Right Decision

  

                                    RIGHT DECISION

It was midnight, and Mary was in a deep sleep when the sound of the phone ringing made her sleepless. The telephone bell continued ringing.

 Mary raised her hand in sleep, picked up the receiver of the telephone placed on the bedside, and said in a hushed tone, "Hello"?

"Mary"? Charlotte's terrified voice was heard by mary. "I'm sorry I woke you up, but the thing is, Jack hasn't come home yet. I think he'll be in the store by now. You or Mike go to the store for me and check it out." Let me be at ease."

.

"Okay, I'll have a look now," Mary answered in a sleepy tone and hung up the phone.

Mike had not reached the bed by this time. Mary took a hug and sat up. Then she picked up the gown and got down from the bed. After wearing the gown and the sleeper, she walked down the stairs.

The Drogon & Purcell hardware store was on the lower floor of their apartment. The store was owned by Jack Purcell and Mary's husband Mike Drogon. Mary lit the light of the back stairs and came down the stairs and read to the lower floor.

There was an office in the back room on the lower floor. The light of the room was on and the door was also open. Mary pushed the door and entered the room. She wanted to meet Jack. Mary thought that Jack would be busy with his work. Jack was responsible for preparing the inventory of the store's goods and supervising other tasks. Whereas.

 Mike took the responsibility of accounting and transactions on his own head.

Mike had done a lot of fraud in the accounts. But Jack didn't know anything about these scams. However, Mary knew everything. But it didn't matter.

 The reason for this was Jack and Charlotte themselves. Jack was like a dummy while Charlotte was a vagabond. Both this husband and wife did not care at all about business. Mary was also silent for the same reason when both husband and wife cannot think their good and bad, then what was the need to interfere?

 Anyway, she could not do anything because Mike had threatened to kill her if she revealed this secret. She was used to being always afraid of Mike. But Jack was not busy with his work at this time, lying on the floor near the table. Mary's eyes fell on Jack's footsteps first of all.

 She was terribly shocked, at first, she understood that Jack had suffered some kind of attack and he fell unconscious. But when it caught sight of Jack's face, Mary jumped out of her place in fear and panic.

Jack's skull was badly broken. And his face and head were visibly covered in blood. As soon as Mary looked at Jack's face, she realized that he was dead.

Mary's heart was shaking badly. She sat down on a closed chair, turned away from the corpse, and started looking at the other side. His mind was temporarily silent.

After a few moments, when Mary was at ease, she took a look at the room. The door of the safe was open and the safe looked completely empty from the inside.

 The word thief came to Mary's mind as soon as she looked at the empty safe. It must have been the act of a thief. He had not only killed Jack but also destroyed Safe. Mary was once again in a quandary. Mary could not understand what to do. There was a silence of death in the room. Mary was confused when Mike's prickling voice resonated in the silent atmosphere of the room.

"What are you doing down here right now?" He roared like a wolf.

Whenever Mike used to talk to her in this tone, Mary's body used to be stunned. Mary had never been unfaithful to Mike, yet Mike always suspected her. Whenever he doubted Mary, his tone included a wolf-like growl. This growl would make Mary agitated from head to toe, and every part of her used to tremble.

Hearing the sound, Mary quickly turned to Mike. Mike was entering through the door of the room. There were signs of cruelty on his face, and he was staring at Mary with red eyes. He was wearing an open shirt and in his right hand was visible something wrapped in a towel.

"What's going on over here?" Mike questioned, staring at Mary with sly eyes

.

But when his eyes read Jack's corpse, the expression on his face suddenly changed. Then his eyes fell on the safe.

. "Oh! What happened?"

"I myself had just come down," said Mary in a trembling voice. Charlotte called. She wanted to find out if Jack was busy working in the store because he hadn't been home.

"When I saw the light in the room downstairs, I came here," said Mike.

 "I thought I'd turn off the lights." Saying this, he grabbed Mary's hand in his strong grasp. However, his eyes were fixed on the safe.

 "They robbed everything. All the money, accounting, and transaction books and papers were kept in this safe. They took everything with them”.

 Then he turned around to Mary and said softly.

 "We should not touch anything, I will call the police, you go back to bed, it is better for you."

