The Browning Murders

Dr Roshanlal Wani leaves his hometown Srinagar and arrives in Kolkata to work in a reputed hospital. He has two weaknesses in life- women and poetry. His favourite poet is Robert Browning and he draws inspiration from his poems.After indulging in a string of affairs with multiple women Roshanlal falls in love with a pretty young teacher named Karuna Sen. He also feels a strange attraction towards her mother Mrs Bonolota Sen, a youngish woman who looks exactly like her daughter. After a brief affair Roshanlal marries Karuna. But he hides the fact that he already has a wife and two minor sons in his Srinagar home. Everything is fine until the day Roshanlal receives an invitation to attend the wedding of his cousin Sara in Srinagar. He had plans to go alone but Karuna is hell bent on accompanying him there. She wants to see her in-laws and nothing can prevent her from doing so. Roshanlal never knew that his wife could be so adamant and stubborn. He feels cornered and frustrated. He tries to cancel the trip but Karuna doesn't let him do so. Finding no other way out he plans to murder her.Soon Roshanlal reaches Srinagar with his happy, unsuspecting wife. While in a restaurant he secretly mixes powdered sleeping peels in her milkshake which she drinks without much thought. Then he takes her into a deserted pinewood forest where she falls asleep in his arms. Inspired by a poem of Robert Browning he follows the same procedure and strangles her to death. He is aggrieved after committing the murder but feels that he was forced to do it because of Karuna's stubbornness. He throws her body into a nearby deserted well, then calmly goes to his Srinagar house to attend Sara's wedding.After a few days he returns to Kolkata alone. When Karuna's mother Mrs Sen asks him about her daughter he replies that Karuna is pregnant and the doctor has advised her for complete bed rest, or else she may have a miscarriage. Mrs Sen is happy to know the good news. She patiently waits till the day Roshanlal gives her the 'good news' that Karuna has 'given birth to a baby boy'. After the initial celebration is over, Mrs Sen makes preparations to visit Srinagar to meet her daughter and grandson. An alarmed Roshanlal tries his best to dissuade her from going but fails to do so. With a shock he realises that Karuna had inherited her stubborn streak from her mother. Now he will have to commit another murder to save himself. He turns to Browning again.