking me but I soon escaped from them and took shelter in the cave with the mysterious hot grey liquid,” he said.

Vinay also revealed to Sherraja that once he saw that the liquid was emitting smoke, he sensed that it was dangerous but did an act of jumping in it to mislead the dogs who were chasing him. The dogs soon jumped smoothly into the stream but met with an instantaneous death. Vinay now examined the dead dogs and saw that they had died without any trace of burn marks or injury and seems to be lying in a peaceful slumber. He soon realized that he found a treasure with which he could earn millions and also fulfill his sinister motives.

“Sherraja! I thank my stars on being lead to this cave. I have found a chemical which is worth more than gold and diamond. The best thing is that no one knew about this secret killer hidden deep inside a mysterious cave and its usage. I felt like a king of the world as it would allow me to not only become richer than my dreams but also give me a chance to fulfill my dark desires without getting caught,” said Vinay with a wicked grin.

Vinay now disclosed how he first had a pistol made secretly with a bullet filled with the mysterious grey liquid and in order to taste the power of his new pistol, shot dead two beggars, who were sleeping near his house, from a short distance. After they passed away, he went to examine their dead bodies. When he could see that they had died without any signs of blood or injury, he could clearly find that the mysterious grey liquid in his bullet was a silent killer that could cause instant death in a clean manner. He named that chemical by himself after his elder son as Ivanemite.

To set up the illegal arms factory, Vinay disclosed to Sherraja that he had taken money from Janki Banerjee. He further revealed to the goon that he had to kill his employer because she served as a hindrance of his big ambitions. Vinay now recalled about a past event of how he had once disclosed to Mrs. Banerjee that he wanted to see his son Ivan as the new CEO of their group of companies after Suraj. “Vinay! Stay in your limits. Don’t dare to even bring up your wicked thoughts near me again. I am not suspending you because you have really been one of the most hardworking employees for all these years. After Suraj, my granddaughters only have the right to become CEO,” she said sternly. Vinay, who furiously went away from the house that day, came back the next day with his pistol loaded with his Ivanemite bullet, carefully passed through the drain going by the side of Krishna Niwas, and climbed the walls to reach near the ventilator of the bedroom of Mrs. Banerjee. As Mrs. Banerjee was focused on doing her prayers at that time, he could easily shoot her from the ventilator and she was soon dead. He also revealed to Sherraja that he had bribed the police personnel with a handsome amount of money to stop the investigation process regarding the death of Janki Banerjee.

John, who along with Navya, had been hearing the horrible story till now soon became furious. Before Navya could stop him, the sixteen-year-old boy took a pistol loaded with Ivanemite bullet from a box nearby and fired at Sherraja who met with an instantaneous death. A shocked Vinay, who could see his son John murder the goon before his eyes, stood rooted to the spot with shock. Before Vinay could say anything, John replied, “I shall commit suicide with the pistol in my hand if you don’t disclose your misdeeds before the Banerjee family and the police. How can you even think of committing such horrible crimes? I am ashamed to call you my father. The prison is the only place for you now to go. Stay away from us."

After Vinay disclosed his crimes, he was given a term of life imprisonment by a court. Suraj, who was a kind-hearted man, promised Vinay’s wife Lalita that he would serve as a second father to her sons as it was because of John that he could find who was the killer of his mother and ultimately could find mental peace.

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