Maxum Hospital

The morning in the hospital was busy like a crowded temple. The entry gate was flooded with people, security guards were on duty and vehicles were moving in and out of the hospital. It was the site of a mall on a busy Sunday. It took me ten minutes just to convince the guards that I was a journalist. At the reception counter I asked the receptionist if I could interrogate some suspects. The era of 'Licence Raj' is still not over. She asked me certain documents. First, I needed a certificate and a letter from the department of State Police that I am allowed to investigate, a signed letter of allowance from my editor and my photo ID. This took me a while to generate. Lawda assured me that he will send all this on mail but I never received it. I had to call him, which cost me five failed attempts to establish connection. That pig was ignoring me. When he picked up, he had stuffed some food in his mouth again. I asked him about the documents that was supposed to be in my hands to which he replied that I'll have to get it from the HR department. Again, I had to make a few calls. The problem was that talking to them was like talking to a dead sheep. A procedure of ten minutes was delayed to an hour. I received an e-mail that contained everything I needed. I dumped it on her. She told me to wait for a while because it required the assent of the manager to allow me to interrogate.

I sat in the waiting hall on the metal chairs which was uncomfortable. At Eleven-Thirty in the morning, I was able to meet with the manager. He had a gangly appearance, probably twenty-eight or twenty-nine, clean shaven and a mediocre when it came to hight. I approached him.

'Good morning, sir.' He spoke.

'Good morning. I'm here to interrogate your staff.' I said 'Here is the list.'

I gave him a list of names that my wife scribbled down. The first was Raju. He was a clerk. His job was to get clean washed coats for doctors every day without fail. The second was Uday. He was a brother in the hospital and he also used to work like a personal butler for VIP patients. Third was Kusuma. She was a nurse. She was well respected because she was the senior most nurse with experience and honesty towards the hospital. Forth was Rita. She was the attendant of Dr Khan who was treating Mary. According to Kaira, he was not a specialised doctor. He was a newbie and of course, he was in my list. Last was Lata. No information about her.

'Follow me.' He spoke. He called me inside. The room seemed to be a store room. There were cartons which were sealed. In a corner, there was a woman sitting in front of a computer. He handed her the book. She opened an application, typed in a password. There were columns- Name, contract date, post, time slot, department in charge and salary. She clicked on a search bar on the top and typed shopfloor. The screen refreshed and a new list appeared. There was a total of seventy-five names. She scrolled down searching for the names. Then she selected the required names and copied it. She opened Microsoft Word and pasted it.

'Done.' She exclaimed.

I took a closer look. There were names on the left side of the page and opposite to it, there was a paragraph of their bio.

'Give me a copy of this.' I spoke.

They both looked at each other and then looked at me.

'It will cost two rupees, sir.' He spoke.

I gave him that money. Corporates want to make money in every way they can, especially in a hospital.

I went back to the receptionist and booked an appointment to meet with the suspects. These days, you require an appointment to meet a genitor, just like doctor. I had to wait until evening to meet them.

At sundown, I was given the opportunity to speak to them. First was Raju. I brought him to the canteen first. He was short, middle-aged man, half grey hairs and beard. His skin was dark like a coffee seed. He was dressed in a simple cream coloured shirt and a black formal pant. He had a towel on his collar, like a typical village farmer. I had got him a cup of tea. I placed my short notebook and a pen on the table, waiting for him to finish his tea and begin my interrogation.

Raju

'I'm Reyansh Joshi. I'm a journalist.' I said. 'I want to ask you about Mary. L. Lupin'

'I promise I'll answer truthfully.' He said.

'What do you know about Marry?'

'I know that she was a politician. She was famous in the streets because of her free food schemes. Many used to praise her for that.'

I nodded.

'What was your role when Marry was admitted?'

'My job is to fetch cleaned coats to the doctor and sometimes I fetch cloths for patients. When she was admitted, they told me to just clean the room. They also gave me leave for three days.'

'Why is that?'

'I've no idea.'

