Elegant Valley

"'MEET ME AT SIX ELEGANT VALLEY FF8"', read the letter. The huge towers of the buildings were staring down at me. It was cream colored, twenty-two storied buildings with three towers. It probably housed a thousand families. I walked into the society. Got into the first block and then into it's elevator and pressed fifth floor. It took about seventy-five seconds of listening to an elevator music to get to it. The doors opened. There was a passage that headded straight into darkness. I could identify a curve at the end. On the right side there were lite tinted round windows through with the bright orange light struggled to seep through. I walked into the passage. On the left side there were doors that led into the flat. The first one was FF1. I walked straight into the passage counting to FF8. It was a plane wooden fragile door that seemed to be overused by many tenants perhaps. I knocked five times on the door. The foot steps hurriedly approached the door. The hook of the door unbolted, the knob twisted and the door cracked open slightly supported by a chained hook. I saw an eye staring at me, like a wild animal when it wants to prey on someone. Then the chain was unhooked and the door opened completely. There was a five foot tall, brown complexioned skinny brunette standing infront. She invited me in her flat. It was a one bedroom flat, enough for a single person. I sat down on the sofa of the living area. There was a television, carpet all over the floor. It seemed like she just sprayed room freshner all over the room. The curtains were old, the furniture seemd used. Infact, the whole flat was old and almost falling apart.Rita gave me a glass of water. I kept it on the teapoy. She sat on the sofa facing me.

'I'm Rita. I wanted to talk to you in person. I'm sorry for calling you all so suddenly.' She said

'What did you need to tell me?' I asked

'I know you're investigating into Marry. I have read your previous work.' She said 'I'm an attendent at the hospital from the past five years. When Marry got admitted they put me in charge of attending to her regularly. Marry was admitted because of Hepatitis B in a primary stage. Looking at the seriousness of her condition I thought of recomending Doctor Kiran, who's a specialist in liver. But they put Doctor Khan in charge of her, who was the worst. I tried to raise my voice but nothing really happend. So on that day I was the attendent of Doctor Khan. I tried to convince Marry but she did not listen. After that I left it.'

'Why did you take the next week off?' I asked

She felt hesitant to answer that. I knew that she was hiding something.

'Something happend on that day, didn't it?' I asked

She looked around her house

'Sir,' she wispered 'Doctor Khan was not a Doctor. He was a molester. That evening, he called me into his cabin. He touched me in all inappropriate places. If I hadn't resisted that day I'd been...'

'I'm sorry for what happend. A last question. Who's Lata?' I asked

She looked even more hesitent. She began sweating.

'I can't tell you that sir.' She said in a moist tone.

Suddenly there was a loud sound of the doorbell that resonated throughout the room. She sprang up and rushed to open the door. like she was expecting someone. There was a sound of another woman. They both walked into the living area. It was Lata!

She was dressed in a casual outfit, with a yellow top and a typical blue jeens. She had a barb hair. There was a long moment of awkward silence. We exchanged sharp stare.

'I did not expect to see you here, Mr. Joshi.' She said

I kept my stare at her. Rita got a glass of water which she gulped down like an alchoholic. She gave the glass back and grimaced.

'Why does the water smell so bad.' She said

'I'm sorry'. Said Rita.

She sat down on the sofa where Rita previously sat. Then gave back her stare at me.

'I'm Avani. You may know me as Lata. I'm a detective looking for Marry's culprit. You must have met my friend.' She said

'That retired ACP?' I replied 'Yeah sure.'

'I can cooperate with you in this case.' She offered.

I nodded. Then picked up the glass on the teapoy. Just as I was about to sip that water the smell of the water disturbed me.

'It's probably stagnated water. It has rained quite a lot.' she said.

I quickly sprang up from my seat and rushed to the sink in the kitchen. I turned on the tap. The water started flowing from it. Lata and Rita followed me to it. I kept my hand interrupting the flow of water. The flowing water collected in my palm. I came closer to it and took a sniff. The mild faint smell grew slightly stonger.

'Is this water from the tank?' I asked

Rita nodded.

'I need to take a look in it quick.′ I said.

An hour later, some members of the society, us three and the secretary assembled at the top. There were three tanks in a row placed on a stand which had a hight of an average pedestal. The second tank was the one connected to Rita's flat. It had a capacity to store a thousand liters of water. There was a long debate of whether to trust us as outsiders. The ultimate concensus was of -"trial-and-error" method. If I was right in my speculation, all well and done, otherwise I'd be fined a certain undetermined penalty for creating roomers. The secretary climed up the ladder towards the top of the tank, opened the cap and glanced inside. He replied that he could see something inside, specifically a cloth-like meterial inside. One of the members of the society got him a torch. He switched it on and took another glance inside. For a moment he was paralized from what he just saw.

′OH MY GOD THERE'S SOMEONE DEAD!′

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