SECRET OF RAINTREE HOUSE

I am Samuel 70 years old. I had a business selling men’s clothing which I gave up as I couldn’t face the competition from big names. It is not that I have no money. I had been careful and my thrift rewards me now. Not having anything to do I have become a purveyor of old manuscripts and very old books. One of those who befriended me at church was Paul – an ex-fisherman. He was an old man senior to me and was supported by a son working in Dubai. When Paul came to know of my interest in old documents he approached me and said “Sir I’ve some very old vernacular books besides a single page document in English left to me by my father. Would you be interested?” I nodded.

The books were almost unreadable but the document interested me. It was a brief hand written message perhaps written in a hurry in May 1944 for a Derek: ‘Derek, Schmuck in well ein meter in Raintree. I kom agin. Aaron.’ The word ‘Agin’ had been crossed out and rewritten

I asked Paul how he got the document. He said “My father said a foreigner came one morning in a fishing boat. He was met by someone and taken to the bungalow where father was a guard. It seems  the very next day the visitor suddenly left late in the night in a great hurry. This sheet was found on a table of the house and was retained by my dad. It seems the following day police came and searched the place.”

I struggled to find the meaning of the message. I guessed that it was written by a German with first name Aaron. He says jewelry is in Raintree well one metre and will come again. Possibly the word ‘agin’ had been crossed out and rewritten as Aaron wasn’t perhaps sure about the spelling.

I asked Paul the name of the bungalow and he said it was Bay View. I made enquiries and learnt that Raintree had been purchased by Cama the leading house building mogul and I was a bit hesitant to approach him.  But the message haunted me driving me to speak to him.

I showed him the message and asked “When you bought Raintree was there any mention about a Derek or an Aaron?” He shook his head. I said “There could be some truth in the message.”

He laughed and said “I’ve demolished Raintree and have renamed it Bay View. A multistory building is coming up in its place. So we have dug the ground for the foundation. I can tell you nothing was found so far.”

I asked “May I visit Bay View?”

“Come with me tomorrow. I’ll take you. It is quite far from here.”

I went with Cama in his chauffeur driven car and reached Bay View. He pointed to the place and said “There that is where Raintree stood. See the excavation for the new building?”

I saw it. I also saw the sea was very near. Cama introduced me to one Jerome saying “I rely on him a great deal. He is very experienced.”

I said “What about the well?”

Cama laughed and said “It is now temporarily covered. I’ll tell you when I start work on it. My chauffeur will drop you back.”

Going back I again read the message trying to see if I had missed something. I felt I hadn’t.

A fortnight later Cama called me and said “I’m going to close the well behind Raintree. Would you be interested in watching the operation?”

I was eager and went with Cama. It was a big well over 30 feet in diameter. I knew it would have had a contraption built into it to lift the water and let it flow into a channel to the fields. Cama’s staff dived into the water and searched but they found nothing except a small rusted bucket someone had probably dropped and had left to lie. I watched the well as it was being closed with boulders and earth. I saw the wall of the well had been left intact. I saw the pipe which had been built in to let the well water flow to the fields. The water would be lifted by wooden levers operated by men walking across on them as they perhaps sang to overcome the dreary pursuit which would take hours. A thought flashed in me. What if something had been secreted in the buried pipe for water flow? Could it be about a metre within?

I asked Cama to get his men to unearth the pipe and Jerome did tḥe job .We found a velvet bag. I knew we had found what Aaron had hidden and for which he had said he would come again. Knowing probably that the well was disused Aaron had surely stuffed the bag in the pipe.  

Cama, Jerome and I opened the bag and we found various jewelry items. Cama said “This is definitely a diamond brooch. This was probably an ornament for the ears. From the lustre I can say these are gold chains to be worn round the neck.”

Cama kept examining the jewelry and said “I’ve to get these valued. I’ll do it in due course. If the value is very high I’ll give you one flat of the building after it is built free of cost. Even otherwise I’ll give you a flat for half the cost.”

I went home. The next day I was shocked to hear that Cama had been killed near the Raintree site. I was told police suspected that some cheated apartment buyer could have killed him but I was somehow convinced that Jerome had murdered Cama.

 I felt that I should go to the police and reveal about the finding of the velvet bag but I had second thoughts and restrained myself. A couple of days later Cama’s chauffeur came to me late in the evening and said “Jerome died this afternoon when his bike crashed into a truck. He was drunk.”

I said I was sorry to hear that.   He said “You’re the only person to feel sorry for him. He was a thoroughly bad fellow. He siphoned off Cama‘s money.  Still Cama trusted him. I’ve worked for Cama 20 years and he was an honest man who would keep his word.”

I felt I could have perhaps benefitted from having even briefly known Cama: He might have given me a flat free or at least one at half rate. But now there was nothing in it for me! I couldn’t forget Paul. I bought him a sumptuous lunch of sea food!

END