The Death In Marilyn Mansion

“What would you say if I told you that you did, in fact, commit the crime?”

“I would say that’s ridiculous.”,

“Now let me recapitulate what you have said. You said that on the night of 14th, you were nowhere near Marilyn’s mansion. Is that not right?”, he said looking at his notes.

“Yes. I was at Jing Li’s place. He can collaborate it.”, I said confidently.

“From the map that I have here, I notice that Jing Li’s place is around half an hour from Marilyn’s mansion. Isn’t that so?”

“Yes.”

“Jing Li also collaborated that you were at his house from 6 pm to 10 pm.”

“Yes. That is true.”

“Now if you had to kill Marilyn, you would have to go take a car and travel half an hour from Jing’s house and then do the crime and then come back. Taking that you just ran and did the crime in a hurry, Jing would still have to have been blind to not notice that you were missing for an hour.”

I nodded in assent.

“Marilyn’s death, according to autopsy took place somewhere between 6:30 to 8:30 approximately. So this all adds up to the fact that you could never have committed the crime.”

“That’s what I have been telling you all the time.”

The lawyer kept his notes down and looked at me. He removed his eyeglasses and then cleaned it with a hand kerchief. “That’s all, your honor.” And he went and sat down.

The prosecutor got up. He was a tall man with a Abe Lincoln beard. He came up to me and then asked me, “Ok. Mr. Antarrior, tell me in your own words the proceedings of the night.”

“Well, I left Marilyn’s place at around 5:30 and I went off to Jing’s place.”

“Did you and Marilyn have a fight before that?”

“Yes. It was over a silly matter.”

“Could you tell the court what it was about?”

Objection, your honor. Irrelevant to the case.

“I disagree. I will, in due course of time, explain the relation between this and the case.”

The judge nodded. “Objection overruled. Mr. Antarrior, please answer the question.”

I hesitated. I finally said, “It was basically about money.”

“You needed money to pay of your gambling debts.”

“Yes.”

“And did she give you the money?”

“No. She did not.”

No use lying. The maid probably had told him about it all.

“Are you also aware that you inherit the money if Marilyn dies?”

I nodded my head.

“Do you smoke, Mr. Antarrior?”

“Yes. Occasionally.”

“What brand do you prefer?”

“Camel Lites.”

“I like that too. Are you a chain smoker?”

“Hardly. I smoke around 2-3 cigarettes a day maybe.”

“So how many cigarettes do you get for yourself? I mean, how do you stock yourself?”

“I get a packet of 10 cigarettes every week or so.”

“That’s funny. I see that there is ash on the doorstep of Marilyn’s mansion and the forensic says that it is camel lites. Do you see any relation here?”

“Nope. Camel Lite is a very common cigarette. As you said you like it too.”

“True. But it also says that there are around 6-7 stubs located there.”

“So…”

“So, the person must have been there for some time, don’t you think?”

“Yes, I suppose so.”

“It could not possibly have been you. Because you were in Jing’s place. Isnt that so?”

“Yes.”

“Tell me, Antarrior, did you smoke any cigarettes that day?”

“I do not remember.”

“But maybe 6 to 7. That is way beyond the normal. Do you think you would have any reason to be smoking that much. Because your average is normally 3. And when you smoke that, you would probably have to get more cigarettes. Would you not be remembering that then?”

“No. I didn’t smoke 6-7”

“But then someone did. On the night, Marilyn was murdered, someone smoked a lot of cigarettes.”

“It wasn’t me. I could not have possibly done it.”

“Oh yes, you say you were at Jing from 6 to 10 pm.”

“Yes.”

“The body was found at 10:30 by you. You called the police at around that time.”

“Yes.”

“So what did you do at Jing’s place.”

“I basically watched soccer.”

“Was Jing sitting with you?”

“He was in the kitchen talking to his wife on the phone.”

“How long did he speak on the phone?”

“An hour or less.”

“I see. And can anyone see you from the kitchen?”

“No.”

“So what we are saying here is that there was an hour or so during which no one had seen you.”

“Look, I was watching TV. How could I know that Jing was going to be on the phone for that long a time?”

“What if someone fed info to Jing’s wife that Jing was cheating with his wife. That would provoke some sentimental reaction, wouldn’t it? And knowing Jing’s wife, you would probably also know that she talks long when she gets emotional. And knowing Jing, you knew he would shut himself up in room to talk to her privately.“

OBJECTION, YOUR HONOUR. The prosecution is basically telling a hypothesis to influence the jury.

Objection sustained. Prosecution, please sustain from leading the jury.

“Yes, your honor. But tell me, Antarrior, you have been with Jing when his wife got emotional before too, right?”

“Umm… Yes.”

“Do you know what was that about?”

“His wife had suspicions on him cheating against him.”

“How long did that conversation take?”

“One hour to Two hours.”

“Yes, and Jing confirms that you finally left the place because the conversation went on. So you knew the deal.”

“But the killer, you said was there for a long time.”, I cried out. “It could not have been me.”

“Exactly. Someone else was there waiting and watching and smoking. But why camel lites?”

“Antarrior, how well do you know James, the gardeners son?”

I gulped and started shaking.

“Apparently, someone asked him to wait outside and keep a lookout for anyone while that someone went inside and did his deed. That someone smoked camel lites because he handed it over to James to still that little guy’s nerves.”

Everyone in the court room was silent.

“That someone, Mr. Antarrior.........."

And then all hell broke loose.