Murder In The Old Castle
194. Warehouse Padlock

After examining Gilda's room, Dimas went downstairs to meet Mr. Paiman at the end of the lower stairs. She worries about Gilda because she disappears from the room. Bad thoughts instantly entered Dimas's mind. At a time like this, it is not impossible that anything can happen. He wanted to find Gilda, but he did not meet with Mr. Paiman. In fact, he had requested that Mr. Paiman wait a while.

“Pak ... Mr Paiman?” said Dimas.

A moment of confused Dimas. Where is Mr Paiman? He was getting more worried about everything that was happening. He walked back down the first floor through the hallway of the quiet room. Suddenly he heard hurried footsteps heading towards him.

Fortunately, the sound of the footsteps belonged to Mr. Paiman. The man looked worried. He was going to tell Dimas something.

“What's up, sir? Did something happen?” ask Dimas.

“Tadi .. earlier I saw a shadow in the backyard and there was a strange sound, so I went there to check,” said Mr. Paiman stammered.

“Then what do you see?” ask Dimas curiously.

“I .. I don't see anything. I heard a rustling sound like the sound of things being dragged, but as soon as I checked, there was nothing,” said Mr. Paiman.

“Hmm, don't such disturbances sometimes occur, sir?”

“No, Sir! This is her voice clear. This is unusual. I'm afraid something bad happened tonight. So I'm here soon to report to you!”

Dimas mangosteen hearing Mr. Paiman's description. He immediately took the initiative to check for himself in the backyard. He stepped there immediately, followed by Mr. Paiman behind him. The back yard of the house does look quiet, with the sound of insects creaking. Dimas sharpened his gaze around, but found nothing strange around there.

“Like nothing here .... “

Dimas muttering. He shone a flashlight into the back yard corners of the quiet house, but all he saw was bushes and trees. An owl flew away when Dimas accidentally shone a light towards the top of the tree.

“I heard so clearly that sound from the back yard here,” said Mr. Paiman.

Suddenly, they heard another sound of footsteps from the direction of the bathroom. The two men immediately checked to find out who was in the bathroom these nights. Apparently, they saw the figure of Alex who had just come out of the bathroom.

“Alex! What are you doing?” ask Dimas.

“Eh, sorry .. sorry, sir! I if this night always feel like peeing..”.

Alex said guiltlessly, scratching his hair and yawning a few times.

“Quick return to your room, Lex. I told you to lock the door. Very dangerous outside the room nights like this,” advice Dimas.

“But I did kebelet, sir. Can't go to the bathroom?” ask Alex.

“Udah you come back soon, don't forget the room key!”

Alex no longer argues. He immediately went into the house. Dimas breathing. He was getting tired of all this. He begins to suffer from excessive paranoia, and prejudice is always present in his mind. I hope nothing happens tonight.

“Looks like we should take a break, sir. We work too much from the morning. I'm so tired,” murmured Dimas.

“If Mr. Dimas is tired can rest first. If I'm used to staying up, sir. I'll be around for a while. We can't let our guard down. Later if I am tired, I will wake Mr. Dimas to replace me in charge,” said Mr. Paiman.

“Pak Paiman will be on his own?” ask Dimas.

“Nothing really, sir. Yesterday was like that too. Just take a break. I will be fine tonight,” said Mr. Paiman.

Actually Dimas didn't have the heart to let Mr. Paiman do it himself tonight. He is still remembered when Mr. Paiman was caught by a mysterious figure some time ago. However, he felt his entire bones being stripped away. He felt very tired today. He had a lot to take care of starting in the morning.

“Oke, Sir! Remember to always be vigilant. If you need anything, just knock on my door. Hopefully tonight there is nothing,” said Dimas.

However, just a few steps Dimas left Mr. Paiman, suddenly they heard the sound of a man shouting in the house. Without waiting for the command, the two immediately ran towards the source of the voice that seemed to be coming from the male occupant's room on the first floor.

