“Shoes of Sherlock” needed a Sherlock?

“Faaiz can you look around and try finding the tape? I urgently need it”, Sir Shabir exclaimed with a sense of urgency as I began moving to and fro, asking my peers sitting in the office if they have seen it or not. “I know wo Kahan hay! Go to room number 4, A-1 floor, and you will find it right next to the table. BUT DO NOT TOUCH ANYTHING AT ALL!” Sara said while sitting on a nearby couch alongside her friend Farayaa. You know what’s the worst part of hearing such instructions from your friends, your mind starts coming up with numerous questions that you believe are justified at the moment but your lack of confidence and general habit of overlooking minor things compels you to suppress the rising questions inside your head. I mean, rather than giving me instructions, specifying the exact location, she can get up and bring it by herself right? And why would I even touch the things placed in that room? I mean I felt like one of my little cousins who would be instructed by aunts not to touch anything the moment he barges through the main door to visit them.
Nevertheless, with a smile and a nod of agreement, I opened the door of Sir Shabir’s Office as my long strides helped me quickly cover the distance across the hallways to my expected destination. Meanwhile, I came across our very own “Imtiaz Butt Sahab”, a person who was considered more than a friend rather than a member of the school faculty mainly due to his kindness and a good sense of humor. “Kahaan ja rahay ho Head Boy?” he innocently inquired. Despite being in a rush, I stopped by and started a conversation with him which ended with him saying, “Dehan say jana….waisay hi Keh Raha hoon. Jaldi Karo Shabir Sahab would be waiting”. The last statement did catch my attention as two years of interaction with this person made me realize he is somewhat like Uncle Iroh from “Avatar: The Last Airbender”. While he may seem unbothered and uninterested at times, his sarcastic remarks would be full of wisdom or hidden messages to decipher whether it may be about Sir Amjad’s surprise quiz or the mood of Sir Ahmed Javed.
Considering the general proceedings of the day and the happiness brought by the successful management of Parakration, I believed he was just playing with my head and disregarded his advice. When I finally approached the room, I was surprised to see it was dead dark as not only were the lights switched off but also the placement of a nearby tent cast a shadow, preventing the natural sunlight from lightening the place. I gently pushed the ajar door but unsurprisingly, the creaking sound of the old wooden door was enough to tell everyone nearby that someone entered the classroom. With a step inside the class, it was time to find the switchboard which had to be nearby as I started pressing my hand against the nearby wall, hoping to find the switches. Voila! I pressed all the plastic switches I found and the whole room was gleaming in the white light showered by the bulbs placed at the ceiling.
The switch not only turned on the lights but also simultaneously sucked all the energy inside Faaiz. My legs seemed to lose their strength and their ability to support the remaining body as I leaned against the wall in a desperate attempt to keep my shape. Streams of sweat flowed down my face, drenching the collar of my shirt, making it evident I was perplexed. An uncomfortable churning began in my stomach as my blood ran cold. How is this possible? Who could it be? What about the rest? Now my fingerprints are also on the switchboard, am I also in trouble? I was aware that during school events the “outside” students bring along several negativities ranging from drugs to make-outs but this crossed all previous yardsticks. So am I supposed to face the brutal questions thrown by detectives like Detective Blanc interrogating everyone in “Knives Out”, exposing other dark hidden secrets while solving the case? Was I overreacting? Ummmmm nope? THERE WAS A DEAD BODY RIGHT IN FRONT OF ME!!!!
Standing at a distance of almost three feet away from the body lying on the floor, my disoriented brain was trying to figure out the identity of the person veiled in the white sheet smeared with red blood. My initial thought was that it is a man considering that the height was more than me and the physical features seemed more masculine. Instantly, I started recalling all the faces I saw during the fight that earlier broke out in the school, maybe this is one of them? But school fights don’t go to such an extent that too inside the school premises, right? My mind was busily cross-listing the possible suspects, which was made easier after I spotted the pale white feet of the body. With a sigh of relief, I thanked God as now it can’t be any one of my friends as our habit of playing in the sun made us anything but ‘Gora’.
With a silent prayer and ‘Ayat-ul-Kursi’ being repeatedly played inside my head, I gathered the courage to move towards the head of the body which was somewhat covered by the cloth. Meanwhile, I grabbed the duster placed on a nearby chair as I wanted to be prepared for whatever I had to face, believing the body would somehow rise when I lift the cloth (maybe that’s a side-effect of way too many horror movies?). Well, this idiotic act can be explained with our dissection experiment in class 5. The teacher wanted to show us our body organs by dissecting a frog and she had cut open its stomach, believing it is dead only to be screaming for help as the massive frog somehow returned from the dead despite his whole stomach opened with a knife. However, my plans for assaulting a zombie were halted as I remembered Sara’s clear instructions not to touch anything. Reluctantly, I stepped closer towards the body, inspecting the head only to be left red-faced as the bald, seven-foot giant wasn’t even a living creature! IT WAS A MANNEQUIN!
So my friend remembered to instruct me not to touch anything but forgot the big detail that there’s a fake dead body meant to be used in her Crime related event called “Shoes of Sherlock”? Well if I hadn’t turned on the light and barged straight inside the darkroom and then found the body, pretty sure they would’ve needed a real Sherlock to solve the case that was to follow. Nevertheless, after grabbing the tape, I dragged my feet across the hallways to make it back to the office. Once there, instead of reporting back to Sir Shabir first, I looked for Sara who was laughing with Farayaa. “Sara?” my trembling low voice must have given away a warning as she instantly looked towards me and realized what had happened. She exclaimed, “I am so sorry I forgot to tell you about that setup. Honestly, meray damagh say nikal Gaya…..” Technically, she did something similar to Shahzaib who told me all about the vectors and flight dynamics but forgot to elaborate on the basics of fastening seat belt and closing door properly when he had the opportunity to take me on his airplane ride. While it was fairly easy to shout and hurl abuses on Shahzaib, it was difficult to do something similar with Sara as not only was I slightly scared of her but also she recently told us about her tank adventures and brother joining the army (the Black Vigo threat was real here).
While mannequins were not common in my childhood, I grew up to believe they are called “statues”. Months after this incident, “Mannequin Celebrations” became a trend with footballers like Jamie Vardy recreating it to remind me of the misery I faced on that particular day. In my first year at LUMS, I intentionally volunteered for “SCIENCE CRIME BUSTERS”, an event similar to Shoes of Sherlock as a part inside me was curious to discover the murderer in such scenarios. But this time, I met the mannequin placed on the floor with a sense of confidence and superiority, letting the plastic structure know that I will not be scared again!

So, people, it is important to tell your friends if you have faked a murder before sending them to a dark, empty room as otherwise in some cases you may not need a mannequin!