Expert Detectives

After visiting their mother's clinic, Maya and Nishad discuss Mr Nath - thin, scarred, living alone. Maya insists he is a crook; Nishad feels sorry for him.

Walking back from the clinic, Maya tells her brother Seven that Mr Nath must be a criminal on the run with hidden gold. Nishad doubts this; he thinks the man looks poor and starving.

Nishad knocks on Mr Nath's door alone and gives him a bar of chocolate, but is not invited in.

On Monday Nishad visits Mr Nath's room, thrusts a chocolate into his hand, and is asked if he has lost another marble. Mr Nath recognises him but does not let him peek into the trunk.

Nishad questions Ramesh the waiter: Mr Nath eats plain dal and chapattis, pays cash, tips well, and every Sunday receives a talkative fair visitor.

Ramesh says he carries two meals daily for Mr Nath - two chapattis, dal and a vegetable. Every Sunday he brings two lunches because the same stout fair man with spectacles visits.

During a monsoon holiday Maya writes 'Catching a Crook' with bold headings, sorting clues like an expert detective.

Rain floods the streets and school is closed. Maya sits with paper titled 'Expert Detectives: Nishad and Maya Pandit - By Appointment to the Whole World' and writes her case against Mr Nath.

Maya learns from Mamma that Mr Nath's burn scars came from a cooking accident as a boy, not a police shoot-out.

Maya's dramatic theories clash with Mamma's calm facts. The scars are old burn marks, not bullet wounds. Mr Nath has no regular job because he is still recovering.

Nishad sees the visitor is Mr Nath's brother who tries to look after him. Maya's crook story fades; sympathy remains.

The fair stout man is Mr Nath's brother who pays the bills and visits each Sunday. Nishad's kindness and the truth end Maya's crime fantasy.