The Mystery Of The Missing Diamonds

The Mystery of the Missing Diamonds

“Yippee!” shouted Amar. “This is awesome!” exclaimed Arjun. Amar and his younger brother, Arjun, were at their uncle’s luxurious five-star resort during their summer vacations.

They were skiing in the fake snow room. “Amar! Arjun!” Their uncle was calling them for lunch. “Lunch time! Finally! I am famished!” Arjun exclaimed. The two brothers raced to the magnificent dining hall. One look at their dining table made their mouths water. Inviting mounds of mashed potatoes, roast chicken, colourful gravies, an upside down pineapple cake, salads topped with delicious dressing, a huge platter of assorted cheese and exotic fruits and slabs of chocolate ice-cream… they were spellbound.  

As the two brothers were stuffing their mouths, a wealthy-looking man entered the room and started screaming hysterically, “MY SOCKS! MY SOCKS ARE MISSING!” The absurdity of this statement made the two brothers laugh. The man glared at them and started complaining to their uncle. “Mr. Sharma, my socks are missing and I don’t see anyone doing anything about it!” Mr. Sharma replied coldly, “I don’t see the reason why anyone should help you find your socks. I daresay you will probably find them on your feet.” “No! You don’t understand!” He lowered his voice, “I had hidden my precious diamonds inside my socks! They were worth Rupees 10 Crores.”

The two brothers looked at each other, their eyes glistening with shock and excitement. They quickly gobbled up their food. After lunch, they ran up to the hassled man and asked him. “Um, excuse us. Sorry for interfering in your personal business, but can we please help you find your ‘socks’?” “Well, it would be pretty helpful if more people helped me in this case, and the hired detective, Mr. Deshpande seemed a bit… well, silly!”  Amar punched the air and exclaimed, “Yesss! Thank you, Mr.?”  “ Mr. Gupta.” said the man. “Now go, get a move on. Oh and here is the duplicate key to my room. Don’t you dare steal anything …OR ELSE……..”

The boys raced to their room. “What a weird man! First he tells us that we can help him, then he gives us his room’s keys and then almost accuses us of stealing! He really needs to sort himself out”, said Amar. “Forget him! Let’s get cracking! We need to make a plan. We can start by interviewing Mr. Gupta.” “Works for me. I’ll do the questioning and you take the notes”, agreed Amar.

INTERVIEW WITH MR. GUPTA (NOTES)

• MR. GUPTA HAD HIDDEN HIS DIMONDS DIAMONDS IN HIS SOCKS AS HE WAS SCARED OF THEEVES THIVS THIEVES

• HE HAD KEPT HIS SOCKS IN HIS CUPBOARD AND LOCKED IT.

• HE HAD GONE FOR BREAKFAST IN THE DINNING HALL AT 10:00.

• AFTER BREAKFAST, HE WENT TO THE GARDEN TO READ THE NEWSPAPER AT 11:00.

• HE WENT TO HIS ROOM AT 11:45.

• HE OPENED HIS CUPBOARD TO CHECK ON HIS SOCKS AT 12:00 AND FOUND THE SOCKS MISSING.

• NOBODY KNEW ANYTHING ABOUT THE DIAMONDS EXCEPT MR. GUPTA HIMSELF.

• MR. GUPTA SUSPECTS THE CLEANERS AS THEY MOST PROBABLY HAVE A DUPLIKAT DUPLICATE KEY OF THE CUPBOARD AND CAN ENTER HIS ROOM WITHOUT PERMISION PERMISHUN PERMISSION TO CLEAN IT.

CONCLOOUSION- THE THIEF STOLE THE SOCKS BETWEEN 10:00 -11:45. THIS IS THE TIME THE CLEANERS ENTER THE ROOM TO CLEAN IT.

“The cleaners of the fourth floor are Prakash, Pratik and Sanjay,” said Arjun. “We can check the cleaners’ board to find out their assignments.”

ROOM 403 --- 8:00 A.M.-12:00 P.M.—BED-PRAKASH; DUSTING-PRATIK

“So, the suspects are Prakash and Pratik”, clarified Amar. “Yup”, said Arjun. “So, one or both of them stole the socks, and are probably planning to escape tonight itself.”

“So, we should somehow manage to stop the thief from running away tonight using our brains.” said Amar. “I KNOW! We can lure the thief using another treasure! We can pretend that our great-great-great-great grandmother’s collection of priceless pearl collection is on display. We can borrow our cousin, Sita’s fake jewellery to tempt the thief; and if we are lucky, we may even catch the thief red-handed! Let us make a poster so the thief knows about this. Oh, and don’t forget to take uncle’s permission. The thief better watch out now!”

