Bahran Nirumand, the Sufi Detective, was about to leave the task room when two men whom he recognised as Guards entered.
“ Chief Inspector?” one asked.
“Acting- in-charge of criminal investigations,“ Bahram replied.
“Sure, sure; still, you’ll have to accompany us.“
“In that case, you gentlemen will have to allow me to leave instructions to my team; we are investigating...”
“We know that.“
“… a suicide under suspicious circumstances,”
as if he had not been interrupted.
“Get me Feroz, Mehdi and Arif,“ he instructed the operator over the phone.
“Ask Pervaiz in the mobile unit to receive.”
“Yes, Chief Inspector.“
A stream of orders followed.
“Feroz and Mehdi, you have one last look at the site. I know it has been cleaned because of these French tourists who never arrived, still, take some photos, then look at the ones that we do have, of the body and the site, look for anything that is odd and record it on Police Net, Search Mode.
You, Arif, take measurements and look for traces of an intruder, one more time; work out an angle of fall; then all three of you, supervise the cleanup of the cellar where we had the body. Did anyone photograph the vehicle that arrived to take it away or take its number? If so, pass these on to Pervaiz, to circulate a description and for him to keep his eyes open. I want to know how these people knew.”
“Chief Inspector...” one of the guards growled.
“Operating on a case.”
“Yeah, yeah; we haven’t got all day.”
“I do, to investigate, as does my team.”
Continuing on the phone: “Ask at the shops and stalls opposite the Castle [Shiraz Castle], just in case.”
“Yes, Chief Inspector; when will you be back?”
"Ask these gentlemen, our Guards."
“ Would you like to talk to my men?” He turned to one of the Guards.
“ Your Chief Inspector will have to... enlighten us, yes, that is what it is; we do not wish to interfere with your investigation.“
“ Could have fooled us,” commented one of the policemen loud enough to be heard.
“ Who is that, Chief Inspector?” asked the surly guard, uncomfortable inside a police station.
“Ask him,” countered Bahman. “Gentlemen, let’s go; you haven’t got all day.”
“ Sit in front, Chief Inspector,” directed the senior guard, in the rank of Deputy Commander, well-known to Bahman.
“ Boys, sit in the rear, both of you; thank you,” he commanded his Guards. They drove quietly for a while, no one saying a word.
Eventually: “You haven’t asked us why we are... inviting you, have you, Chief Inspector?”
“Am I to find out?“ Bahram, typically, countered with a question.
“ Yes, eventually; I’ll tell you now that there has been an irregularity.”
“ One of many, Commander?“ queried Bahman, ironically.
“Not for me to say, it was Ruhollah Abbasadi who ordered us to 'encourage' you to come and answer one question in particular.“
Ruhollah Abbasadi was a particularly obnoxious, narrow-minded cleric who had been hoisted onto the Ayatollah of Shiraz, rather easygoing Ayatollah Ferouskohi , known for his dislike of the Guards, as a kind of minder . The Ruhollah was not at pains to hide his intense dislike for independent characters in general and Sufis in particular; some guard were known to loathe him a lot more than his, and their, notional boss, the Ayatollah of Shiraz.
“May I ask you a question, Chief Inspector?"
“To interrogate me, Deputy Commander, or to seek information?”
“Because I want to know how come that you are Acting-in-Charge of Criminal Investigation of the Fars Provincial Police Force.” [ Fars being the province around Shiraz ]
“Don’t you know, Deputy Commander?”
“Not really, Acting-in-Charge. Or else I would not ask. It has to do with why we were… encouraged... to ask you to accompany us today.”
“Llet me give you a short answer, then. Our Provincial Crime Controller is in India, as is our Chief Forensic Officer.“
“May I ask what for?”
“A series of Field Trips, Training Sessions and Workshops by the Maharastra Forensic Detection Unit."
“Where are they?”
“ Based in Bombay, Deputy Commander.”
“ And the Superintendent?“
“ Has been delayed in Teheran, with more meetings than expected; this is the short answer, you realise.“
“ Let’s wait till we get to our Headquarters, Chief Inspector.”
The Commander for Shiraz City of the Revolutionary Guards was waiting for them, along with a senior officer responsible for Fars Province; they sat down in the Commander’s office.
“ Coffee, Chief Inspector?”
“ No, mint tea, please.”
“ Yes, I brought some from Dubai last week,” affirmed the Commander.
“ Coffee, the rest of us.” He rang a bell for a young guard.
“ Now, I am sure that my Deputy has been asking this already, Chief Inspector, but would you, please?”
