Murder In The Old Castle
XLVII. The Secret of Anjani
Lunch has been on the dining table since ten minutes ago. As usual, Helen always prepared a special menu with a large amount! His cooking skills deserve a thumbs up, because whatever he cooks becomes very special. While others were anxious about the conditions inside the castle, he continued cooking without any worries. Yeah, Helen looks powerful as if she's the real owner of the castle.
The first time to the dinner table was Cornellio Syam. He was astonished, because the only one present at the dining table was him. Other writers are usually in that place. Somewhat awkwardly he sat alone, while Helen poured water in her glass. Cornellio propped up his chin, watching the middle-aged woman's movements closely.
“What is this much food always running out, Helen?” ask Cornellio.
“You don't have to worry. This food is not only served to you, but I also make more for the other residents around this castle,” replied Helen while continuing to move.
“Other residents? Isn't there no house around? There is only tea plantation. Who do you mean by other residents?”
“Every morning, I come out of the castle and feed dozens of stray dogs living around the castle. They live in groups, not disturbing. Instead they keep the castle environment safe. They will bark hard when a stranger comes in,” Helen explained.
Cornellio held his breath. Still remember in his mind, when the herd of stray dogs tore Karina's body and carried the Eastern European girl's wrist run. Is this what Helen meant by the same pack of dogs? Cornellio did not dare to imagine. He shuddered too much when depicted in his mind the wild dogs even ate human flesh.
“How can there be a stray dog, Helen? Doesn't anyone have them?”
“The dog has been living here for decades, even before this castle there were its inhabitants. It is unclear who the owner is. That said, there used to be a family that threw a pair of dogs around here. Now the dog has been breeding and forming a herd,” added Helen.
Cornellio. No more questions about the stray dogs. He saw, Tiara Laksmi also started to enter the dining room. His face looked pale, like it was sick. He wears a sweater and wears a wide cloth trouser. His sight was not excited.
“You're sick?” cornellio.
“Slight flu. I don't know, I've been feeling bad since last night, so I just stayed in my room. I hope today there are foods that can restore stamina,” complained Tiara Laksmi.
“I'll make you a special soup,” said Helen.
“Thank you, Helen.”
Then one by one the inhabitants of the castle began to arrive at the dining table, only Ammar seemed to have not appeared. He is still locked in the office of Anggara Laksono, trying to parse a series of increasingly complicated cases. The policeman decided to postpone lunch to write down some facts he found.
Ammar is increasingly convinced that the murder of Anggara Laksono is only the beginning of a series of murders without a clear motive. At first he thought that Anggara's murder was a revenge. In fact, the murder did not end, even more in a row.
Then followed by the murder of Karina who was quite brutal in the tea garden. The fact that he found, the girl was killed in the evening with a sharp object that tore the stomach. During this time, Karina was known as a young woman who did not have many enemies and was kind. It is astonishing when someone wants his death.
Ammar also noted Maira's attempted murder in a failed reading room. Unfortunately, Ammar is not convinced by the story, because the killer suddenly disappeared without a trace, even though the reading room door was locked. He thought this was something awkward, except for two possibilities! First, Maira lied about the incident, and secondly there was indeed a secret passage in the reading room. Ammar now tends to believe the second opinion, that there is a secret way. This is reinforced by the loss of dr. Dwi in the reading room, with no one knowing where the doctor was.
Next was Rania's death which was quite unexpected. This poor girl was thrown from a height of tens of meters from the top of the attic. He had investigated the attic, but nothing was suspicious. Just an ordinary and dusty attic, along with a music box that still remains.
Most recently, it was an invitation to murder that Cornellio received. Thankfully, the murder failed. In addition, there are things that Ammar also noted. In fact, Anggara Laksono has a missing child. Ammar is trying hard to uncover the whereabouts and identity of the boy.
Meanwhile, he also did not ignore about the killing technique similar to the novel written by Michael. Directly, the author of the detective novel refused outright if he was made a suspect. It was later discovered that the novel he wrote disappeared from the reading room. He suspected that there were people who imitated the killing technique in the novel.
While the others were enjoying lunch, Ammar quickly moved towards Anggara's room, again checking the private photos. He was convinced that the baby had something to do with the murder case in this castle. He immediately sought more information about this. Dismantle the millionaire's closet, to check what's hidden there. Another photo album he found!
In the old photo album, he found more photos of the baby and something very surprising! The baby in the photo was carrying a music box that was almost the same as the music box he found in the attic. Now he was absolutely convinced that the prodigal son had returned to take his revenge. But who?
Soon, he reopened the Anggara Laksono biography written by Madeline Rahma. Unfortunately in the biography, Anggara did not tell much about personal life. He only exposes about his efforts in obtaining wealth and success in life. He also mentioned Anastasia Pratiwi, the woman he loved. But towards the end of the page, he was stunned to find an unfamiliar name...
“Anastasia Pratiwi changed my life to the peak of success. Memories with Anjani have been buried deep, with her body deep in the ground.”
The writing disturbed him. Anjani's? Is she the figure of the woman holding the baby in that blurry photo? Buried in the ground? Does this mean Anjani has died or what?
Back curiosity wipes the heart. He went back through the book, hoping to find more important information. On the middle page, again he found sentences that amazed him.
“At my leisure, I invited the authors of my beloved novels to visit the old castle, entertaining them with unimaginable dishes. I entertained them, for it was the last encounter with them. I want them to feel happy before enjoying the end times.”
Holy hooch!
Ammar continued reading.
“At least a little crazy indeed. But someone must be punished for the mistakes he made. No one can stop. Not even Anjani. I will do everything I can to realize my dreams.”
Now, Ammar is focused on digging deeper. Who is Anjani?
***