Episode 3

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."