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Death at Midnight

Episode 1: The Deadly Hour

The town of Vasantpur had always been quiet at night. The streets emptied by ten, the markets shut down, and the only sounds were the occasional barking of stray dogs or the distant whistle of a train passing through. But on this particular night, as the clock struck twelve, a scream shattered the silence.

Inspector Aryan Mehta was halfway through his late-night tea when his phone buzzed. He picked it up lazily, expecting another petty complaint—maybe a drunkard causing trouble or a lost pet. But the urgency in the caller’s voice made him sit up straight.

"Sir, there’s been a murder. Karan Malhotra… he’s dead."

Aryan felt a chill crawl down his spine. Karan Malhotra was one of the wealthiest men in town, a businessman with power, influence, and—if rumors were to be believed—a long list of enemies.

The Crime Scene

Fifteen minutes later, Aryan pulled up in front of the Malhotra mansion. The grand white bungalow stood under the moonlight, its towering iron gates wide open. A small crowd had already gathered outside, whispering among themselves. Some of them stepped aside as Aryan walked in, nodding respectfully.

Inside, the air was thick with tension. The body of Karan Malhotra lay slumped in his massive leather chair inside his study. His face was frozen in a grimace of pain, his right hand clutching at his chest as if trying to fight off death itself. There were no visible wounds, no blood—just the lifeless body of a powerful man who had seemingly died out of nowhere.

Aryan scanned the room carefully. The study was lavish, with dark oak bookshelves lining the walls, a massive wooden desk, and a fireplace that had long burned out. A half-empty glass of whiskey sat on the desk, next to a cigar that had burned itself out in the ashtray. The large window behind the chair was closed, and the only door to the room was locked from the inside.

A classic locked-room mystery.

"Who found him?" Aryan asked, his voice calm but firm.

A woman stepped forward, her eyes swollen from crying. It was Anjali Malhotra—Karan’s wife. She was dressed in a silk nightgown, her hands trembling as she wiped away tears.

"I… I did," she whispered. "I woke up and realized Karan hadn’t come to bed. I came to check on him, but the door was locked. I knocked… no response. So I called the servants. They broke the door open and—" Her voice cracked.

Aryan studied her carefully. Her grief seemed genuine, but he knew better than to trust first impressions.

Suspects in the Shadows

He turned to the servants, who stood nearby in silence. Among them was Mohan, the old butler who had served the Malhotra family for years. His face was pale, his hands shaking slightly.

"You broke the door?" Aryan asked.

"Yes, sir," Mohan nodded. "We had to. Madam was panicking, and when we finally got in…" He glanced at Karan’s body and shuddered. "He was already gone."

Aryan turned back to the door. The lock was indeed broken, but from the outside. That meant it had been locked from the inside before the door was forced open.

"Did anyone else hear anything unusual before the scream?" he asked, scanning the room.

The servants exchanged nervous glances before one of them spoke. "Sir, I… I thought I heard something around 11:50. A thud. Like something falling."

Aryan frowned. "And you didn’t check?"

"We didn’t think much of it, sir. Mr. Malhotra often stayed up late, working in his study."

He made a mental note of the time—11:50 PM. That was roughly when the murder had happened. But how?

A Man With Enemies

Karan Malhotra was not a man without enemies. He had built his empire through ruthless business tactics, crushing competitors and making powerful foes along the way. Aryan knew he had to look beyond the grieving widow and terrified servants.

He turned to Anjali. "Did your husband have any recent disputes?"

She hesitated, then nodded. "Yes… there was a business deal that went sour. A man named Rajveer Chauhan—he threatened Karan a few days ago."

"Threatened how?"

"He said Karan would pay for what he did. That he wouldn’t live to see the end of the month."

Aryan’s eyes narrowed. A direct threat. A possible suspect. But threats were common in the world of business. He needed more than that.

"Anyone else?"

Anjali swallowed hard. "There’s… someone else. A woman. Her name is Meera."

Aryan raised an eyebrow. "Who is she?"

Anjali hesitated, then whispered, "His mistress."

The room fell silent.

The First Clue

Aryan turned back to the body. There had to be something he was missing. No forced entry. No visible wounds. A man dead in his chair as if death had simply knocked on his door.

He picked up the whiskey glass, swirling the liquid inside. Then he noticed something—a faint residue at the bottom of the glass. His experience told him what it might be.

