Chapter 3 - Confusing Gardener

He picked it up from a dug soil and put it into his pocket.
As the group entered Kailasam’s house, Srikanth asked, “Sir, you said the gas was out and were surprised. Can we look into your kitchen please?”. “Sure, yes, yes.” said Kailasam leading them to the
kitchen.
The policemen noticed that the knob of the gas was open. “What’s this? Why is the knob open?
Did you know about this Kailasam sir?”. “No I didn’t. I just know that we ran out of gas”, said Kailasam very confused and worried. “Pachai, you were the one who said there was no gas, right?” asked
Srikanth. “Yes sir. I did” said Pachai, responding for the first time.

“When you came over to cook, was the knob open? Did you see anything or anyone else?” enquired Vikram. “No sir, there was no one. And I saw that the knob was closed.” “Closed?” asked
Vikram, “So did you open it?”. “No sir.” “Then?”
“No sir, it was opened when I saw it first”, corrected the gardener.
“Was it closed when you came or open? Think carefully and respond”, said Vikram.
“Sir, I saw that it was open, all the gas was out when I came in. The windows were also open.
“Do you normally keep the windows open?” he turned around to ask Kailasam. “No sir, they are normally closed” Kailsam responded, totally surprised.
“Did you tell Kailasam about this?”, asked Parasu. “Sir, I was about to, but I did not.”
”Why not?” asked Parasu. “When I went over to his room, he was fast asleep taking his afternoon nap. I did not want to disturb him. So, I quietly walked out.”
“Sir, if you do not mind, can we have a look around your room please?”, requested Anil.
“Sure”, said Kailasam leading the group to his bedroom. The policemen took some time and had a good look at the entire room. “Do you hang your coat here Kailsam?” asked Anil pointing to a coat
stand at the far end of the room beyond the bed. “Yes sir, that’s correct”, answered Kailsam.
“So, what time did you come over to Kailasam’s room to let him know about the gas?”, asked Anil turning to Pachai.
“Äround 2ish in the afternoon sir.” He said. “2pm or 2.05pm or 2.10pm or any time before or after that, can you remember specifically?” asked Srikanth. “Älso, did you see the coat there that time?”
“Hmm… It was around 2.05 or 2.15 sir. I don’t remember the time or anything about the coat being there” He said, carefully measuring his words not to create further confusion.
“And after you saw that, you left?” asked Parasu. “Yes sir. I went over to my garden and resumed my work. I have been digging up new soil since this morning.” Ök, did you keep coming here to see if he had woken up or are you normally able to see his room from where you work in the other garden?”.
“No sir. I cannot see his room from there. I came in around 3.30pm and saw that he was awake. I told him about the gas and that I couldn’t cook anything for him.”
“You did not come and check in between?” asked Parasu to confirm. “No sir, I did not”, replied Pachai.