“ Ground Rules apply; first of all, no titles, second, would you leave the door open?“
“ That is a new one, Chief... so sorry, but why?“
“ So that your junior guards know that what we are talking about is to be treated with...”
“Confidence?“
“ Need to know, yes. Next rule; I shall not elaborate on any answer I give you,
nor shall I refuse to answer entirely.”
“ Why that, now?“
“ This is an ongoing investigation you want to ask me about; so we know little if anything,
even by way of conjecture, strange as it seems; call it Police Procedure.”
“ Where, by the way, did you learn about the Open Door?”
“ My wife went to Japan with a group of junior teachers last year.“
“ Look, while I may not apologise, say that I am sorry.“
“ Accepted, but whatever for?“
“ We were ordered to interrogate your wife as well."
“ The Storyteller, on this case of mine? You must be...”
“ Afraid not, it does have nothing to do with the case, but it is due to a complaint by one of your neighbours what she saw.”
“ You acted on it?“ Incredulous.
“ The Ruhollah had found out separately; how... if we find the person … but as it is, he ordered us to interview your wife, so we sent two guards to her school.”
“ Forgive me, my friends, I do feel sorry for them; at the Rose of Shiraz.“
“ Oh, would you, as a friend, not try to ring her; if she manages to ring you, we will let you take the call.“
“ Are they interviewing her now, do you know?”
“ Could be.“ Checking a watch: “What with traffic…“
“ Oh, that would be in her classroom; those Guards will never be the same again.”
Mint tea and coffee had arrived, along with some cheese and nuts; the Provincial Officer quietly put a carefully sealed item onto the table. “ High Security, “ he said, unsmilingly, as he opened one heavily-sealed plastic bag after another, for a soft-drink bottle to emerge.
“ Call it Shirazi Sherry, or original fortified wine.”
“ Our Shiraz where winemaking started,“ added the Deputy Commander.
Four glasses mysteriously appeared, as did burnt-red liquid inside each of them
“ May the Islamic Revolution live forever…“
“ And thrive!‘’ In unison, smiling at each other, as only Shirazi gentlemen can, in such situations.
“ Let me ask again, what set of strange circumstances brought it about that you are more or less in charge of all criminal activities in this Province ?“
“ The Fars Chief of Police, our Director of Criminal Prosecution, and also the Chief Forensic Investigator, were selected to attend a six- week liaison & familiarisation course, held in and around Bombay.“
“ Who by; the Province?“
“ No, Teheran.“
“ Are they the only Iranian participants?“
“Yes, I believe.“
“ That is strange. ” Followed by uncomplimentary remarks about Teheranis getting perks for themselves only. “ Any ideas why us, for a change?“
“ Forensic pathology, maybe? ”
“ Where did you get another pathologist from to do a post-mortem, this time?“
“ Professor Ebadi is visiting this university with his team and brought some of his colleagues. ”
“ Was he conducting training? ”
“ Yes, for the Provincial Government Insurer. “’
“ He found...”
“ No suicide, that’s all you’ll hear from me at this stage unless you tell me why I am here and not at work.”
“ You did release Feroz Aluwalia, the victim’s body, to his fellow Parsees, for their form of… disposal? ”
“ Yes, after we had finished whatever post-mortem we could on him.“
“ Explain, please.”
“ Not until you tell me whether my presence here ”…
pointing at the teapot, the drinks, the coffee cups and the
snacks covering the office table… “ has anything to do with that.’’
“ You must know that bodies of foreign nationals may only be released by your superiors at provincial level, not by yourself, in whatever capacity.”
“ Enlighten me.”
“ You were to have contacted your superiors while they are in India.“
“ How? ”
“ Do you not have any telephone or fax numbers, or an activities schedule?”
“At my office, yes, but neither gives me direct access to any of them; I tried getting hold of our pathologist that way... no contact, no reply .”
“ Have you got their schedule?“
“No, contact the Ministry.”
“ In Teheran? ”
“ Why would youneed to have that in any detail;
the Teheranis might give it to you once they run out of people to pass on that responsibility .”
All of them had similarly frustrating experiences in dealings with their capital .
“ Do you keep their contact numbers at home, by the way? ”
“ The very idea!’’
“ Why, brother? “- a smiling query.
“ Do you know what time I get home? No; do you also know the time difference between us and India? ”
“ Two hours? ”
“ No, that is Bangladesh for you; it is ninety minutes, long enough for anyone there to be either in bed
or else somewhere where they would not like to be disturbed, I am sure…
to get back to my independently authorising Mr Aluwalia’s release - or that of his body.”
