The Dreaded Conspiracy - 12

No!  The King and the Queen were unable to recognise the face of the man that they saw in the picture! 

Raghunathan complimented Gopal for his strenuous efforts and gifted him with money.  After the artist had left, he called over Biksham who arrived with the other ministers and their accomplices. 

The King was impressed to see that all his ministers had changed their looks that made it hard to recognise them.  Some had kept false moustaches and covered their heads with a turban, while others had thickened their eyebrows and had a long beard and they were some who had even kept false tooth that was somewhat protruding from their mouth! 

Raghunathan informed them that he had already sent the palace physician, Kartik, to search in all the gardens of the kingdom for the herb through which the green paste was made and given to the horse, Chandrika.  “If you are successful in finding this man and locating his house, see if there is a garden around!” the King instructed his ministers.

The different sketches drawn by Gopal were distributed among them and then the King’s ministers alongwith their men set out in their mission.

More than a couple of hours passed by.  Despite a vigorous search, Biksham and all the other ministers could not get any success in their mission.  Then, Biksham’s entourage entered a narrow lane to enquire in the houses ahead if they had ever seen or known this man in the picture. 

They had a good look at a person who was coming from the opposite direction of the lane and immediately recognised the similarity between him and the face in the picture! 

Vikrant was one of those ministers who had accompanied Biksham.  He discovered that the picture which he had with him that depicted the man with hairs and a long beard, exactly resembled with this person’s face!   He pointed this out to Biksham.

After a quick verification, Biksham came near this man who suddenly broke into a run pushing the ministers coming his way.  “I’ll get him!”  Vikrant asserted and ran after him.  

After a hot chase, running in remarkable speed Vikrant closed in and gave the man a hard push who lost his control and fell to the ground on his back with a thud. 

Biksham and the others who were trailing behind by a few yards could see that the culprit had fallen and Vikrant, who was facing their back, sitting on his knees beside him. 

Thereafter, what transpired between Vikrant and the fallen man could not be seen or heard till they neared the scene.   On reaching the spot to their horror, the others found blood oozing out from the mouth of the man and Vikrant was looking at him with despairing eyes.

“What happened to him, Vikrant?”  Biksham asked alarmed. 

Vikrant looked at him and shook his head in disgust.  “I am sorry, Bikshamji!  I pushed him to the ground and before I could do anything he swallowed the diamond of his ring that resulted in his instantaneous death!”  

“Oh God!  The King wanted us to catch him alive!  This is as if we have gone against his instructions!  What do we tell him now?”  Biksham griped. 

“I am really sorry, Bikshamji!  I am responsible for his death!  You can punish me in whatever way you deem fit.” Vikrant apologised remorsefully. 

“No, Vikrant!  I do not blame you for this!  In fact, you were the one who went after him!  What has happened has happened!”  So saying, Biksham tried to pull out the hair and beard of the dead man and they came off!    His face now was a replica of what Vedant, the horse keeper, had described! 

Vedant had found the man to be stout with a bald head and having no beard or moustache.  As the others watched in astonishment, Biksham spoke his mind, “No doubt that he is the one we are looking for! Now, some of you will accompany me to that lane where we saw this man. 

Let’s enquire with the people living there about him!  By doing this, we may get to learn about him and his family.  Some of you will wait here with Vikrant till we return!”  Biksham revealed his mind. 

He took the picture from Vikrant’s hands, asked him not to get despondent over what had happened and went quickly to the lane alongwith some ministers.

In a short while, Biksham and his men returned with two carts that were drawn by horses.  “What happened, Bikshamji?”  Vikrant queried anxiously. 

“Nothing much, Vikrant!  This man seems to be an introvert having no contacts with anyone.  We located his house but learnt that he is the only member staying there.

We also looked for a garden nearby but could not find any.  Now, we’ll take him to the palace and let the King decide upon the future course of action.” 

Some of the accomplices of the ministers put the body in one of the carts.  Biksham and some ministers got in the cart where the body was kept and the others followed them in the second cart. 

Raghunathan was very upset to see that the man he so desperately wanted alive was dead.  Still, just like Biksham, he too absolved Vikrant from any blame for what had happened. 

Vedant, the horse keeper, was called over and made to identify the man whom he did almost instantaneously. 

Although the dead man did not seem to have any family, still the King wanted the body to be preserved in oil for a couple of days before performing his funeral rites just in case someone turned up to claim his body.

Back in his chamber, Raghunathan asked Vijaya to play with one of the guards and informed the Queen of all the recent developments.  After thinking for a while, Padmavati made her views known to the King, “Once again I feel like suspecting Vikrant, Maharaj! 

Nobody knows what transpired between him and the culprit before the latter died.  Vikrant says that he committed suicide but it could also be that he compelled that man to take this extreme step.” 

Did this statement of the Queen leave the King thinking?

(To Continue)