 

 Saying this, he grabbed Mary's arm and walked towards the upper staircase. Mary's body still had a smirk.

"Mike," said Mary sarcastically. "What will happen to the books if they get them audited?"

Mike gave a loud laugh as soon as he heard this, “you mean that they don't get to know our scam? no, it can't happen. There is no danger of this kind at this time, but it would be better to say that this theft washes away our sins.”

Mary breathed an involuntary sigh of relief that a stumbling block had been removed from her mind.

 “But what would become of Charlotte?” Mary asked.

“Forget Charlotte,” Mike replies that with Jack dead, his partnership is gone, and now Charlotte won't get a share of the business.

.

 They were both halfway up the stairs at this point where the light was a little dim, and Mary looked at Mike startled and said in a surprised tone,

 "She is not going to get anything, not even a little bit."

Come on, Mike let go of Mary's arm as his iron grip on Mary's arm tightened and tightened.

As soon as she was freed from Mike's grip, Mary started towards the top stairs, then turned around and said,

 "We should at least tell Charlotte about this accident."

"Leave it to the police," Mike replied.

Mary started up the stairs again and she had only gone two or three steps when Mike called Mary. Mary stopped and turned to look at Mike who was standing at the bottom of the stairs looking at her

.

 "If the police question you, tell them that we were both sleeping in our beds when Charlotte called, then we both came downstairs and found Jack's body lying there." Got it

The expression of terror and fear appeared in Mary's eyes again, but Mike ignored her condition.

 “Now lie down quietly on your bed,” Mike ordered and headed for the basement stairs.

 She came upstairs, but she did not go to her room, she sat on a floor near the stairs and stared silently into the darkness. Her body was still shaking. She was shocked by the last words. Until Mike told her to lie, she was thinking that the murder of Jack and the destruction of the safe was the work of a thief, but now doubt was born in her mind. Mary's doubt had once again made Mary feel fear and terror.

Did Mike do this feat himself? Did Mike kill his partner because he was afraid that the secret of his cheating would be revealed? He was afraid that Jack would send him behind bars when he learned the truth.

Mary was aware of many of her husband's habits. She knew that Mike was a heartless, lying, cruel and vengeful person, but Mary never thought that he could be a murderer.

 But now when she started thinking about it, she realized that her thinking was wrong. The reason why she was still with Mike did clearly not love but fear that paralyzed Mary's mind. It was the fact that Mike had never beaten her and Neither was physically hurt, but to Mary's credit, she never gave Mike a chance to lay a hand on her. Behind every threat was a death threat, now Mary realized that Mike could kill.

Mary had been tolerating Mike's every oppression till now, especially because of Mike's fear, she was also silent about his scandals. Not only this, but she was also having fun with the goods blown up from Mike's store. 

Often, she would pray that Mike's theft should not be caught because it was good not only for Mike but also for Mary himself.

 But now that Mike had committed a murder, would it still be appropriate to remain silent? Murder was a far more serious crime than any other crime. She did not want to be involved in the crime of murder by lying. Nor did she want to take any kind of risk by remaining silent. The matter was unalterable, and it was not safe to live with a murderer.

She was so engrossed in thinking that she was shocked to hear the arc of the steps on the stairs. She immediately got under the cover of the stairs and came out in the dark and started looking down. Mike climbed the basement stairs to the lower floor, then entered the store through the back door.

As soon as Mike left, Mary was once again engrossed in thought. What was the thing wrapped in the towel in Mike's hand? Then she realized that whatever was wrapped in the towel was definitely covered in blood. Whenever Mike hid it in a towel.

Where would Mike have hidden that thing? She thought. Then the answer to this question came to her mind, Mike had made a secret behind the wall of the cellar. That intelligence space was actually a six-feet long tunnel. Which Mike himself had dug with his own hands, the root of this tunnel was in the wall, on which there was a lid. This lid was an exact copy of the stones in the wall. And it seemed only part of the wall.

Mike used to hide tools stolen from the store, money stolen from the cash box, and other books and other papers related to the transaction in this tunnel. Mary had also helped him in the preparation of this tunnel. This was especially the work of spreading the soil coming out of the tunnel. Mike used to fill the trolley with dirt and Mary used to push it out of the trolley.

