Chapter I

May 3, 2009 at 11:35 am (Mystery Of The Stolen Jewels) (arab, chronicle, detective, DJ, doctor, mystery, story, tale, thriller)

It was a couple of weeks after the events in the Mystery of the Missing Underwear. My right leg had almost healed and limp was becoming less pronounced now. I was sitting in the parlor, a mug of hot unsweetened coffee in one hand and the Bahrain National Times in the other, when the door opened and in came DJ’s nasty Arab maid. She gave me a look of pure disgust¹, one that I had grown quite accustomed to by now, and led in a stranger. She pointed the sofa in front of me and mumbled something in her slurry dialect to which the stranger nodded and sat down. I assumed he had come to see DJ. The woman shuffled away, closing the door behind her.

I took in the man sitting before me cautiously. He was unhealthily thin and garbed in the usual Arab costume, head dress and all, but there was something shifty about him. He kept glancing at the huge clock behind me furtively, and patting his knees. I could see that his palms were sweating profusely by the damp marks they left on his knees.

After a length of time, the door opened and DJ sneaked in. Despite his extensive attempts, one of his eye-brows was still lopsided².
Seeing the visitor, DJ gave a cry of familiarity. “Inspector Lomdi, what brings you to my door step ?”

The stranger pulled out a handkerchief and mopped his forehead, “There are some matters of importance DJ.”

DJ patted him gently on the shoulder. He turned to me and asked, “Doctor, have you met Inspector Lomdi ?” I shook my head.

“This is Inspector Lomdi bin Rejindran of the Bahrain State Police Force or the BSPF as we know it. He consults me on delicate matters from time to time”, and turning to the Inspector, “The kind Doctor has graced me with his presence for a few days, Inspector. Pray, how is it I may be of help ?”

Inspector Lomdi glanced at me suspiciously prompting DJ to say, “Please Inspector, the Doctor is a good friend, and quite discreet too.”

Inspector Lomdi seemed to accept it and spoke in a low voice, “There has been a robbery DJ, one of the most vile nature. The Royal Jewels have been stolen.”

At the mention of the Royal Jewels, DJ sprang up, as if a camel had kicked him in unmentionable places. “Which Royal Jewels ?”, he asked³.

“The ones belonging to Sheikha Mariam”, explained Inspector Lomdi. “We are totally stumped on this one, my dear DJ.”

DJ appeared to have slipped into a sweet reverie.

“Will you help DJ ?”, moaned Inspector Lomdi, his voice almost on the verge of tears.

DJ blinked. “Yes, of course”, he replied standing up, “Fear not Inspector Lomdi, the brave Doctor and I shall visit a few shady underground hang-outs to see if this was planned. We will meet you at the Royal Palace. Go in peace, Inspector.”

As the Inspector left, DJ turned to me, “We shall have to disguise ourselves, Doctor. You look fine. I will be back in a minute.”

A minute later, the door opened and I stood aghast at the apparition that stood there.

^{1. The source of this unfriendliness is as yet unknown to me.}

^{2. In another futile attempt to discover the perfect nicotine solution (higher than 7%) that would render him sleepless for a fortnight on end, DJ had blown up part of the chemical lab and in the process singed his eyebrows too. Being not much of a people-person, DJ was frightened of others asking him after his disfigurement; and spent upto 2 hours a day painstakingly trying to recreate his eyebrows using a felt marker. Also the burnt part of his face was lighter than the rest, thus hindering his abilities of stealth.}

^{3. To the un-Arab reader, this might seem a strange question, reason being that any nation has only a single set of Royal Jewels. But Bahrain is not ‘any nation’ and the Sheikh (known dearly amongst his people as the ‘White Cockroach’) was famed for his polygamy in addition to his multiple affairs at any given time (thus giving rise to several sets of Royal Jewels at a time). “I have too much affection to give to any single woman”, the Sheikh was heard to have exclaimed as he was charged with multiple counts of indecency and a host of other crimes when his regime was toppled almost five years after the incidents mentioned here.}