Phantom Pandey

A freak death of a young man who was part of a wedding party is the latest case of Phantom Pandey and his first investigation reveals the death might not be due to natural causes.

The needle of suspicion is on everyone present at the wedding venue but Phantom’s primary suspect is the groom till he runs into the grooms sister and it seems to Phantom the murder could have been a crime of passion.

Phantom is hell bent on getting his hands on a certain camera’s memory card as he thinks the clue to the murderer’s identity lies in it but the card has been stolen. And further revelations make Phantom wonder if the victim was mistakenly murdered.

Phantom now believes the murderer will strike again and upon a hunch he breaks into a room at the wedding venue and discovers the missing camera memory card. The stored images on the card confirm Phantoms suspicions but will he be able to get to the murderer before another death takes place.

A phone call from an ex girlfriend Kanika, takes Phantom Pandey to Dehradun to investigate the death of his girlfriend’s aunt Gayatri who fell across the staircase of her own mansion and died on the spot. Kanika suspects the death may not be an accident given the fact that she recently married a much younger man in who’s name she even changed her will thus writing off a huge piece of heritage property. And to Phantom’s surprise he does find merit in the theory that Gayatri was murdered when he discovers two nails on the staircase across which a black nylon thread was tied that could trip anyone.

Phantom does not share his knowledge about how Gayatri could have been murdered with anyone yet but decides to further investigate the members of the family and suspects any one of Gayatri’s two nephews and one niece could have done it afterall they all seemed affected with Gayatri’s marriage as well as her decision to change her will and making her husband the new owner of her property rather than her own blood relations. Then Phantom discovers a clue in Gayatri’s room that gives him some picture of the murderer but he wants to wait till he meets this person to draw a conclusion.

Phantom finally meets with Gayatri’s husband Shivendra whom the rest of the family suspects but Phantom isn’t impressed with this man and does not find him capable of murdering Gayatri. Phantom lets the family know that he truly believes Gayatri was murdered and waits for a reaction. In the meanwhile he meets up with Gayatri’s lawyer and finds out that Gayatri had made another will before her final one in which she had named just her niece as her inheritor. But before Phantom can act upon this information he is attacked by some goons and beaten black and blue.

Lying beaten on the road Phantom is helped to his feet by the loyal servant of Gayatri’s mansion who indirectly indicates to him that the goons belonged to one of Gayatri’s nephews. But now with more knowledge of Gayatri’s friends and foes gathered from a local newspaper office Phantom believes that the nephew has acted upon someone else’s orders and he awaits this person to soon show up at the mansion so that Phantom can then trap the person who is Gayatri’s murderer.

A chance meeting with a drunk lawyer in a restaurant brings Phantom his latest case. That of the lawyer's missing wife. As Phantom begins investigation it seems to him it's a simple case of the wife having run away from home perhaps with a lover. But when Phantom lands up at the lawyer's house to further question him he runs into an unknown man outside the lawyer's flat who upon seeing Phantom pushes him and escapes on a motorcycle. Phantom finds the lawyer's flat's main door open and entering inside he sees the lawyer lying face down on a sofa and not responding.

Phantom breathes a sigh of relief as he realizes that the lawyer had just passed out due to heavy drinking. Questioning the lawyer it seems weird to Phantom that his wife left home without any money or even her mobile. He also comes to know from the lawyer that the man who had pushed him just outside the flat was an ex client who held the lawyer responsible for losing his case. Further as he is leaving the lawyer's residential colony he discovers a dead body inside a parked ramshackle car. Phantom wonders who could this be and is it just a coincidence to come across a dead body so close to the lawyer's residence. When Phantom speaks to the lawyer's ex client he is told that the lawyer has killed his wife.

Phantom goes back to the lawyer's house and demands to check the house thoroughly for any signs or clue to his missing wife. In a room kept locked which used to be the lawyer's mother's daily utilities shop that she ran from home Phantom discovers the wife's dead body inside a deep freezer. The same night Phantom checks the lawyer's house for forensic clues with the help of a friend.In the meanwhile the identity of the body found inside the parked car reveals the person to be a University English Department student and Phantom wonders if his murder is connected to that of the lawyer's wife given the fact the lawyer's wife was herself a Phd in English Literature and did help some students from home.

The autopsy reports of both the dead wife and the student coupled with forensic reports of the fingerprints and blood stains found in the lawyer's house reveal that the student had been present in the lawyer's house. But there is also a set of unknown fingerprints that confuse Phantom as to who killed whom and what is the connection between the two murders. As Phantom wonders, if the lawyer's ex-client has any connection with the case given that he was angry with the lawyer and wanted some sort of revenge, his assistant gets him the ex-client's fingerprints and they match the fourth set found in the lawyer's house. But the ex-client is on his way to commit suicide and only if Phantom is able to reach him in time will this case be solved.

Phantom learns that his maternal uncle a simple government electricity department clerk has been accused of murdering a woman. A mysterious secret meeting with the said uncle who is in hiding only confirms his fears and turns into his next case.

Following upon certain names provided by his uncle Phantom soon discovers that the investigation on hand is not just a simple murder case but a larger conspiracy involving top police and other national security organizations. Phantom will soon realize his uncle has a secret identity.

The knowledge about his uncle’s secret identity can be dangerous for Phantom. Phantom has to think on his feet and devise ways to unravel the mystery surrounding the murder of the woman by his uncle. He meets a beautiful girl by chance but will she be safe in his company.

Phantom is dealing with a conspiracy and the people involved in the conspiracy are not only dangerous but very powerful too. Phantom learns his uncle could be acting against the country and if Phantom wants to reach the truth behind all that’s happening he will have to make choices and trust someone wisely.