“Also, why did the woman have a British accent?” wondered Ananye out loud. “She should
have a Chinese accent! This is Mongolia!”
Chapter 3: Who? What? When?
Back at the site of the blast, at a distance, they could see the same old woman talking on her
phone excitedly, looking pretty modern.
“She’s weird, that’s what she is,” commented Armaan. “Whenever I see her, I get the creeps.”
“Let’s follow her,” urged Ananye.
The brothers tailed her to the bus stop. She got into a patched-up bus and sat down on the torn
seat. The bus rumbled off.
“Not much we can do now,” Armaan said.
“Yup.”
“Why don’t we just go home?”
“Okay…”
The next day, they went back to the site. While waiting for clues and to look inconspicuous,
they started a friendly competition.
“Biggest sandcastle wins!” challenged Ananye.
“You’re on,” retorted Armaan. About ten minutes later, and a few meters apart, the brothers
had finished their sandcastles.
They were admiring each other’s work when Ananye saw the vaguely familiar old woman
digging a hole. Shocked and surprised, he shot off to his brother and rattled out the scene.
“Who? What? When?” cried Armaan in disbelief. They inched in towards the woman,
crawling on all fours hiding behind the dunes. She had finished digging a hole and was carefully
painstakingly burying a red square object.
Chapter 4: A happy ending
“Oh, my God!” Armaan exclaimed.
“Is it a bomb?” Ananye whispered, half-terrified and half-excited. Armaan pulled out his
phone from his pocket and called the police. The old woman meanwhile did not seem to have
noticed anything and was smiling widely, displaying her black teeth, rather satisfied with her
work. Within seconds, wailing sirens could be heard, the sound growing steadily louder by the
minute. Before long she was surrounded by police officers. With a gun pointed at her, she was
asked to put up her hands.
“Noooooo! Really, honestly, you’ve got the wrong person!” she shrieked. She broke down and
said, “I’ve been cheated – by Emerald Limited!” she sobbed while being led away. The officers of
the bomb squad unearthed the bomb, and took it away.
The brothers went home pleased and hit the sack!
“Aahhh, home, sweet home!” said Ananye.
A couple of days went by. Rrrring! The telephone rang. Ananye dashed to get it.
“Hello Ananye!” It was Chief Manas’ voice. “I understand you have done some good work
again. Please come to the hall in Zone 8 tomorrow at eight am. I have a surprise!”
