Crime fiction: A detective’s holiday is cut short when strange bloody handprints appear on the walls

“Nothing bad happens there?” Athreya queried. “Surely, a hundred years would have seen deaths.”

“Death is not necessarily a bad thing,” Margot countered. “For the aged or the gravely ill, it is a relief.”

“And for their loved one too,” Dave added. “Seeing someone suffer from an incurable illness can be heart-wrenching. Locals believe that anything that happens at Peter Dann happens for the good.”

Athreya didn’t pursue it further. He was acutely aware that Javed had fallen silent. His late wife, Naira, had died at Peter Dann a few years ago. Athreya knew no details, but he wondered how it could have been a good thing for Javed or Asma. Especially when Naira had only been in her late forties and Asma a teenager. It was curious that Dave and Margot, who were good friends with Javed and a very sensible couple, had so openly spoken about Peter Dann being blessed. That too in Javed’s presence. Mrinal, who seemed to be a perceptive young woman, had sensed something and fallen silent with a puzzled expression on her face.

Thankfully, they were interrupted by the entry of a man who had apparently been out for a run. His T-shirt, which was two sizes too small for him,...

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