I sharmi Diamond Ep-38

38. They

The manager's eyes widened abruptly when the salesman spoke. Rajan showed no significant reaction. The manager told the salesman to count again, and he put all the stones back on the tray, picked them up one by one, placed them in the velvet pouch, and counted. "There are only nineteen, sir," he said, his voice slightly trembling. A slight agitation was visible on Rajan's face, but he didn't show it much, saying casually, "Maybe there were only that many?"

"No, sir. Everything is accounted for. We check before bringing them out. Please stand up. We need to check you," he said.

"Who are you saying you need to check? Do you know who I am?" Rajan shouted.

"Sir, this is just a formality. We brought them out for you. So, please cooperate," the manager said, his voice firm. Rajan spread both his arms and said, "Come on, check me."

He patted him down, reached into all his pockets, and checked. "Are you trying to humiliate me?" Rajan asked.

"There's no other way, sir. We have to check," he said, then, "Could you please take off your shirt?" asked the manager.

Rajan became angry. "What do you think you're doing?"

"Sir, the missing item is a diamond. It's not in your pocket; it could be hidden anywhere on your body," he said coolly. The affectionate tone he had earlier was gone.

"I won't take it off," Rajan insisted stubbornly.

The manager took out his phone and said, "Sir, the customer is not cooperating," without giving any prior details.

"Hello... are you already accusing me? Haven't I been cooperating?"

"Sir, the missing item is a diamond worth 20 crore rupees. We don't easily show it to everyone. We check your background thoroughly before even letting you inside. Despite that, it's gone missing. Tell us the truth," he said, switching to interrogation mode.

"Mister, I didn't take it. If you want, there's CCTV footage, isn't there? Just play it," Rajan said cleverly. While Rajan was speaking, two bodyguards entered and made the small room feel cramped.

The agitation on Rajan's face increased. At the same time, the CCTV footage was rewound and watched again and again. As the camera panned from right to left in its usual course, there was no frame showing Rajan taking the diamond. The store owner was informed, and he said, "Whoever he is, search him thoroughly." The bodyguards approached Rajan and said, "Take off your clothes." Rajan's anger exploded.

"What the hell... you guys are putting on a big show," Rajan flared up, and in the next instant, the bodyguard's fist landed on his jaw with a "thwack." For a moment, he didn't understand what had happened. He felt dizzy. Feeling blood oozing from the inside of his jaw, he put his hand to his mouth, took his finger out, saw it covered in blood, and his eyes widened in fear. He definitely hadn't expected this. "Y-you... you... look, I'll go to the police," he said, reaching for his phone to dial, but another bodyguard kicked it out of his hand.

"Look here, sir. If you cooperate a little... We'll finish our checking," the bodyguard who had punched him said very sweetly. With no other option, Rajan started taking off his clothes. He took off each garment, placed it on the table, and looked up at the bodyguard. The manager and the salesman realised that he wasn't at all bothered about standing naked. There was a knock on the door, and the manager opened it. Looking at the person who entered, he pointed towards Rajan and said, "This is the customer, sir."

"You checked everything before letting him in, right?"

"Yes, sir... all routine checks were done. Even now, we've checked his Dubai contact and the hotel contact where he's staying in Chennai. Genuine. But one diamond is missing." Siddharth was very precise.

"Sir... I didn't do anything. First, ask if they brought it correctly after checking, sir," Rajan said.

He took out his cell phone and said, "Boss, all verifications have been checked. Everything is correct. Our people also checked before bringing it. CCTV has been checked. We've thoroughly searched the guy. Nothing else was found. There's no chance it fell anywhere in the room. Still, I think we should check the whole room. What else to do?" he asked.

He should have told him to give the phone to the manager. The manager very politely took the phone and spoke. "Yes, sir. Nothing on him. He's just an ordinary customer, sir. But it's not in the accounts. It's on the list," he said. The other end was silent.

"Okay, sir, I'll do that," he said, handing the phone back to the person who came in, and then checked Rajan's body. He checked his anus, ears, between his fingers, and inside his penis – all the orifices. "Hey, I was wearing pants and a shirt!" Rajan yelled. Seeing the chewing gum in his mouth as he yelled, he said, "Open your mouth. Spit it out."

"Sir, it's just chewing gum."

"Doesn't matter, spit it out," he ordered him to spit it onto the table. Rajan spat it out. A well-chewed piece of gum. The man took a handkerchief from his pocket, placed the chewing gum on the table, and pressed it down with his finger. It spread out. He looked at the person who had come in and pursed his lips. He asked the person on the line, "No, boss, what to do?" "Okay, boss. Okay, boss," he nodded, hung up the phone, and said, "Check the entire room. Until then, lock him up without clothes in another room." The bodyguards moved towards Rajan. "Hello... this is outrageous. I didn't do anything. Why are you holding me? Call the police... call the police," he was shouting when there was a knock on the room door, and at the same time, the manager's phone started ringing. "What? Police?" the person who came in exclaimed, looking at his face, as there was a loud knock on the door.