Poison.

He straightened, his mind already working through the possibilities. If Karan had been poisoned, who had given him the drink? And why was the room locked from the inside?

One thing was certain—this was no ordinary death.

This was murder.

And it had all happened at midnight.

To Be Continued...

(Stay tuned for Episode 2: Shadows of the past where Aryan delves deeper into karan malhotra's enemies uncovering shocking secrets and unexpected twists)

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Death at Midnight

Episode 2: Shadows of the Past

The dim glow of the study lamp cast long shadows across the walls, as Inspector Aryan Mehta leaned over the crime scene once more. The lingering scent of whiskey and burnt tobacco filled the air, but his attention was fixed on the empty glass—its bottom coated with a faint residue. Poison.

His instincts told him that this was a carefully planned murder. But by whom?

Karan Malhotra was a man of power, wealth, and controversy. His list of enemies was long, and with every second that passed, the case became more complicated. But Aryan knew one thing for certain—whoever had killed Karan had done it with precision.

He turned to Anjali Malhotra, her eyes still filled with grief and something else—fear.

“Mrs. Malhotra, was your husband in the habit of drinking alone at night?” Aryan asked.

She hesitated, then nodded. “Yes. He often stayed up late, going over business matters in his study.”

Aryan studied her carefully. “Did he prepare his own drinks?”

Anjali’s eyes flickered with uncertainty. “Sometimes. But usually, Mohan, our butler, would bring it to him.”

Aryan turned to Mohan. The elderly man stiffened under the inspector’s gaze. “Did you serve him tonight?”

Mohan swallowed. “Yes, sir. Around 11:30 PM, I brought him his whiskey as usual.”

“And you saw him drink it?”

Mohan hesitated. “I… I placed the glass on his desk and left. He was on the phone with someone.”

Aryan’s ears perked up. “Who was he speaking to?”

“I’m not sure, sir. But he seemed tense.”

Aryan made a mental note. The timeline was falling into place. If Mohan had delivered the drink at 11:30 PM, and the servants had heard a noise at 11:50 PM, that meant Karan Malhotra had died within a twenty-minute window.

A well-planned murder.

The Mistress and the Business Rival

Stepping out of the study, Aryan called his assistant, Sub-Inspector Ramesh. “Get me details on Rajveer Chauhan and Meera. I want to know where they were between 11 PM and midnight.”

Ramesh nodded and hurried away. Meanwhile, Aryan decided to question Anjali further.

"Tell me about Meera," he said.

Anjali tensed. "I don't know much about her. Only that she's younger… beautiful. Karan spent a lot of time with her."

"Did you ever meet her?"

"No. But I knew she was important to him."

"Important enough to kill him?"

Anjali's expression darkened. "I don't know. But if she loved him, why would she?"

Aryan wasn’t convinced. Love and murder were more connected than people realized.

Just then, Ramesh returned with an update. "Sir, Rajveer Chauhan was at a party in Mumbai last night. He has multiple witnesses confirming his alibi."

That eliminated the businessman.

"What about Meera?" Aryan asked.

Ramesh hesitated. "She… she hasn’t been seen since yesterday evening."

Aryan’s eyes narrowed.

The mistress had disappeared.

A Hidden Threat

Later that night, Aryan sat at his desk in the police station, going through Karan Malhotra’s financial records. If there was one thing he had learned over the years, it was that murders often traced back to money, power, or love.

Something caught his eye—a large sum of money had been transferred from Karan’s account two days ago. The recipient? A private investigator named Suresh Patel.

A businessman hiring a private investigator? That could mean only one thing—Karan was looking into someone.

Aryan picked up his phone and dialed Patel’s number. After several rings, a groggy voice answered. “Hello?”

“This is Inspector Aryan Mehta. You were recently hired by Karan Malhotra. I need to know what you found.”

There was a long pause before Patel finally said, “Meet me in an hour. I don’t trust phones.”

Aryan hung up, grabbed his coat, and headed out.

The Secret Investigation

Patel’s office was tucked away in a rundown building on the outskirts of town. The private investigator was a wiry man in his fifties, with sharp eyes that missed nothing.

Aryan wasted no time. “Tell me what Karan Malhotra hired you for.”

Patel lit a cigarette, exhaling slowly before speaking. “He suspected someone was trying to kill him.”