They arrived at the male occupant's room territory, finding the pale-looking and frightened Alex. Dimas immediately acted swiftly. He went into Alex's room, found the contents of the closet scattered on the floor, along with a poster of Albert Einstein scissors scattered on the floor.

“Someone infiltrated the room while I was in the bathroom .... “

Alex said nervously. He was worried, because someone knew that he idolized Albert Einstein, and now he found the poster of the famous scientist cut into small pieces, scattered across the floor of the room.

“You didn't lock the door when you went to the bathroom?” ask Dimas.

“I forgot .... “

“Don't be careless, Alex! Here you still profit only scissor-scissor posters. How about your gut being scissored? In situations like this you have to be vigilant!” said Dimas firmly.

“Ma-pardon me, Sir. I was so sleepy, I didn't think about locking the door at all. So how is this?”

“OK .. okay. We don't know who did all this. However, your position is threatened. I thought the killer was after your life. Now go to bed and lock the door! Again, lock the door! Don't act recklessly. You could have died for your own mistakes! Just leave the remnants of the poster scattered there. Tomorrow I'll photograph it, to serve as evidence. Now rest!” dimas Command.

“Ba-good, Sir. Thank you,” said Alex.

Alex immediately entered his room, not forgetting he locked the door after hearing a message from Dimas. The police are getting more anxious. He felt that there were people wandering around in a blind night like this. Immediately he checked again the rooms of the residents there. He again tried to check Ferdy's room adjacent to Alex's room. He knocked on Ferdy's door, because it was locked.

After several knocks, Ferdy opened the door. He looked surprised by the presence of Dimas at the door.

“You haven't slept?” Back to asking.

“Oh, I was asleep, then I heard a knock on the door, so I opened,” Ferdy said.

“Be careful tonight and don't forget the door lock, as there are intruders roaming in this house,” Dimas' message.

Ferdy nodded with a smile. Dimas left Ferdy's room, then went back to the second-floor rooms. Meanwhile, Mr. Paiman faithfully followed in his footsteps. Dimas saw a row of empty rooms. It seems like nothing will happen tonight.

“We'll rest tonight, sir. It's early in the morning. I think the perpetrator of the murder would have thought too of committing a crime at this hour. We better rest to prepare stamina tomorrow morning. Our day will still be very long, sir!” said Dimas.

“How about Mbak Gilda? Is it in his room?”

Dimas shook his head, saying,”Pak Paiman should not worry about Gilda. He does sometimes. Disappeared, and suddenly appeared. But there was indeed something a little strange in his room .... “

“While how, Sir?”

“I found a cigarette in his room. To my knowledge, Gilda is very allergic to cigarettes. I suspect not-don't .... “ Words Dimas stopped.

“Gosh! What if the intruder did evil to Mbak Gilda, sir?” worried Mr. Paiman.

“Okay, then let's search the whole house and the page to find Gilda's whereabouts. Do not let other residents know, sir, will cause panic. We just search around the house!”

The two immediately covered all the areas around the house. But nothing seems strange. Inside the house, everything seemed safe and nothing suspicious. Besides, if Gilda was in the house, they would have known. Around the page the same. Everything seems nothing strange.

“Where else have we not checked?” ask Dimas to Mr. Paiman.

“Warehouse, Sir. The warehouse building is located a little backwards. I used to store gardening tools in the warehouse, as well as other used items. Yesterday some items were also missing from the warehouse. Maybe we can find a clue inside the warehouse there,” said Mr. Paiman.

They agreed to immediately go to the warehouse, making sure that in the warehouse area was also fine. The barn building was quite large, with a roof that looked weathered. The walls are also dirty because of the moss. The building had a door, but the warehouse door was locked.

“The door is locked ... more precisely padlocked!” said Mr. Paiman while observing the padlock hanging on the door.

“Normally it is padlocked like this?” ask Dimas.

