Skeleton in
the Cupboard is a short story covered in the book ‘Secrets’ by Ruskin Bond. The
story is all about solving a mystery that revolves around a skeleton found in
the old storeroom of the Hotel Green’s. That time the young Ruskin was away in
Shimla at his boarding school. He communicated with his mother, who was the
manager of the hotel, through letters to gain extensive knowledge about the
skeleton. Through letters it became clear that the skeleton was of a woman’s
and some newspapers were found wrapped around it circa 1930.
The question
was who could be that woman? The hotel’s first owner Mr. Green was a lady
killer: he had charming persona and polished manners. He was into extra-marital
affairs. His wife one day disappeared. Mr. Green died in a ship accident while
going to England during the Second World War. Thus, Ruskin and his mother
assumed that the skeleton was Mrs. Green’s. It was concluded that Mr. Green
killed his wife to get the love of other women or he paid someone to do the
dirty work. With the help of Padre Dutt, they gave a Christian burial to that
skeleton thinking it was of Mrs. Green’s.
Well, after
some days an English lady walked in the hotel and began inquiries about Mrs.
Green’s burial. Then, she said that she was Mrs. Green. She narrated her tale
that Mr. Green was a Casanova kind of person but not a killer. She was tired of
him thus she fled to West Africa to live with a cousin and there she fell in
love with a black man.
About the
skeleton, she revealed that it was for a medical college purpose because Mr.
Green wanted to start a medical college in Dehradun. So that skeleton was
brought from Delhi and probably it belonged to a roadside poor woman. Well the
irony was that Mrs. Green would have two tombstones in one birth. All efforts
of child detective Ruskin went in vain to solve the mystery. It’s a fun read.
Such a wonderful Book. I have read this and I think it is worthy to reading this.
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