ajar by means of a rope. And then the investigation crew entered the room.
There was an altar like place in the far end of the room and some strange apparatus were placed around the altar. The altar was in the size to make a man lie on it, and over it was laying the stolen corpse. There were many cylinders segregated and placed near the right side wall and each read a name. There were also supplies of groceries such as lime, cinnamon and many other things, all of them aromatic. The wall beside the altar was screened with a beautiful red cloth. There were many quotes written on the left and right side walls. The crew was now totally filled with fear.
And then, Andrew went and lifted the red screen using the worm gear mechanism. Two of them fainted seeing what lay beneath. Behind the screen, there were glass benches on either side with a passage in the middle. Over the benches laid corpses covered with transparent white cloth. And at the end of the passage, there was a bigger glass box inside which laid a beautiful woman, of course a corpse of a beautiful woman. Andrew silently walked and removed the sheets covering the corpses one by one. The corpses were fresh and seemed like dead a moment before. The crew was shocked at the sight. There were 16 corpses, 6 men and 10 women, excluding the one lying in the altar.
Then he walked to the woman’s corpse at the end of passage. She looked around 30 years old she seemed like sleeping and not dead. She was wearing a pink gown embroidered with roses. Her wedlock had a cross dollar. She was so fair and her flesh was pink. Michaels’s name was tattooed in her right hand. Her hair was dark and long till her waist. Something was carved in a stone and etched in the concrete slab over which the box was laid.
It read “Here lays my wife, the moon of my world, the boon of my life and the pain of my heart. Though her soul had flown, her casket of life shall remain pure with me forever. My eyes shall look unto her till it closes for the last. She had made me crazy enough to embalm her after her death so that I shall at least look at her till I die. The love shall not fade till the world fades away.
My sweet wife, you will always be remembered.
- Michael
Name – Rebecca Michael
Deceased – May 2024
Reading that, Andrew stood silent for a moment. Eleven years had passed since she was dead. And yet she looked so fresh. He was simply astonished. No surprise for becoming crazy for a woman this much beautiful, he thought. Then he examined the other corpses. They dated 1 to 10 years and all looked so fresh.
After all they do not have a cannibal among them, but a mastermind who mastered the skills of mummification far equaling those of the ancient Egyptians.
The corpses were removed and sent to the national archeological institute and investigations started for finding out the relatives of the dead. He pleaded not to remove the woman’s corpse alone and so it was done.
The next day, Andrew met Michael in the same investigation room.
“Hello Mr. Andrew. Satisfied with your findings?”
“Yes.”
“Well…Way to go for the punishments then.”
“See…I can save you from being punished…Just give me the details of the other corpses…Wait…did you kill them all?”
Michael laughed “Do I look like a serial killer?”
“I need answers.”
“Hell…No…I don’t kill…I save lives…I don’t destroy…I preserve…”
“Then whose are those corpses.”
Michael looked into his eyes for a moment and started talking.
“Well…I don’t have anything to do with my life anymore. I know that you would have cremated my wife’s body…I am not afraid of being punished…I will tell everything…” He paused for a moment and started again. ”This mummification process, I was so interested in it so that I did a lot of research in it but never thought of experimenting it. And when my wife died, my grief was overwhelming that I could not live…I attempted suicide but escaped…I bribed the graveyard guard and took her corpse back home after a week. The body had already started decaying. Then I used all the results of my research which led to my surprise, that she looked fresh even after 6 months. Then I made more arrangements so that she will remain the same forever. I made the environment dry, free of air and moisture. I kept it a secret. And then one day, a friend of mine, I do not want to disclose his name, his mother passed away and he couldn’t bear it. He was so close to me that I told him about this mummification. He begged me to mummify his mother and I did so. But after a year he felt that her spirit was crying and swirling around the body and so he burned it. But that was not the end. My secret was spread in the air. Many approached me for this. I accepted only the confidential ones. And I have mummified over 100 corpses in my life. I do not want to disclose them. And these 16 corpses, their relatives were so afraid to have them in their home. Fear overwhelmed love. And they paid me and said to burn. I was not willing to burn my works and so I kept with me. End of story."
Andrew turned off his recording device and stood up after a minute of silence.
"I do not understand much about this mummification process Mr. Michael. But one thing I understand."
Michael raised his eyebrows in a questioning posture.
Andrew continued "You are a mastermind." Saying that he walked out and stood near the door, looked back at Michael. "Your wife remains there untouched Mr. Michael. But she will be shifted to the city museum once you come out. I don’t think anyone else knows how to shift her uncontaminated, unless the bloody Egyptians rise back from hell." Andrew closed the door and walked out.
MORE CASES WILL EVOLVE
Author's Note:
Thank you for reading my book. If you enjoyed it, won’t you please take a moment to leave me a review at your favorite retailer? Thanks!
Thanks,
Rajkumar Andrew
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