622 - Part 6

As I finish the dinner , Mrs. Brown takes a walk around the main hall and comes back with a frown.

"At what time you returned home?"

" Around 3.30-4.00 p.m."

"Hmmm.."

"Did you check the study? "

" The lock was broken."

"You were to tell me about the telephone connection"

Taking a deep breath, she begins " Your Grandma and I met at the telephone exchange. Over the days our interaction grew, became good friends and then we discovered that we were living on the same street but in opposite ends. Our bond especially deepened over the last days of your Grandpa. He died a natural,peaceful death unlike Shelly. Anyways, the story of the connection goes back around 2008. The church at the avenue saw the entry of Fr. Agnes after old Fr. Walt passed away. But there was something strange- people who confessed to him were complaining that the confessions were getting public or something related to it came to the fore every time after one went to him! So people started to avoid going to the church, especially for confessions. But then, folks also needed to confide and confess without the fear of anything sneaking out in the open. Hence , Shelly had the idea of telephone confessions where anyone could dial in at a specific time and confess with complete privacy. The only hiccup in all this was Shelly's own identity, anyone could track her through her telephone number at the exchange. Here's where I offered help, and fixing up things at the exchange became my duty. With an alias of 622 since the last three digits of the number was 622, she started off with a notice at the church."

"But didn't people rebel at the idea of confessing to a lady?"

"Shelly was gifted- she had the ability of mimicry and hence could modulate voice accordingly. Hence many didn't know that there was a lady on the other side." After a long pause she continues,
"All was going well until September 2010 , after that her health had started to decline. She had even called me before the Christmas eve to tell me about a call. In all those years, she ever hadn't done that which was therefore very much astonishing as to why she chose to tell me about it. "