She !

 

(  IMAGE - Noah Buscher  )

Sheena  thought I was the culprit. I wondered why.

She had always claimed that my eyes look fishy. Her words, not mine. When she first told me that , I assumed she meant they had a fish like shape. Her command over the English Language, after all, hasn't exactly been something to write home about. It was much later that I realized what she meant.

And now she had just informed me that she thought I was responsible for the mess we were in. I was furious . I stomped out of the place  muttering expletives that she chose to ignore.

 

                                    .......

   The How, Where and Why of Everything

 

We had been planning this trip ever since we  met six years ago. It finally  materialized after we had managed to fit in  all the  permutations and combinations of our varying schedules.

Sheena  was a last minute entrant. No one  really liked her at the office, except for Priti. Priti, dear soul, had always been a sucker for tragic tales and Sheena  apparently had one.

 

When we had managed to draw up our travel plans, Priti insisted that we include Sheena . We balked at the idea, pleaded, protested, yelled and finally gave in. Quiet, gentle souls like Priti have a strange way of having things their way. I need to learn it.

 

So in came Sheena . The first thing she did was to change the date of departure. She had a medical appointment. There was an  attempt to change the hotel we were putting up at,  which  of course was thwarted . We simply pretended we hadnt heard her.  Priti had to  spend the next day and a half placating her after that. The rest of us went shopping.

 

The D Day arrived soon enough. We reached the airport exactly three hours before departure. And that, dear friends, is exactly when and where the mess took shape.

Sheena  announced that she had given her Aadhar Card to one of us. We were perplexed. She then looked at me, square in the face and said, "I think you were the one who had asked me for it."

 

" What @°;¥£¿§? ' I barked out ." I have never set eyes on it. "

 

" I vaguely remember handing it over to you at office, ' she went on.

 

I was ready to fist her. I almost did but the others drew me away.

 

She was now standing beside Priti who was urging her to check her bag again.

 

We were stuck. We couldn't check in till the lady had found her Aadhar Card. Could we just dump her and proceed? I am sure the thought had struck all of us - well, almost all of us. But then....

 

They were now on the floor, rummaging through her bag. Two mobile phones, some aspirins and plenty of other unidentifiable things lay strewn on the tarmac. Our flight was due to leave in an hour. I was livid and breathing out a few expletives I walked away to get a drink and cool off.

 

I returned after a while and stopped dead in my tracks. Priti and she were giggling over something while others stood around looking grim.

 

' Ah, here she is, " the voice I had grown to abhor announced breezily.

 

 I frowned. She looked pretty happy.

' Your Aadhaar Card? ' I asked.

 

" Oh,  I found it. It was in a pouch inside my suitcase. "

 

I now have a fair idea, why certain murders take place.