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I rose and surveyed the hall in despair. I noticed a small door beside the terracotta pots and undid the latch. It opened out into a small mini-courtyard! Wondering what was going to happen next in this wacky adventure, I went out and leaned over the railings. I looked straight into the eyes of…someone unexpected-but-not-totally-unexpected…Mr. Dark-Jacket! As he was guzzling a can of Spring Cola, he caught sight of me and choked. I quickly retreated and wondered how I would get to the minaret in which Mr. Shah was imprisoned, before all of them caught me. I noticed that there was another courtyard adjoining the one I was standing in, so closely that there was no space left between their walls. Without hesitation, I jumped over. I ran through to the other room and opened the door. Thank God! They hadn’t locked this one.
I hung back until the men had finished checking the floor and had gone. I then rushed up the stairs to the next floor- the terrace- where the minarets rose into the sky. As I did so, I heard a person shouting, his yells growing closer as he came up the stairs. Must be Dark-Jacket, I thought, and sped up. I reached the five huge minarets, all of them absolutely alike. How would I know which one was the right one?! And I could hear the men making their way up and starting their search once more.

I quickly studied the photo and compared it with each of the beautifully carved and detailed minarets. All of them had large carvings of animals in procession. But, I thought, looking closely, the centre carving was of an eagle which was in different postures on each minaret. I checked with the photo and could just barely make out that it was the one towards the top-right corner of the terrace that I needed. I ran to it, scrabbled at the doorknob just as two men burst onto the terrace and saw me. I managed to yank the door open as they sped across, shouting at me. I had just shut the door and drawn the latch as they came up to the minaret.
Once inside, I marveled at the minaret which was just as detailed on the inside as it was on the outside and plus, it was much bigger inside than it appeared.

Without missing a beat, I sped up the small flight of stairs leading to the room in the minaret. It had to be the room in which Mr. Shah was imprisoned! And it was unlocked! What was it with the unlocked doors? The kidnappers were really careless. One wondered how they had managed to capture Mr. Shah without losing him on the way or something. It nagged at me, even as I opened the door and spotted someone sitting in an armchair, facing away from the entrance. Well, at least he was here!
At the sound of my spectacular entrance, he leapt up and turned.
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“What?!” I shouted “You’re free! You’re not tied up or blindfolded or anything.”
And somehow, the “he” changed into a “she”.
“She” was drawling in an overdone imitation of an American accent “Congrats! You’ve done it! You’ve solved the mystery-treasure hunt.” She tottered towards me in high heels and noticed my dumbfounded look. She tossed her hair and said “Yes! It is truly me – Nisha Sharwani! Model, VJ, Miss India…” She said it rapidly, mistaking my look to be that of wonder or admiration – as if!
“Former Miss India.” I corrected her, mechanically, still trying to come to terms with these astonishing proceedings. She rapidly shed her dreamy look and snapped at me “The coupon, please?”