The hidden treasure

The clothes of Raju’s family of four were found everywhere on the chairs, sofa, treadmill, sewing machine and even study tables. With both Raju and Ramya working, there was no time available to fold the clothes once they were taken out of the dryer. Everyone was changing the clothes minimum twice daily. Whenever the door bell rang, all of them ran to hide the clothes before answering the bell. Raju and his wife were looking frantically for a chest of drawers of the old type with five rows of spacious drawers and the top one comprising of two smaller drawers. They could not find them in any of the furniture shops. Such a piece they were told is out of vogue. One shop keeper advised them to search for such a piece in auctioning firms. It was in the third shop they found one quaint piece made in rosewood with an ornamental elliptical frame at the top for holding a mirror. There was of course no mirror in the piece on display. It was big enough to accommodate all their clothes. There were no takers in the last three auctions. The floor price was not high. Though outsized and inconvenient, they settled for the price the firm quoted and had it brought to their home.
There was fight in the home as to who would take the bottom two drawers. They decided that the children should use them as they could bend more easily and frequently than the older people. When the clothes were put in the drawers, Raju’s son who had a keen observation for details complained that the bottom drawer assigned to him was slightly smaller in volume. They found it to be true but could not make out the reason.

Ramya surveyed the rear side and found a small hole at the bottom enough for a needle to enter. The boy thrust the needle from the rear but the tip did not show on the inner side in the drawer. Tapping the side Raju found it hollow. With suspicions aroused a quick examination was done by their son who found small screws at four places of a small square in the centre of the inner wall. They opened it immediately and found to their great astonishment jewellery of the olden years like those worn on the waist, arms and necklaces of golden coins. They were all bundled in clothes and hidden safely and secretly by some one who had got it made initially .Its current value could be several lakhs of rupees. Discreet enquiries without divulging about the find revealed the piece had changed several hands and that the firm which sold had no information about the original owner.
The question that was bothering their minds was what should be done with the treasure discovered. It neither belonged to them nor to the auctioning firm. Raju did not want to retain it though Ramya had her covetous eyes on a couple of jewellery.But Raju was clear in his mind that nothing should be taken. There was little point in selling to jewelers for converting to cash for distribution to noble causes without exposing themselves to innumerable questions and even suspicion. The IT department was another bugbear. Handing over to police was not a preferred option for them. They spent restless days and nights till they finally dropped the bundle in the Hundi at Tirupati temple. They had a lingering fear though for a few years whether the original owner would trace the furniture to them and claim the hidden jewelry.