Issue 2 · Case 4 · 14 August 2026
Bombay wireless desk · 1968 · Farid Contractor
The Mahim Book Exchange
A 1968 lending-circle parcel returned with one catalogue card missing.
REPORT: Mahim, 1968 — A lending circle’s parcel returned after its weekly exchange without a catalogue card. The organiser, schoolteacher, binder and delivery boy had visited the reading corner, binding table, porch and post shelf with a date stamp, string tie, catalogue card and wrapping paper. One signed account is not where it claims to be. The desk adds one line for the record: the false claim in the signed statements came from the very person this enquiry wants.
Reading room sorts its index cards by hand
The Colaba citizens’ room has moved its reference cards into fresh trays, leaving a quiet table for anyone checking the evening bulletin.
Kanta Rege enters the evening register
A handwritten line in the exchange sheet assigns Kanta Rege to the Reading corner before filing.
Sea wind delays the morning umbrella parade
Commuters arriving by the harbour side found a brisk shower at the platform edge, though the late-morning service settled once the clouds lifted.
Date stamp is named in the station paperwork
The parcel check book lists the Date stamp beside Kanta Rege's name before filing.
Apprentice learns the patient art of splicing tape
A junior sound-room assistant completed a careful spool-repair exercise using blank rehearsal stock, earning a handwritten note from the station engineer.
Ledger copy keeps Imran Khan on the record
Imran Khan appears beneath the Post shelf heading in the exchange sheet for the shift.
CLASSIFIED
Book parcels wrapped for lending circles
Mahim Paper House folds brown paper around borrowed novels, catalogue cards, and other things people promise to return.
Request hour saves room for a young tabla player
A small studio orchestra has reserved one measured interlude for a neighbourhood tabla pupil, recorded with a ribbon microphone after the spoken announcements.
CLASSIFIED
Signed copy leaves Kanta Rege where readers can find it
A countersigned exchange statement records Kanta Rege with the Binding table.
Visitors to sign the rehearsal-room book
Anyone collecting sheet music is asked to enter a name and time in the green book at reception, keeping the narrow passage clear during broadcasts.
Evening copy names Binding table before closing
Peter Lobo's signed line names the Binding table; the tally decides whether it holds.
CLASSIFIED
Copper Kettle Irani Café offers a quiet corner
Copper Kettle Irani Café serves brun pav, khari biscuits and chai in thick cups for readers waiting out a shower. The counter keeps change in a tin, not in coat pockets.
Shaila Deshmukh enters the evening register
The exchange statement records Shaila Deshmukh's claim about the Catalogue card.
Matunga annual-day booklet returned with its music cue
A slim school booklet came back through the post with a pencilled harmonium cue inside, a small acknowledgement of an earlier Bombay school desk.
Wrapping paper is named in the station paperwork
Imran Khan entered the Wrapping paper in the statement column.
Ledger copy keeps one name on the record
The lending circle editor marked four signed claims in red pencil; one claim is false.
Deduction board
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