“Ngak Sir. The lock on this warehouse is broken, so it can't be locked. I was also surprised that there was suddenly a padlock here. Or maybe my wife put a padlock on? Yesterday I complained to my wife about the loss of goods in the warehouse. Maybe installed a new padlock here,” said Mr. Paiman.

“Iya, later asked to Ms. Mariyati, if she had the lock on this door. I think tonight's all quite first, sir. I'm sure Gilda went out somewhere, but there's no way she could have escaped. The front gate padlock has been replaced, right? I hope he comes back tomorrow. I know Gilda, sir, she likes weird sometimes. We better go back home and rest. It is not good that we linger outside the house, because it is likely that the killer will act inside,” said Dimas.

“Good Sir. I just go home!”

“Iya Sir. Thank you for accompanying me on patrol tonight,” Dimas said.

***

The night went by quickly, changing by morning. The sun had just revealed a light in the eastern horizon, as if forcing the inhabitants to wake up from their long dream. Rasty opened his eyes, feeling the warm sunlight hitting his face. Hurriedly he looked towards the clock that was on the dresser. It was almost seven o'clock. He woke up bad today.

Indeed, Rasty is very much looking forward to this day, because the police have promised to uncover all the secrets that have been a puzzle. Actually he also felt very happy, because Dimas told him that he had been separated from the status of a suspect. However, behind the happiness was still tucked sadness because he remembered the state of Rudi in the hospital. He hoped that the young man could be saved.

After bathing and changing clothes, he rushed towards the dining room. There are some residents who are ready at the dining table. Today, Dimas postponed all morning schedules. If there is usually morning exercise and other activities, especially today Dimas negates it. He was waiting for Reno. The two of them were about to uncover the great secret that had been hidden all along.

Rasty sat facing the dining table that had been filled with rice and side dishes. Today Ms. Mariyati is cooking as usual. He deliberately woke up early, making sure all types of cooked food ingredients were safe. The poison events in Rudi's drink made Bu Mariyati more alert to the possibility of intruders who want to do no good.

One by one the inhabitants of the isolation house came to the dining table. Likewise Dimas. While waiting for the other residents, Dimas floated his gaze around. The residents of the isolation house are almost complete. There was Rasty across the table, Adinda and Lena chatting in whispers, Ferdy who looked bored while tapping his finger at the table, and Alex who looked lethargic. Maybe last night he was sleep-deprived, so his eyes looked red.

On the other side of the table, Wandi is also seen who began to fidget because Gilda did not go down to the dining table. Dimas can catch Wandi's anxiety. He asked the man.

“Where's Gilda?” ask Dimas.

“I don't know either, Sir. Usually he comes on time, but why is it late now?” ask Wandi.

“Last night, I checked Gilda's room, and there was no Gilda there. I think he's going somewhere. Paiman and I searched everywhere, but could not find Gilda. Didn't he say anything to you, Wandi?” ask Dimas.

“No, Sir! It was him if anything always told me. But this time he said nothing. Indeed, he was a bit uncomfortable living in this isolation house because he could not wait to cover some news. I'm worried that he ran away ... “ said Wandi.

“Kabur? I see it's not so. Gilda's belongings are still complete in her room. If he ran away, at least he was carrying valuables. I still found Gilda's wallet in the drawer. Time yes he ran away without carrying a wallet?” said Dimas.

Wandi. He was worried that something bad might happen to his co-worker. Dimas secretly felt anxious as well, but he had already tried to search last night, even if to no avail. Meanwhile, the other residents seemed enthusiastic to hear the conversation between Dimas and Wandi. They also wondered, where was Gilda really?

From the direction of the kitchen, Mr. Paiman was shocked with a panicked face.

“What's up, Sir?”

“Kata .. said my wife, not her who put the padlock in the warehouse, sir. So who's masang the new padlock?”

“Relax sir, we will check after eating. The important thing is we fill the stomach first, then we investigate this case again. Okay well? Mr. Paiman take it easy and don't panic!”

***