Lemonade

The drinking joints in Calcutta are all situated on Topcat Street.
Some of the bars have dance floors where professional dancers move to
film music. Competition is tough and the bars are always coming up with
gimmicks to attract the crowds. The bars open at nine pm and are open
through the night. Some policemen are known to visit the bars. One of
them is believed to be having a torrid affair with a dancing girl. Due
to various reasons business has been bad in the past six months. The
dancing girls look tired and the songs seem repetitive. People are
seeking new things. New drinks perhaps. Of course you come to a bar to
drink alcohol. But some people want to try out other stuff too. Jelly
Bar is a new establishment situated at the far end of Topcat Street. It
opened only a year back and is doing great business even in these bad
times. People are flocking to Jelly Bar every night for two reasons.
One, because of the dancing girls who are all very attractive. The
other reason is Strong Lemonade. Well, this is the name given to the
new drink that this bar has created. The drink is jelly like, thick and
slippery. Its not clear why the owners of Jelly Bar have chosen to call
it Strong Lemonade. Patrons do ask the employees about the new drink
but they only smile sweetly and say nothing.
Chief Inspector Simon Sen visited Topcat Street yesterday. He met the
owners of all the bars and told them about some new laws. The Chief
Inspector had been told about Strong Lemonade. He mentioned it to the
owner of Jelly Bar. The latter gentleman invited Simon Sen to his
establishment. Simon was offered three glasses of Strong Lemonade but
he could finish just one. He liked the drink immensely. It made him
feel unusually strong and secure. He asked his host what the drink
contained. He was not given any clear answer. Being the policeman that
he was, Simon Sen became suspicious.
A week later the civic authorities conducted a raid on Jelly Bar. The
police were also present. Each employee was asked about Strong
Lemonade. It seemed that they were all prepared for the question. Each
man described in detail how Strong Lemonade was made from a fruit that
was found in a single orchard near Darjeeling. The police sent people
to Darjeeling to look for the fruit. However, neither the orchard nor
the fruit could be located. Something was wrong, surely. A month later
medical colleges all over Calcutta reported a strange kind of theft.
Someone had cracked open the skulls of the cadavers in the morgues and
taken only the brains. The rest of the body was left intact. The police
were puzzled.
Jelly Bar was becoming more and more popular every day. They now opened
before lunch for three hours. People came from far and wide to drink
Strong Lemonade. The police had a plan. Jelly Bar was looking for a
waiter. One of the intelligence people was asked to apply for the post.
He was selected and began to work at the bar. He found out a few
things. Only three people knew how Strong Lemonade was made. The owner
purchased the ingredients personally and brought them to the bar in a
small truck. The cook made the drink by putting the ingredients in a
washing machine and agitating them all together for five minutes. The
third person was the weak link. He drove the truck containing the
ingredients to the bar and carried them secretly to the cook. The
police decided to speak to the driver. He was a tough man. Seven feet
tall and very bulky. It was obvious that he could not be pressurized
physically to do anything. The police decided to do some research about
the driver's background. It became clear that he wanted a stable,
paying job. The police department helped him find one. And then the
truth came out.
Strong Lemonade contained just one thing. Each glass was made from a
single human brain. Falling sales had prompted Jelly Bar to look for
something that would attract customers in large numbers. The owner had
found a corpse lying outside the bar one evening. On an impulse he had
removed the brain with kitchen knives. The cook was asked to prepare
the drink and it was served to an unsuspecting customer. Well, Strong
Lemonade was a great hit. Thereafter, people were employed to look for
human brains everywhere. When all sources dried up the morgues of
medical colleges were invaded. Even the police were shocked by the
brazenness of the management of Jolly Bar who firmly believed that they
had done nothing wrong.