Click here to read Part 1, Part 2 and Part 3
Ok, my antenna are in full reception mode. I read what Mishra ji had written about Malini’s past attempts at running away from home. I am inclined to believe that is the case on this occasion too. To get my hands dirty, I have decided to visit all those locations in Totapuri where Malini was last seen. As all these are bars, I have decided to take Inspector Macho Murugan along for protection. I don’t expect him to contribute very much with his limited intelligence, but even a broken clock shows the correct time twice a day, so who knows Murugan anna may have a brainwave.
We hopped on to the 8:30 am bus service to Totapuri and arrived at 11:00 am. The journey was uneventful except for Murugan anna getting a little agitated about the bus conductor asking him to pay for his ticket. When Murugan anna tried to point the conductor to his khaki uniform, the conductor pointed towards his own khaki uniform and that settled the matter. On reaching Totapuri we boarded an auto for 1.5 times the fare (despite Murugan Anna’s khaki uniform) and reached the Police Station to meet the infamous Inspector Jolly Reddy, Anna’s arch rival and foe.
First on the list was Potbelly Bar. Malini’s coordinates show she was here around 7:00 pm on the day of her disappearance. The bar owner Babu Monty had difficulty remembering anything
Murugan: Mr. Monty, We would like to see CCTV footage from the night of 12th April.
Monty: Anna, all I remember is that it was a cold and windy night, wolves were howling, the moon was so big it looked like it is going to swallow the earth, dry leaves were rustling against the concrete of the road, an eerie shadow was casting itself across the main door of the bar….
Susie: Spare us the drama Monty. Just bring us the footage.
Monty: Susie sister, You misunderstand me. I am a very emotional person. And I also have bad memory. If I try to recall the atmosphere of that night, I may end up remembering where I kept the CCTV footage.
Susie: CCTV footage is not ‘kept’ anywhere. It must be on the hard drive of your computer. We are not idiots Monty. At least I am not.
Murugan: Yes, we are not idiots Monty. At least she is not.
Monty: Ok Anna and Susie sister. Here is my laptop. Look all you want. I am also missing a striped underwear. In case you find it please let me know.
Murugan: Ok Monty, you crook. It has been proven that Malini was inside your premises. Tell me where you have kept her or I will beat you to pulp.
Monty: No No Anna, I swear on my potbelly I don’t know what she was doing inside our premises. No one saw her. I have nothing to do with this. Maybe the eerie shadow that was casting itself across the main door that night was Malini’s ghost. OMG!! Now I will have to do pooja to ward off evil spirits. More expenses!!
Susie: Monty, you can’t fool us by acting like a fool.
Monty: I swear on my striped underwear that I have nothing thing to do with this. I maybe a crook who cheats his customers by skimping on the alcohol in cocktails, but I am no kidnapper.
Murugan: Hmm. Listen Susie, since Malini was found in another bar after this, it means she made out of this place. We should proceed to Hanging Monkey Bar and question the owner.
Susie: Ok anna
The owner of Hanging Monkey Bar was an idiotic looking man named Hanging Monkey
Murugan: Why is your name Hanging Monkey? And how old are you?
Monkey: When I was a child I was very short. My mother used to hang me upside down thinking it will make me taller.
Susie: Let me guess. You grew up to be bitter and anti social and found company in thugs and decided to open this shady bar?
Monkey: No. I inherited this from my mother. Her name is Spanking Monkey. Monkey is our family name. We spell it as M-O-N-K-E-Y. I don’t blame you for the misunderstanding
Murugan: Then what is the spelling of the animal Monkey?
Susie: Ssshhh Murugan anna. We have more important things to ask.
Monkey: We don’t have CCTV cameras
Murugan: The law requires you to have CCTV cameras in your premises
Monkey: We used to have them. But our competitor Potbelly Bar hacked them and were trying to snoop on our secret cocktails. I got a terrible spanking from mother.
Susie: Maybe we should just speak to your mother instead.
Monkey: She is missing since the night of 12th April. The same night that Malini disappeared
Susie: How do you know we are looking for Malini? We never mentioned the name
Monkey: Oops! Inspector Jolly Reddy alerted me about it.
Murugan: That rascal Jolly Reddy! I was wondering when he will come into the picture.
Susie: Listen Monkey, we know your mom is hiding in the cold storage. I just noticed one of your staff take blankets into that room
Monkey: Hehe. That is for me. I like to sleep in the cold storage. You see I was born in Iceland and can’t stand the heat of Totapuri.
Searching the cold storage did not yield any clues. This idiot Hanging Monkey was not going to be very useful. So we decided to proceed to Malini’s last known location – The Final Destination bar. The owner was a ghostly looking man named Count Darkula.
Darkula: Hehehe. Of course I will give you the CCTV footage. But would you like to see it from my own eyes?
Susie: Er, what do you mean your own eyes?
Darkula: I will hypnotize both of you and take you back to 12th April. Then you can see everything as I saw it that night
Murugan: Sounds like a good idea.
Susie: Anna have you lost it? He will hypnotise us and drink our blood!!
Darkula: Hehehe, you are a clever little girl
Murugan: Listen Count, we don’t want any trouble. Just give us the footage and we will be on our way.
Darkula: Hehehe, check your Whatsapp messages.
Murugan: What? Have you sent it to us already?
Darkula: No. I sent you a joke
Susie: Quit the jokes Darkula. We know you are hiding Malini in your basement and want to drink her blood.
Darkula: Hehehe. That anorexic little girl? She barely has any blood. On the other hand that fat woman Spanking Monkey has a lot. It is my dream to kill her and drink her blood.
Murugan: Ok, hands up Darkula. Tell us where you have hidden Malini or I will shoot you!
Susue: No Anna!! If you shoot him we will never know where he has hidden Malini
At this appeal, Count Darkula melted away and started sobbing uncontrollably.
“Forgive me dear Susie for I have sinned. I shall take you to my castle on Mount Darkula and hand over Malini to you. Trust me I have treated her very well. In fact she is the one who has been throwing tantrums and asking for Pizza every day. My cook can only make Kanda Pohe and Zomato refuses to delivery without Police protection. I thought she will get fat and juicy after eating all those pizzas, but she is not putting on any weight at all. I am so jealous of her”To be honest, I was a little wary about going to Count Darkula’s castle. What if he imprisoned me and Murugan Anna also along with Malini and invited his fellow vampires for a feast? Hmm. But after coming this far we can’t give up. Will we survive? Will we become vampires too?