Indeed, Mike must have hidden the thing missing in the towel in this tunnel, Mary thought and if that thing was an instrument of murder, then there was no room for any doubt that it was Mike who committed the murder.

Mary came down the stairs and tried to hear something. Mike was in the interior of the office, and his voice was clearly heard. He was definitely informing the police about the accident on the phone.

Mary took the chance and quickly went down the stairs and entered the basement below. She slowly closed the cellar door and turned on the light. She liked that Mike was busy for a long time on the phone telling the police about the accident and answering their questions.

.

As soon as she entered the basement, she quickly caught sight of the secret tunnel. Open its lid and put it on the floor. The towel that was in Mike's hand some time ago was visible in the tunnel in front.

When Mary took out the towel with trembling hands, her eyes fell on the blood stains that were visible on the towel. Mary began to feel unbearably nauseous. She could hardly control herself and, taking the towel away from her body, opened it and started looking at it.

Moments later, the thing wrapped in a towel was in front of her eyes. It was a heavy hammer whose end was covered in blood. The hair frozen in blood on the tip of the hammer was also clearly visible. This blood and this hair belonged to Jack.

Now there was no room for doubt that her husband was indeed a murderer.

And at that very moment, the door of the cellar opened, and the sound of Mike's rapid footsteps was heard. Mary did not have enough time to put the hammer in the tunnel again, nor could she run away with her life. Mike had seen her from afar and was now moving rapidly toward her.

 "You bastard lunatic" shouted as he approached her and took her arms in his grasp.

Mary felt as if she was about to faint. Mike was in a bad mood with anger. Mary could see death dancing before her eyes. She understood that her last time had come. Mike's fingers were so deeply stuck in her arms that she felt her breath holding her breath.

Mike snatched the towel and hammer from Mary's lifeless hands and put them in the tunnel again. Then he said, bringing his face closer to Mary's face.

 "My dear wife, what was the real matter after knowing this? What did you intend to do? Tell me what was the intention"?

Mary was suffocating. Mary could see only one way to save her life. She has to clear Mike's misunderstanding somehow.

 Mary said with difficulty, "Nothing, I had no intention, I did not want to do anything." Mary was trying to cry, but because of fear, the sound of crying was not coming out of her face. Her tears had dried up.

.

"I'll kill you if you try to tell anyone about this incident or me." Mike's tone was slow but dangerous. " Are you listening?" Saying this, Mike tightened his grip on Mary's arms.

 A painful scream came out of Mary's mouth. "You have seen with your own eyes what can I do". "I can do the same thing to you." Mike was pointing at Jack's body lying in the store.

Mary looked at Mike's face with fear.

Mike pushed her back with a jerk. And growling said, "Now go and lie on your bed. This time if you do not follow what I say, then I will kill you".

Mary was left with a wink, then staggered steps up the stairs to the basement. Mike began to close the cover of the secret tunnel.

                                                              ……….

After some time, when the police reached the spot, Mary refused to appear before the police. She was in her bed and made an excuse that her health had deteriorated after seeing the dead body. And she is not capable of making a statement. During this, the voice of the policemen could be heard in his ears. The police action continued for a few hours, then they left and there was silence in the house again.

.

After a few moments, Mike came upstairs into the room. He changed his clothes and entered the bed. He looked as though he had reached home exhausted after being engrossed in shop work till midnight. Mary was lying as if in a deep sleep. But in reality, she was fully awake, she had lost her sleep. She was horrified when Mike arrived. She was worried that Mike might not know that she was awake.

She had been staying like this all night. She was thinking that she should forget the hammer of blood. But her mind was somehow not ready to accept this excuse. She was fully aware of Mike's thefts, but she was always silent about it. Mike was expecting her to be silent about this murder as well.

 But Mary was in no way prepared to live up to Mike's expectations. Murder was a more serious crime than theft and fraud. But Mike's infidelity meant feasting on her own death.

 Because the threat that Mike had made to kill Mary in the basement was not just a threat, Mary felt the smell of truth in that threat.

But if she reaches the police without telling Mike and proves Mike's crime and the police, believing her story, arrest Mike and lock Mike behind bars for a long time, then Mary's future can be safe. This is the only way left for securing release from Mike.

.

Mary kept looking into this matter till the morning light spread, then sleep started falling on her mind and she fell asleep.