Aryan’s pulse quickened. “Did he say who?”

Patel shook his head. “No. But he gave me a list of people to follow—his wife, his business partner, and… his mistress, Meera.”

Aryan leaned forward. “What did you find?”

Patel flicked the ash off his cigarette. “Meera was meeting someone in secret. A man. I managed to get a picture.”

He pulled out an envelope and handed it over. Aryan opened it and froze.

The man in the photograph wasn’t a stranger.

It was Mohan, the butler.

To Be Continued…

(Stay tuned for Episode 3:The Locked Room Mystery where Aryan uncovers more shocking truths and the case takes an even darker turn)

Death at Midnight

Episode 3: The Locked Room Mystery

Inspector Aryan Mehta stared at the photograph in his hands. Mohan, the loyal butler who had served Karan Malhotra for years, was seen meeting with Meera—the businessman’s mistress.

A deep frown settled on Aryan’s face. Why would a lowly butler be in secret contact with his master’s mistress? Was it blackmail? Or was something much darker at play?

He slipped the photograph into his pocket and turned back to Suresh Patel, the private investigator.

"Did Karan know about this?" Aryan asked.

Patel nodded. "I was supposed to tell him everything the next day. But now…" He trailed off, shaking his head.

Aryan took a deep breath. The pieces of the puzzle were slowly falling into place, but there was still one big mystery—how had Karan Malhotra been murdered inside a locked room?

Returning to the Crime Scene

Back at the Malhotra mansion, the house was eerily quiet. The servants had been sent to their quarters, and Anjali Malhotra had retired to her room, leaving Aryan and his team alone in the study.

The door had been locked from the inside. The windows were shut. There was no sign of forced entry.

If someone had poisoned Karan, how had they escaped without unlocking the door?

Aryan circled the room, his sharp eyes scanning every detail. The glass of whiskey. The half-burnt cigar. The untouched papers on the desk.

Then, something caught his attention.

The air vent above the bookshelf. It was slightly ajar.

He called for Ramesh. "Check that vent."

Ramesh grabbed a stool and climbed up. He pulled off the cover, revealing something wedged inside. A small vial.

Carefully, he handed it down to Aryan.

The label was faint, but the word "Cyanide" was still visible.

A Clever Trick

Aryan examined the vial closely. It was nearly empty.

A thought struck him. What if Karan hadn’t been poisoned through his drink?

"What if the poison was in the air?" Aryan muttered.

Ramesh looked confused. "What do you mean, sir?"

Aryan turned back to the air vent. "If someone released cyanide gas into the study through the vent, it would slowly fill the room. Karan, unaware, would breathe it in while working. Within minutes, his body would shut down, and it would look like a natural death."

Ramesh’s eyes widened. "But that means—"

"The killer didn’t need to be in the room when he died," Aryan finished. "They just needed to release the poison remotely."

Now, the question was—who had access to the vents?

The Butler’s Lies

Aryan called Mohan in for questioning. The elderly butler entered the study, his hands shaking slightly.

"You’ve worked here for how long?" Aryan asked, keeping his tone casual.

"Thirty years, sir," Mohan replied.

"And in all those years, have you ever cleaned the air vents?"

Mohan looked confused. "No, sir. That is handled by the maintenance staff."

Aryan leaned forward. "Then why did I find a vial of cyanide inside one of them?"

Mohan’s face went pale. "I-I don’t know, sir. I swear!"

Aryan pulled out the photograph and placed it on the table. "Then tell me why you were meeting Meera in secret."

Mohan’s mouth opened and closed, but no words came out.

"Talk, Mohan. Because right now, everything is pointing to you."

The butler let out a long sigh, his shoulders slumping. "Alright… I’ll tell you everything."

A Deadly Affair

"I didn’t kill him, sir," Mohan said, his voice barely above a whisper. "But I was working with Meera."

Aryan crossed his arms. "For what?"

Mohan took a shaky breath. "Meera… she wanted to destroy Karan. She hated him."

Aryan’s eyes narrowed. "Why?"

Mohan hesitated, then spoke the words that sent a chill down Aryan’s spine.

"Because she wasn’t just his mistress. She was his first wife."

The room fell silent.

To Be Continued…

(Stay tuned for Episode 4: A Web of Lies, where Aryan uncovers the shocking truth about Karan Malhotra’s past and the real motive behind his murder.)