Phantom Justice

Jimmy rubbed his face in fatigue. This job of being Police forensic sketch artist
was getting on his nerves. In his job he had to meet witnesses and based on
their responses draw the sketches of the faces of the criminals.
That day it was his usual routine though slightly tedious. There was however this
gruesome murder of a woman, Amrita, the earlier night in her apartment with
three bullets in her head. The usual suspects were her husband and his brother.
The husband was not in the apartment and he had seemingly unassailable alibi
to this effect. His brother was however not able to cobble up any worthwhile
defence.
No one else seemed to be present near the crime scene, but the saving grace
was that an old lady of the adjoining apartment, who had a habit of prying on
neighbours, had claimed to have seen a person entering the apartment through
her magic eye door view.
Mrs Singh, the old lady had told the police I have seen the person who rang the
bell and his entry in Amritas apartment. When the Police wanted more
information from her, she refused saying that After that, I have neither heard
anything from that apartment nor have I seen any person come out.
It seemed to the Police that this slender lead was not sufficient unless of course
Mrs Singh was willing to sit with a Police forensic sketch artist who would make a
sketch of the possible face of the person she had mentioned. It was also very
much likely that the person may not be the criminal, but, at least an
identification to trace the murderer could begin.
There was a knock on the door and Jimmy got up to find that Mrs Singh had
arrived. She was ushered in by a police constable.
Jimmy looked her to find a woman of about 65 years old, dark in complexion,
snow white hair with a strong built. She was a widow and by the look of her she
appeared to be in good health.
She was made comfortable on a chair and Jimmy got down to his sketch. He
asked Mam please think carefully and try to describe the mans face to me.
She said I have seen him fleetingly through my doors magic eye..cannot
recollect very vividly. but will try.
She described to him, That person has a longish face with a goatee. His nose is
small with normal ears and short cropped black hair. He was wearing.
For next three and half hours Jimmy was totally engrossed in sketching the face
of that unknown person. At the end of sketch, Jimmy showed her the picture of
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the face. She seemed satisfied that it somewhat matched with her recollections
of the man.
When she left, Jimmy took the sketch to the Inspector and showed it to him. He
thoughtfully looked at it and slowly shook his head. There will be a few hundred
men in the city with this kind of face. It really doesnt help, does it? We do not
seem to be moving but in any case it is worth a try
Jimmy also scratched his head. He could also remember few persons whom he
knew could fit the description. But when a witness described and finally
approved a sketch, there was nothing much a Forensic sketch artist could do.
It was late evening and Jimmy was winding up his rather long and tiring days
work. Virtually everyone had left and most of the lights of his office area had
been switched off. On his table a cup of coffee, half finished, was lying cold. He
looked at it with distaste and decided not to drink it. Picking up the three
sketches he had made during the day, he opened his drawers to put them inside
and lock up.
The sketch described by Mrs Singh was on the top and suddenly he felt a strange
sensation in his fingers with which held the sketches. He looked down astonished
as he had never felt like this before. The top sketch caught his eyes and with
increasing surprise he found that the paper was lightly glowing red as if a red
bulb has been lit below it.
At that moment, swiftly before his eyes he could see that the sketch was
becoming blurred. He rubbed his eyes to look down again to see that the
outlines of the sketch were becoming clear. As they cleared he stared at it,
horrified.
The visible sketch was not that of the bearded and moustached person described
by Mrs Singh. It was the face of the old lady herself! How could that be? He
shook his head, blinked and dropped the papers on the table. Fear was hitting
him, his legs became rubbery, mouth turned dry and he could not stand. With
shaking hands he picked up his glass of water and as he brought it near his lips
it slipped and the entire water splashed on the sketch. It still showed Mrs Singhs
face. A stifled scream came out from Jimmys mouth.
Hearing the scream the guard who was passing by opened the door of Jimmys
room and rushed in with a shout what happened Sir?. Jimmy rolled his eyes
and looked at him for a moment and again at the sketch. The sketch had
changed to the original one!!
That night Jimmy pulled himself together and called the Inspector who came
rushing back to the office. Hearing the incident he uttered This is unbelievable..
does it mean that Mrs Singh is the murderer? How and who could have changed
the sketch momentarily? The ghost of the Amrita as you claim? This cannot be
believedbut definitely calls for fresh line of investigation
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The subsequent investigations proved that Mrs Singh had indeed murdered
Amrita in cold blood with her illegally obtained pistol with a silencer. It was out of
old enmity. She had tried to throw the police investigation totally in the wrong
track by describing a nonexistent person.
But justice prevailed. How? Some supernatural power from unknown? Nobody
can tell!

12th August 2015