                                                           ……….

.

Mike got up in the morning and was busy getting ready. Then he went downstairs and opened the store and told the whole incident last night to clerk Edward, who had reached his duty shortly after the store opened.

Then he again reached upstairs and shook Mary's arm, lifted her from her sleep, and said giving a warning,

 "Remember the police will come to take your statement. You should remember your story from now on, remember what you have to say. For the time being, I will also be with you and will listen to everything”.

Mary kept listening to everything, hiding her face in the sheet. After a few moments, Mike again went downstairs to the store.

Mary was fully awake as soon as Mike left. The first thing to do was to go down to the basement and grab the hammer and towel. lest Mike removes the hammer and towel from the secret tunnel and makes it disappear. Mike will be busy in the store. During this, if she secretly reached the police with a towel and a hammer, then it could have been a matter. But this time she will have to take care of the time. If this time Mike caught her in the basement, then her story would be complete.

 The best time to go to the cellar was at lunchtime. It was common for Mike to go to the street corner hotel between twelve and one o'clock to eat sandwiches and drink soup. Mary waited for the afternoon. He was afraid that Mike might not come upstairs to check on her.

At twelve o'clock Mary saw from the window that Mike was going to the hotel for lunch. Then she quickly changed her clothes and ran towards the basement.

                                            

                                                           ……….

When Mary removed the cover of the secret tunnel, both the blood-stained towel and the hammer were present in it. 

Mary put both the towel and the hammer in her handbag and hurriedly out of the basement.

She walked towards the outside door with fast steps, reaching the door, she took stock of the pavement under the cover of the pillar, Mike was not known far and wide. Then she again started walking on the path opposite the hotel with fast steps. A short distance from the intersection was a telephone booth. Mary called a taxi from the phone booth and waited.

                                                          ……….

 

Detective Sergeant Vincent and his four other accomplices at the police station were listening to Mary's story with full interest and attention. Mary told him in detail about Mike's threats, his fraud in the store's business, and Jack's murder.

 And also, about Mike's lie that he had told Mary to tell the police. By making the same statement, when Charlotte's call came, Mike was also sleeping in the bed with Mary at that time and they both went downstairs to the store to see Jack. Mary had told everything in detail to the police.

The mark of all police interest was the hammer that Mary presented as evidence. The police were sure that this hammer was the killing tool with which Jack was killed. But they cannot legally interpret it as a tool of murder before the laboratory reports of blood and hair frozen on the hammer.

 Mary was stunned for a moment upon hearing this, but then Sergeant Vincent assured her that he would arrest Mike on suspicion of murder before the laboratory report came. So, Mike finds out about the missing hammer and the towel and runs away before the police arrive.

Sergeant Vincent was also well aware of Mary's fear of knowing her husband. Mary had clearly said that she does not have the courage to face her husband, nor does she want to see his face again.

After some time, Mary went to her house with Sergeant Vincent in a common car. The sergeant himself was also wearing a civil dress. The sergeant parked the car in a corner in front of the store. The view of the store was clearly visible from this place. The other accomplices of the sergeant were in another police car. They had stopped their car just in front of the store door. And then all four of them entered the store running.

After some time, they appeared again, this time Mike was also with them. Mary was relieved to see that Mike was handcuffed. She took a sigh of relief.

When the police car left with Mike, Sergeant Vincent said to Mary,

 "Ok Mrs. Mike, you can go back to your home at ease."

 Mary took a deep breath and got out of the car and headed toward her apartment. She was feeling very light.

                                                           ……….

That night when Mary came to her bed to sleep, there was an astonishing silence in the house, despite the darkness, Mary was feeling very relaxed. She was feeling proud of herself too. Because she had handed over a murderer to the law while showing her courage and daring.

There was another reason for her spiritual peace. Now Purcell & Drogon hardware was her property. She alone was the owner of this store and no one else was involved in this business and profits.

She could not sleep even for a moment last night. Tonight, she wanted to sleep peacefully. Her mind was free from all kinds of thoughts. Mary closed her eyes and handed herself over to the plaintiff of sleep.

                                                           .………

It was only while she was sleeping when a faint voice was heard in her ears. She got up hurriedly and tried to hear something, there was complete silence in the house. Mary understood that voice as she hesitated and lay down again.

