Pools of Blood

Chapter 10

We both knew the pain of losing our better halves. It's like losing your limbs. You would never be able to get over it.

" Alfred and I went to Bali", I said." There was nothing to investigate. The man confessed to his crime."

-" No", she shook her head. " You are wrong. That was all pre-planned."

-" How?", the level of confusion and bewilderment probably has crossed its peak.

-" Amiya died because of only one reason. Wrong place at the wrong time."

-" What? I can’t comprehend anything. She was there as a part of the Art project. Why would anyone target her?"

-" You will understand after you have heard everything. After Amiya’s death, Alfred became petrified like a stone. Twins have a different level of bonding than other siblings. They share a single cord of life. When one dies, another tends to give up too. Sometimes, the trauma of losing takes over and slowly kills the person. He used to sit for hours in the dark basement alone grieving for his lost sister. You and she were the only two people in his life. His whole life rotated around both of you. The death of Amiya was too much for him. He was so lost but I didn’t give up on him. I wasn’t going to lose the only man who mattered to me. It took days, rather months, for everything to return to a normal state. Injuries heal but the scars remain. You were already shunning him and maintaining distance from him which hurt him. But he understood that you deserved peace. Seeing Alfred would make you remember your wife and that would hurt you more. So Alfred never came to your place. He knew, one day you would open the doors of your heart, come out of your grief and everything would gradually be all right."

I took my head into my hands and sighed. Life was a curse for all of us.

‘ Then," she continued, " one day, a call came from Bali Police Headquarters. They said that they had found something, a small case with Amiya Wang written on it. The recent murder of a wife of police and a sister of an Interpol Officer created a commotion on that small island. The name Amiya Wang was quite unforgettable for the police there. We immediately flew to Bali. I asked Alfred to contact you. But he denied it. He said,’ Michael was already in pain. I can’t ask him to go and visit the place for the second time, where his love was murdered. He is my little brother and I have to do my best to protect his sanity."

" What happened after you reached Bali?", I asked.

-" On reaching Bali Police Station,  they gave us a small black case. The word ‘Amiya Wang ‘ was etched upon it in golden letters. The case was password protected. The police said that a beach cleaner had found it encased between some rocks on the shore. He took it to the police station. It was against law to open Lost and Found objects by the police. So, they contacted Kuala Lampur and received Alfred’s number. Can you guess what was inside it?"

I knew what was inside it. It was the only thing I couldn’t find among Amiya’s belongings which I collected from Bali. It was a gift I gave her on the day of our marriage. Japanese technology. She was tremendously happy. She wanted to change the name of the case from “Amiya wang” to “ Amiya Ting”. But I was against it. I didn’t want her to change her identity. I loved her the way she was.

" A camera", I whispered.

-" Yes,  a camera, which caused her untimely death."