Princess Play Read Online Free PDF

she paused for a moment, he nodded. ‘I hoped you might tell me anything that might help us find her killer,’ she said baldly.
    He considered this. ‘Are you really sure it was murder?’
    â€˜It seems so.’
    â€˜How was she … killed?’
    â€˜It seems she was smothered. Maybe with a pillow.’
    â€˜In her own bed?’ He was shocked.
    Maryam nodded.
    â€˜But that’s … well, it’s seems crazy, doesn’t it?’
    Maryam concurred; it seemed crazy to her, too. He shook his head. ‘In her own bed? In her own house? How could that happen?’
    â€˜That’s what we’re trying to find out,’ Rubiah interjected, tapping her cigarette against the ashtray for emphasis.
    He leaned back against the cushion. ‘I don’t know. It doesn’t seem possible even.’ He looked at them both. ‘I don’t even know where to start.’
    â€˜Murad,’ Maryam prompted him. ‘Was he mentioned at all when you were looking into her problem?’
    â€˜Ah.’ Pak Nik Lah took a long swig of coffee, and signalled his wife for refills. ‘I’m not sure I should really talk about this. Kak Jamillah was a patient.’
    â€˜ Abang , you can talk to us, two Kelantanese people just like you, who also knew Jamillah and want justice for her, or …’ she paused briefly, ‘you can speak to the police. If you prefer that.’ She looked at him demurely; she knew which she would pick.
    He smiled ruefully. ‘When you put it like that, Kakak …’ He thought for a moment, and then began to speak. ‘You know, Kak Jamillah was worried, she was upset, and, of course, because of that, she was easy prey for jinn . An unquiet soul, this can lead to all kinds of problems because you can’t defend yourself. You know, you’re open to any kind of influence.
    â€˜She thought her husband no longer cared for her. He was moody and didn’t pay any attention to things. I thought he was as troubled as she, but he kept it in more. Men do, I think.’
    His audience nodded; it was well known. ‘But I didn’t feel as if he didn’t care about his wife – I thought instead he had problems with someone else. And when I spoke to him about it, he told me about Murad and the boat. Have you heard?’
    â€˜He told us, too.’
    â€˜You see? It’s preying on his mind. He can’t think of anything else except how he’s been wronged here. And it’s turning his whole family upside down. Jamillah had no energy at all, pucat lesu macam ayam kena lengit . She was as pale and tired as a chicken plagued with ticks. But Aziz, he was seperti anjing disua antan . Like a dog poked with a stick. He was as sick as she, you know, but he didn’t look as bad.’
    â€˜What did he tell you about Murad?’
    Pak Nik Lah sighed. ‘He hates him. He says he cheated him when the boat was sold. He was stingy, and mean, and supposedly kept a pelesit, which is how he got rich.’
    â€˜Is it true?’
    â€˜About the pelesit?’ He shrugged. ‘I don’t know. I went to talk to this Murad. He is not a nice man. Not friendly, not warm. It was a very quick conversation, and when I talk to people about a sick person, one for whom we’re planning a main puteri , people usually want to help as much as they can. They want the sick one to get well–doesn’t everyone want to see a cure? Not this one.’ He took a deep drag on his cigarette. ‘He was angry that I dared to see him! Insulted me, called me a disgrace.’
    â€˜Do you think he killed Jamillah?’
    â€˜He’s probably mean enough to have done it, but how could he get into the house like that? Did he send a pelesit? Maybe.’
    Maryam was thoroughly unsatisfied with a supernatural answer, and refused to countenance some pelesit – familiar spirit–as a murderer, though she was reluctant to