The voice was heard once again, Mary's body was stretched once again. She understood that this time in reality some thief had entered the house.

Mary extended her hand to the telephone. She had just picked up the receiver when the room got illuminated. From Mary's mouth came an uninhibited shriek.

She turned to look at the door of the room with frightened eyes and kept looking. The receiver fell down leaving Mary's hand.

Mike was standing at the door of the room.

"You?" said Mary in a trembling voice. she couldn't believe her eyes, she felt as if someone had grabbed her heart in his fist.

 "You, you were taken by the police, they promised to lock you up on the charge of killing Jack. 

How did they release you?"

A venomous smile appeared on Mike's lips. "When they were sure that I was innocent, they left me," Mike said in a sarcastic tone.

"Innocent?" Mary said impudently.

"Yeah," Mike said, shaking his head.

 "When Charlotte testified that I was with Charlotte when Jack was murdered, the police had no choice but to release me." Mike moved towards Mary and said "to the police on your statement. No one is sure anymore.

“The police think you knew about me and Charlotte's affair. And you blamed me for Jack's murder to avenge my infidelity. The police are sure that Jack's murder is the work of some unknown thief. Not only this, but they think that you yourself had made up the story of the fraud of money and accounts about me so that the suspicion of the police on me becomes strong and you can take revenge for my infidelity.”

Mary's mouth remained open, and her eyes peeled in wonder. "You and Charlotte?" These words were barely uttered from his mouth.

"Yes, me and Charlotte". Mike said in a sarcastic tone.

 The poisonous smile on his face grew deeper. He untied the knot of his tie and, while holding the tie in both hands, slowly began to move toward the bed. "Do you know where you are going my dear"? Mike asked in a sarcastic tone, 

"Do you know about your destination?"

Mary was once again in awe and panic watching her husband approaching her.

"Your beautiful body can easily fit in the tunnel of the basement, that is your destination, I made that long wide tunnel deliberately for this purpose.”

Mary walked back in a frightened manner.

Mike had reached close to him, and Mary started beating her hands in helplessness, she was going from the corner of the bed.

A savage whisper rose from Mike's face and another moment he wrapped the tie around Mary's neck and began to force it. Screams were pouring out of Mary's mouth. Her eyes were boiling, and she was tossing her hands and feet in a state of helplessness.

Then Mary's body took two or three strokes, and she collapsed on the bed. 

                         

                    ……….

A few moments later, Mary's lifeless body rested on Mike's shoulders, and she headed toward the basement. He had come down the stairs and reached the lower floor when he heard the sound of knocking. Mike was shocked. The door to the basement was in front of him. Someone was knocking on the door of the store.

Mike placed Mary's body along the wall by the door of the cellar. The knock was heard once again, along with a voice also emerging.

 "Open the door! Police".

Mike began to feel blood pooling in his veins. He started wondering why the police had knocked on the door of the store instead of the door of the house. What has the police come here to get at this time?

He knew that the police would not go back, he would have to answer, Mike started thinking for a moment. Then he bent down and lifted Mary's body on his shoulder again and opened the basement door and placed the body on the stairs. And closed the door and walked towards the door of the store.

the knock was heard again.

Mike took a deep breath and lit the light inside the store and opened the door.

Sergeant Vincent and two officers were standing at the door.

"We apologize for the untimely trouble, Mr. Mike," said the sergeant.

"But we have some important things to do with your wife."

"To my wife?" Mike asked in surprise. "For what?"

"These things concern Jack's murder". Sergeant Vincent said.

"It's been proven that you didn't hit Jack's skull with the hammer because you weren't there at that time. But because your wife tried to trap you and wanted to put the charge of murder on your head. It turns out that Mary had committed the murder. We want to see what explanation she can offer about this.”

"Oh, I understand". Mike said, taking a leisurely breath in his heart.

 "But she is not present at home, I think she has left me. When I reached home, the house was completely empty and "...

An irresistible grin appeared on the sergeant's lips, he nodded his head in a sarcastic manner and said, "You are proving your loyalty by lying to save Mary, Mr. Mike".

Saying this he entered the store.

" But if you don't mind, can we take a look at your store and apartment?"

                                                                                                                  THE END