“ The Ayatollah’s office are routinely informed when a Parsee-type of body disposal is sought; it is not illegal but they need to permit it and the site is quite far from Shiraz, these days, as you know.”
Silence.
“ So, while they granted the request because of Time Elapsed, the Ruhollah, once again, wanted us to find out why you had not asked their permission first, rather than do something that squarely cut across their responsibilities,
coupled with the fact that Mr Aluwaliah is an Indian citizen…“’
“ Canadian Permanent Resident as well…”
“ That, too, being the kind of [very unflattering comment] that we all know the Ruhollah is...”
“ Does he know, do you know, my brothers, where and how we kept the body for post mortem? “
“ Why, in your morgue, not so? ”
“ Our morgue is not functioning well at present; we are having difficulties with the atmospheric suction filter unit we need for gas exchange; nor can we refrigerate bodies, and supplies only with some difficulty, and not for long.”
“ Can all this not be repaired? “
“ Not allowed to? ”
“ Eh? ”
“ Provincial governments have a pool for forensic pathology equipment which is run centrally, in
Teheran.”
“ Can’t the Teherani organise it, eventually ?”
“ No, the most recent international sanctions won't allow them to buy these parts .”
“ So our morgue won’t be fully functional for years to come! ”
“ Yes, sadly so.”’
“ How did you do the post-mortem, you and the professor? “
“ One of our police stations has a basement that stays almost as cool as a morgue, due to seepage.”
“ That is not safe, though, is it? ’’
“ Not at all; we had to use a military-style tarpaulin to keep the body - and our work area - dry, and a generator to keep air flowing through the filters which we have not been able to renew, either.”
“ Awful,“ said the Provincial Officer, with a shudder; he had once studied biochemistry.
“ No wonder you could not keep the body much longer.”
“ I’ll ask you again, does the Ayatollah’s office appreciate the state of my morgue, and its consequences?”
“ One dare say, no. Your argument, please!’’ ‘
“ Since I am now in charge of public health security, with a body in that particular location, unable to be kept for very long...”
“ You are thinking of clostridium perfringens, aren’t you, even at low temperatures?“
“ Enter they will; once they spread, they are worse than salmonellae.”
“ You mean, typhus, food poisoning, septicaemia, the lot?”
“ So I am told, which is why we bury people six foot deep, and away from rivers, canals and wells.”
The men thoughtfully drank some of their sherry, as if that beverage could save them from a too awful-to-contemplate death.
“ So that is your defence? “
“ yes. Professor Ebadi will back it up.”
“ Did he tell you all this? ”
“ He confirmed it; as will our own pathologist, once I get hold of him.”
“ Well, we will need to get instructions.“
The telephone rang; the Deputy Commander picked it up and listened.
“ The Ayatollah’s office,“ he managed. “ Not Ruhollah again!“ moaned the
Provincial Officer ; the voice they did hear was measured,
of an unhurried authority, unlike the exited bleating that the Ruhollah was capable of.
“ The Ayatollah wants to talk to you, Chief Inspector.“
Reverently, back to titles, now: “ Assalam Aleikhum, Imam!”
“ Aleikhum As-Salaam, Chief Inspector.
First of all, let me apologise for that deputy of mine, to have ordered your wife to be interrogated.”
“ I shall convey it to her, Imam,“ Bahram assured the cleric. “ I feel sorry for the poor guards....”
“ If my granddaughter ... she could barely talk, she was incoherent with laughter, I think you are right, Chief Inspector.
I have already ordered the deputy commander to recall these two. .. unfortunate guards, so let him do that as soon as we have finished, Chief Inspector.”
“ Yes, certainly, Imam; shall I put him on again for you?”
“ No, Chief Inspector; you got our Provincial Officer with you, haven’t you?
let me talk to him, instead, please.”
That gentleman took the receiver and said, eventually:
" Certainly, Imam; I’ll apologise to him personally;
yes, I agree, we need to call these two guards back; I might debrief them myself.
My compliments to your granddaughter, by the way, Imam.”
The Deputy Commander then used the phone to order the two guards back, immediately,
while the Provincial Officer offered Bahram one more sherry
“ for the road “ and watched him empty the teapot, with unmistakable relish.
“ Where would you like us to drive you now, Chief Inspector? “
“ The Rose Garden [one of Shiraz’ famous gardens]; I shall then go home for a while.“
So it was done, for Bahram to have a quiet walk and a late breakfast at a stall
before his wife got home from school, for her midday break.
