Story Contest 2016 #1 - Outstanding Stories » A Case Solved

“A Case Solved” is one of the outstanding stories of the first biannual Short Story Contest 2016 written by Khushboo Bibi Ilyas, U.A.E.

A Case Solved

I am working for a spy agency that brings justice to the people and punishes the culprits. Being junior, it was hard for me to get cases to solve, and prove my capabilities. But all that changed one day.

That day, I was sitting in my office and reading some files, when suddenly my phone started ringing. I picked up the phone and heard the frightened screams of a lady, “I have been robbed. Please help me.”

I rose immediately from my chair and replied, “Calm down ma’am. Please give me your location.”

I hurried to the crime spot, which was an antique shop where there were a few customers, the manager and three workers. I began my investigation starting from the owner of the shop, Miss Anna, who was the one who had called me. She stated, “When I came in the morning the door was closed from outside. I used my keys to open it and when I entered, the security guard was lying on the floor and all the shelves were empty. Each of my pieces was at least worth Dhs10000.”

I moved on to the manager who was a tall, bald man. He said that it was all fine when he left the previous night, but when he came in the morning everything had been stolen. My eyes then caught sight of a worker standing away in the corner; I went near and asked, “What is your name?”

He answered, “My name is Bob.”

I then asked, “What do you do here?”

“I clean the shop every day after it is closed,” he answered.

“Did you notice anything unusual last night when you were cleaning?” I asked.

He quickly replied, “No ma’am” in a strange manner. I could tell he was lying because he was sweating and had a frightened face. Before leaving I guaranteed the owner that the thief would be caught and that her things would be returned to her safely. I also asked her to send me the CCTV footage of the outside area of her shop .The dead body of the security guard was sent to the forensic laboratory for investigation and the whole area was sealed.

I headed to my office after the investigation at the shop. After reaching, I played the footage and came to know that the robbery had taken place at night between 11pm-4am. In the footage I could see the robber’s hand, when he was leaving. It had a tattoo on it.

After a few hours, I received a report from the forensic laboratory saying that the security guard had been poisoned. I had been thinking it was a sudden robbery but I realized that it was a long planned crime. The forensic report also mentioned that the poison was in his food. This made it clear that the robbery had been committed by someone close to Miss Anna and who knew the shop very well.

I then collected the details of Bob, the worker of the shop, to know if he was an old criminal, but I found no result to confirm my suspicions. However, I was not satisfied, so I went to his house and inquired about him in the neighbourhood. The neighbours said that he was a very quiet person and that they didn’t see him often. I showed the tattoo that I saw on the CCTV footage to his neighbours. One of them shouted, “It is Bob’s tattoo.”

I went to the shop again to catch Bob but he had fled from there. I asked Miss Anna, “Where is Bob?” She said that he had not been feeling well, so he had taken a holiday. I rushed to his house and caught him when he was trying to escape. He pleaded, “I did not do anything. I was forced to do it.”

“You were forced to! But why?”

“I needed a substantial amount of cash for my mother’s cancer operation. A man with a long beard came to me and asked me to do the robbery. He promised me a huge amount of money in return. Today, at 8pm he will come to pay me.”

Just then I got a splendid idea to catch the real culprit. I disguised myself by covering my face, and pretending to be Bob. At 8pm, a man came with a large bag. “Here is your money, according to our deal,” he said. As soon as he said that I took out my gun and pointed it at his head. He tried to run but I pulled his shirt and his beard. To my surprise, it was a fake beard. Shockingly the man was none other than the manager of the shop. I took him to my office and called Miss Anna. Miss Anna exclaimed how he could do this to her, despite her treating him so well. The manager angrily replied, “This shop is mine not yours; your father forcefully got this shop from my father. I am the real owner; I wanted you to suffer for the trouble your father caused to us.”

“Why did you poison the security guard?” I asked.

He replied, “I needed to make sure Bob gets the things and that there were no obstacles in his way.”

“Where are the antique pieces?”

“They are at my house,” he replied.

I advised him that he shouldn’t have taken the law in his hands. I handed the manager over to the police and returned to Miss Anna what belonged to her. My boss was really proud of me and I finally got promoted.