Aug 19, 2011

Mouse the Menace

The morning was very calm. Just as I entered the workplace, I was greeted by Creative Guy who was until that moment staring on his computer screen as if in a deep meditating mood. Though he was earlier than his usual time, I did not suspect anything fishy in his unusual behavior.

Minutes later, we were forced to respond to the Practicing Clairvoyant’s musical good morning note, turning our faces in order to flaunt a grin. But a few more minutes later, we both were shocked by a scream, a loud shrill cry, from the throats of the Clairvoyant, “the mouse…the wretched thing…it spoiled all my lip-balm, that too for the second time in the last two weeks.”

We both saw the Clairvoyant in a horrific expression with a tube of lip-balm in her right hand. Creative Guy sprang up from his seat like a spring and stared at the lip-balm tube with a seemingly questioning look. The tube had a creatively cut hole right at the bottom portion. 

“Yesterday I was sure that I had locked my entire cupboard before leaving the office, and today you see the mouse has disarrayed everything,” her voice was relatively higher, as I felt.

I doubted something fishy. The Clairvoyant’s posture with one damaged lip-balm tube in one hand, her scream, her unnecessary loud voice, even her actions, the Creative Guy’s jump and surprise, the entire morning’s incidents, and every associated act looked like a brilliantly woven drama to me. But, who acts, or who pretends, or for what purpose, were remained as some questions apparently answerless.

Just as I moved to her cupboard, for a close scrutinization, we were interrupted by another good morning wish, the Full Moon Girl. We saw her with a smiling face and gleaming eyes standing at the doorstep as if she was completely unaware of the morning’s business. But, with my inquisitive eyes alone, I noticed that her first glance was directed mysteriously to the cupboard of the Clairvoyant. I felt she was trying to hide something which she knew about the mouse menace, behind that interrupting good morning wish, secret smile and cryptic eyes.

Creative Guy and I began to inspect the entire crime scene. Looking at the way the cupboard was built, I thought, even if the cupboard is locked, a mouse can enter the bottom tray through a probable slit which could be present there in between the trays. Once the mouse gets inside the bottom tray, it can climb up through similar slits without much difficulty.

When I presented my theory, the Creative Guy put forward some objections against my finding. Instead of my ‘Slit-Climb’ theory, he brought up the ‘work methodology’ theory, that the mouse has a secret way of hiding within the tray even during the day time. According to his finding, the mouse must have been hiding within the first tray itself, where the balm was kept. But, Clairvoyant objected it, since the first tray was scarcely packed, even a smaller pin couldn’t have been left unnoticed. But, if the mouse could hide during the day time within the bottom tray, where lot of books and miscellaneous things were kept, it might be able to navigate at night from the bottom tray to the upper trays using the probable slits (which is a part of my theory). This slit is an imaginary one, as it is impossible to see the backside of the cupboard, since it has its backside fixed to the wall. If such a slit existed, my ‘Slit-Climb’ theory and Creative Guy’s ‘work methodology’ theory could have jointly proved the crime.

But, still I seriously suspected that someone among our team really knew at least something about the morning menace. I thought about the Workaholic, the fourth one in the gang, his absence from the scene, was that absence purposeful?

The same moment, the Workaholic, stepped into the scene humming a popular song modified in his own tune. He was really late, I thought. Without giving even a single nod towards us, or a glance at the Clairvoyant’s cupboard, he straightaway rushed to his seat. I noticed that he forgot to say his usual ‘good morning’; must be due to his attempt to hide something he knew about the mouse affair from the rest.

I looked everything one by one; the surprised posture of the Clairvoyant, the agitated motion of the Creative, the mysterious smile of the Full Moon Girl, the unshaken appearance of the Workaholic, and finally the disordered cupboard and the lip-balm tube with a large hole at the bottom.

PS: Later, the attendants put a mousetrap near the cupboard. The next day we found a cute mouse trapped in it. By the time we rushed to get a photograph of it, the trap was taken away by the attendants to administer the mouse its predetermined destiny.

PS 2: One of my several attempts to write detective fiction. 

16 comments:

  1. So, all the suspicion for nothing? It was a mouse after all?

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  2. Mhmmm... a big sigh escapes me... Is it sigh of relief or disappointment I do not know. :)

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  3. LOL!!!!

    It was only a mouse.... I expected an unexpected climax.

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  4. Clairvoyant is not a drama girl...

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  5. @Nona

    yes..just was a mouse..

    @NRIGirl

    an unknown feeling, right?..i wanted that..

    @rachna

    yes, a mouse :)

    @Tan

    sorry to disappoint u..:)

    @Meera

    Ok, I admit that. Drama took place in my mind.

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  6. Dear Toms,
    do it like Conan Doyle in the Reichenbach Falls: there Sherlock came back - so: write a serial! Of course the mouse in the trap (a bow to Agatha Christie: "The Mousetrap") was only a Red Herring (a bow to Dorothy Sayers: "Five Red Herrings" - a somewhat funny detective term applied to the mouse) - leading all of us up the garden path! In reality (serial number 2) the real bad guy - or was it a bad girl? - was : ???
    Waiting for the next sequel I apply a bit of glamourous lip gloss..

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  7. You made some very good observations about behavior, Tomz. Don't let the "just a mouse?" crowd get you down. Now you need to figure out why the Full Moon girl smiled so mysteriously and why the humming Workaholic came in late and why his tardiness didn't seem to bother him. It's out of character with his workaholicness. Maybe something going on between those two?

    By the way, what sort of music do you listen to? Any favorites on YouTube?

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  8. LOL...what use is a workplace without some drama....maybe something is hatching between both the couples...or one group is pitted against the other...promotion time is it?...a very interesting play of words and the mouse trapped in the end begs for a sequel.

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  9. When I started reading I thought it would not be a mouse but something else. Well, very funny and interesting post.
    You are welcome at my new post-
    http://urmi-z-unique.blogspot.com
    http://amazing-shot.blogspot.com

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  10. hahah great post!

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  11. You should get the Pied Piper of Hamelin!

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  12. Grrrr..Tomz...wish I could kick u now..what sort of Detective work was this...Neither head nor tail..do u want us to speculate...hehe!!!

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  13. Hi Britta

    I am familiar with Reichenbach of his Last Bow. Mousetrap was her longest running drama..But, I have never read a Dorothy Sawyers..Instead Five Red Herrings, Agatha has a similar title I guess, Five Little Pigs..

    @ramesh

    Thnk u Ramesh

    @W2W

    Mmmm..the comments u made abt my observation on my colleagues make me thoughtful..Perhaps something must be going on between any of the twos..Well...coming to music, my favs are everyone's favs, like Boney M, Abba, MJ, Britney, Enrique, Ketchup girls, and nowadays I listen to Rebecca Black also..I also like to listen to the Bulgarian contemporary musician Dyana Dafova. Yes..and I had once interviewed Dyana. The details u can find in this blog itself..

    @Rek

    Everyone says it worth a sequel...and I have even the smallest clue on how to proceed with its second part..

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  14. @babli..well that was my purpose..and sure I will visit ur blogs soon..

    @laughter

    Thnks :)

    @meera Sundararajan

    Yes..but we have a fine moustrap here

    @Jzt4m

    Actually what I wanted was to make u people speculate..with ur comment, I am convinced that I have succeeded...:D:)

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