The pamphlets were soon put up on all notice boards.

PRICELESS PEARLS ON DISPLAY!!!!

VALUABLE PEARLS BELONGING TO LATE MRS.GEETA VARMA (THE FOUNDER OF ROYAL LIFE RESORT) ARE ON DISPLAY IN THE ART GALLERY ALONG WITH HER OTHER RINGS AND NECKLACES. ALL ARE WELCOME TO ENJOY THE DISPLAY.

• DISPLAY – 8:00pm - 8:45pm

• DINNER – 8:45pm - 10:00pm (Restaurant)

• DISPLAY (contd) – 10:00pm - 11:30pm

“And, now…we wait.” said Amar.

Mr. Sharma had called Prakash, Pratik and a few other reliable hotel staff to ‘guard’ the ‘pearls’. The boys and their uncle hoped that this act would convince the thieves that the pearls were worth stealing. That night, the boys hung around the pearls to keep an eye out for any suspicious behaviour. The crowd and the security then dispersed for dinner. The two boys, however, hid behind a pillar and waited and waited and waited.

Just before the dinner was about to get over, Prakash and Pratik sneaked into the gallery and stole the biggest pearl set from the display. Soon, the people started pouring in again for the viewing. In this confusion, the two thieves got lost in the crowd. WITH THE PEARLS!!! They were going to escape! Amar raced to the door and before anyone could come out, he shouted “THERE’S FREE DESSERT IN THE DINING HALL!!! ON THE HOUSE!!!” This caused the crowd to go stampeding back to the dining hall.

All but Prakash, Pratik, Amar and Arjun were left in the gallery. The two detectives noticed the bulge in Prakash’s pocket. Amar, in an authoritative tone, demanded, “Well, well, well! And what do we have here?” Prakash and Pratik said nothing, but exchanged a meaningful glance. Suddenly, a cloud of blue smoke filled the air and POOF! The pair of them vanished!

Amar and Arjun were disappointed, but then decided that it was better to try and investigate the theft rather than to cry over the spilt milk. They started looking for clues in their staff quarters. They tore their rooms apart. The reputation of the hotel was at stake, after all. Just as they were about to give up, Amar’s sharp eyes spotted a crumpled piece of paper at the most unlikely place - inside the dustbin. The paper read:

Hello Prakash,

Here’s the plan-------You and Pratik will steal my brother’s diamonds. I will behave like an unsuspecting guest at the hotel, while keeping an eagle’s eye on the whole situation. Then, both of you will run away with the diamonds, while I act surprised and innocent. I will meet you both after 3 days at the Stay-Well Motel, where we will make the exchange. Rupees 5 Lakhs to each of you for the job and for keeping your mouths shut, forever.

However, if you guys get caught, you will have to take the entire blame on yourselves, while I go back home safely. Both of you may get jailed for theft. As promised, while you are in there, I will pay your families Rupees One Lakh each, annually, and bonus of 2 Lakhs each upon your return.

If you try to double-cross me or blurt out about my involvement in the robbery… well, I know where your families live and you know the power of my influence! My room number is 306, just in case………..

From

Sheetal Gupta

Soon, the brothers were standing in front of room 306. Their plan was set in motion. “KNOCK-KNOCK!” The door was opened by a plump, middle-aged lady. “Yes?” “We think we have something that belongs to you”, said the brothers, showing her the letter. She turned red with fear and tried to run away. But, their uncle, along with the police, was waiting for her in the corridor. The police arrested her and took her to the police station. They got a confession out of her. She was sentenced to 10 years of imprisonment with heavy fines.

Criminal- Sheetal Gupta

Crime- Aiding and abetting robbery.

Motive-

1) The diamonds were quite valuable.

2) She was jealous of her younger brother as he had inherited the priceless heirloom instead of her.

3) She wanted to teach her brother a lesson as he had always been everyone’s pet.

In the meanwhile, Prakash and Pratik were also caught while they were trying to catch a bus to their village and sent to jail for their wrongdoing. Amar and Arjun were hailed as heroes, while the hired detective, Mr. Deshpande, tried to persuade anybody who would listen to him that he knew all along that Mrs. Gupta was the culprit, but no one believed him.

Mr. Gupta was devastated. He found his missing diamonds, but lost his sister forever. Well, at least he found out the truth about her before she could bring about any more harm to him.

Thanks to the young and dynamic duo: Amar and Arjun. Let us cheer for them with everyone else. “Hip hip hooray!”

By,

Prisha Sarda.