'Did you not ask?'

'I was Getting paid. So I did not complain.'

'Have you seen anyone visiting her?'

'I was only there on the first day. I saw Dr Khan visiting her. I saw a woman with him.'

'Who was it?'

'I dont know.'

I assumed it was either Kusuma or Rita.

'What do you know about Dr Khan?'

'Dr Khan was a new doctor. He joined just three month ago. I've heard that he makes a lot of money. His first patient was a disaster. He operated her and the problem got worse. Then she was admitted into ICU. She died.'

I scribbled that down in my notebook.

'What do you know about Lata?'

'Lata? I'm sorry, I've not heard of her.'

'Last question. What do you think about Marry?'

'I think she is just like any ordinary politician. She does it just for votes.'

'Alright.' I stopped him 'I think we are done. I may have to call you again.'

'Anytime sir.' He said. He quickly sprang up and rushed out.

Uday

Uday was a brother who also worked like a caretaker for VIP patients. He sat on the opposite side of the table facing me in the canteen. He was about five foot five inches tall, dark complexioned, about thirty years. He maintained a mustach and short military hair cut. He was dressed in formal white shirt with a black pant. I followed the usual protocal- introduce and show your ID.

'How many days were you on duty when Mary was admitted?' I asked.

'All three days sir.' He replied.

'What was your job?'

'I used to deliver food to her ward and moniter her condition over night.'

'All the nights?'

'Yes sir.'

'What do you know about Doctor Khan?'

'I don't know much about him. I never spoke to him because he never interacted with us.'

'Was he close to Mary?'

'I'm not sure. I only stayed at nights with her.'

'Was Doctor Khan close to Kusuma or Rita?'

'I don't think so.'

'Did you notice anything suspicious?'

'Not really. Doctor Khan was regular on rounds, Kusuma was regular in her work. I tried to make conversation with Mary but she never showed intrest. She did seem worried about something. That's all I know.'

'Do you know who Lata is?'

'No. Never heard of her.'

'Thank you. You can leave.' I said.

He went back to the hospital. I pulled out my phone and contacted the manager to send Kusuma.

Kusuma

Kusuma sat in the same place where Raju an Uday sat. She was about five foot four inches, fair complexioned woman, who seemed to be about fifty years. She was dressed in typical white nurse uniform with a white socks and cap. She removed her cap, folded it and kept it on her lap. Again I followed my protocal and fired my first question.

'Were you on duty on all three days?' I asked.

'Yes.' She replied.

'How was Mary's condition?'

'Mary was fine after the operation. She did not have any issues after that.'

'What do you know about Doctor Khan?'

'Doctor Khan was a good doctor. He did get into problem after one of his patients died. Later he was careful about his patients. He was like a workaholic. I was surprised that he left so soon.'

'Was Doctor Khan close to Mary?'

'Maybe. They used to have long private conversations. It seemed like they knew each other.'

'Was he close to Rita?'

'No.'

'Who accompanied Doctor Khan on the first day?'

'It was Rita. She got into a big trouble for doing that.'

'Did you notice anything suspicious about Mary?'

'She seemed worried about something. I can't think of anything else.'

'Any suspicious visitors?'

She looked down on the table and thought for a while and then looked at me.

'I remember a person who visited her on the last day. If I rememner correctly his name was Aaron. He seemed suspicious to me.'

'Can you describe him?'

I picked up my pen, ready to write down.

'He was tall about six foot. He wore a red cap. I couldn't see his face. He had worn a red coloured sports shoes.'

'Do you know who Lata is?'

'No. I'm not aware of anybody with that name in our faculty.'

'Thank you. You have been a great help.' I said to end my interrogation.

'You're welcome.' She said with a smile and went back to work.

I turned back the pages to look at my catalog. Rita and Lata. I pulled out my phone and texted the manager to send in Rita. He immediately replied back. "Not available. They went home." I took a look at my watch which showed five-thirty. Time just flew by. I contunied sitting on the chair and contemplating about the data I collected.

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