Thawta Swe - Yan Aung Yadanar and the Beard That Stuck to Bees

A very angry person.

“So.. Ko Saw Lwin... get up, are you sleeping?”

Hearing Ko Tauk Tun's wake-up call from the living room outside, I pulled off the blanket and stretched out....

"I'm up... I wonder what's going on, I woke up early..."

"Aungma... Is it still early... It's already 7:30 am?"

"It's early for me, I'm planning to sleep until eight and a half, and I have to write until one o'clock in the night. Oh... why haven't you gone for a walk yet?"

Ko Tauk Tun usually goes for a walk early on weekdays before I get up, and sometimes returns after breakfast.

"Come on... get up, I have something to do. I'm going to sleep for this long."

"You are a person who destroys the world, you are destroying the world while you are still dreaming, you are destroying the world, you are not a naive dream, you are a supreme dream."

"Oh... how I wish..."

“Ha... don’t tell me, Hollywood actress Daw Rothila Moe and I, we were enjoying ourselves in a forest and mountains, and then you woke me up when you called me, you’re such a nuisance, you have to pay me back..., It’s very difficult to communicate and dream abroad while there’s a war going on in the West, I’m so lucky…”

As I walked out into the living room, I saw the face of a pale, middle-aged man sitting across from Ko Tauk Tun at the small table. My initial joking remark suddenly stopped, like water being poured on fire.

For he was very angry, and seemed to be trying to restrain his anger from bursting out suddenly. His face was bloodshot, and his forehead was furrowed in wrinkles, and his red eyes, under his furrowed brows, were staring intently at the table. His teeth were clenched tightly, so that the flesh on both sides of his jaws protruded like little lumps of flesh, and his thin, pointed lips were moving apart from each other. Indeed, anyone who saw his face would be reminded of a large cauldron of gunpowder, burning with fire, about to explode.

I walked towards them, staring at his face, and even though I was standing next to the table, Ko Tauk Tun looked up at me...

“I want you to come with me to Ko Ba Khaing’s house this morning. I’m sure you’ll want to come too.”

From the moment I saw Ko Ba Khaing's face, I wondered what was causing him to be so angry and stubborn. Ko Tauk Htun knew from just looking at my face that I had to pretend.

I stopped and said, "Yes, I will go with you," but before I could finish speaking, Ko Ba Khaing spoke in an unbearable deep voice.

“Yes... you are wasting your time... let's go, Ko Tauk Tun.”

Ko Tauk Tun said in his original voice.

“Koba Khaing’s case is not something that happens in a hurry, but it’s something that happens every time. It’s something that takes time to think about, communicate with the people, and investigate. Well… Ko Saw Lwin also prepared quickly.”

He said to me and turned to Ko Ba Khaing again.

"Koba Khaing... try to control your mind well, people can only be punished by the law."

Ko Ba Khaing spoke in a loud, angry, harsh voice with an incorrect accent.

“Ko Tauk Tun Ya... have you controlled your mind? If you don’t control it, you’ll be like this, remember? People will be killing you wherever they see you, holding a knife and a gun. Do you know that? Ko Tauk Tun Nay, you know my mind, and now I’m feeling sad and anxious. Haha... I don’t care. I want to kill the person who killed my father ten times more brutally. Tauk... People of Paungthi, this place is a place where people are killed. History is cruel... Your duty is to find out who killed this person so that I alone can find out. I don’t want anything else, and I don’t want the government to know either...”

I entered the back room, listening to him say this, clenching his fists and gritting his teeth.

I had only seen Ko Ba Khaing before, and I did not know him personally. Ko Tauk Htun later told me that he was a man of great courage and that sometimes he relied on more than ten police officers to capture difficult suspects.

Ko Tauk Tun, however, had studied modern science extensively and did not work for a salary, but rather practiced his passion and passion for detective work, just like U San Shya Gyi. He was a very talented person, and was able to solve even major crimes that some government detectives had given up on, so he was recognized by the government and became quite famous as Detective Maung Tauk Tun.

I had lived with Ko Tauk Tun for a year at university, and his quiet, thoughtful detective work and my uninterrupted writing were a perfect match. We lived together in a fairly neat little house in Sanchaung Keut Thit, paying a monthly rent to each other, along with a young cook named Maung Tin Aye.

Ko Tauk Tun's physical appearance was fair-skinned, tall, with a broad chest, a thin nose, deep-set eyes, high cheekbones, and a strong, radiant expression, with his lips set neatly and with a gentle, gentle demeanor.

Indeed, his physical appearance contradicts the description of a beautiful person, but his physical appearance can arouse feelings of fear, trust, and reverence in the minds of those who see him.

He was naturally a man of few words and, if he had no occasion to go out, he would always sit in his armchair, his eyes closed like a dead man, silent and thoughtful. Sometimes my thoughts, wondering if he was still alive, were only dispelled by the smoke rising from his cigarette.

He and I live in the same house, but we rarely go together, and only when there is a special matter, he would call me to ask me to explain it briefly. There are some small matters that I don't know about. In this case, he brought me along because he knew I was free and thought the matter would be interesting.

I quickly changed my clothes and went back to the living room. As soon as I reached the table, Ko Tauk Tun poured me a cup of coffee that had already been prepared and said, “Drink it, you’re welcome.” He got up and put on the coat that was ready on the nearby coat hanger. He walked to Ko Ba Khaing and said, “Okay…let’s go.” He walked towards the shoe rack. As soon as Ko Ba Khaing said his name, he went to his car that was parked in front of the house.

I quickly downed my lukewarm coffee, lit a cigarette, put on my shoes, and followed Ko Ba Khaing and Ko Tauk Tun, who were descending one after the other.

The driver, a tall, bushy-browed man with dark skin, a prominent nose, and especially a crooked hand, opened the car door. As soon as the three of us sat down, he slammed the door shut with a loud thud, took his seat, and started the engine.

"Hey... drive fast," Ko Ba Khaing's command suddenly sped away. I followed him, praising the driver for driving so fast on the winding, winding, and winding roads. Ko Ba Khaing could not change his stern expression and was deep in thought about something.

Ko Tauk Tun, on the other hand, calmly leaned back, carefully drawing out the cigarette, and with a thoughtful expression, he soon began to ask Ko Ba Khaing questions.

"You went on night duty at nine o'clock last night."

“Yes, I only got back at five in the morning and went to bed. I found out at six when U Oo Bo Thin woke me up. Wow.. I’m so sorry.”

"Who was at your house last night?"

“Mother, my younger sister Khin Tint is going to Bago, so my older sister Khin Myint, U Gyi Bo Thin, the aunt who cooks, the milkman... and this driver Mya Han, that’s all there is. Mya Han sleeps in the garage, and the rest of us all sleep at home.”

"The only door that's open is the back door, it's closed at night."

“It’s closed. I closed it myself. No one else opened it. Only that door was open. The door to the back porch was definitely locked. The door to the front porch and the iron door to the living room were also locked. U Oo Bo Thin only opened it when I returned. He immediately closed it again. I saw it this morning, except for the back porch door that I mentioned earlier, which was broken and my father’s bedroom door was opened with a hole in the side of the upper lock, so that he could only reach in. All the windows and doors were locked as usual.”

"So there's no way to get up from under the house."

"Yes... it's hard to be there."

"What was that sound you heard about three o'clock, Uncle?"

"It sounded like a package being dropped, like a doorknob being slammed."

Ko Tauk Tun pretended to think for a moment and then...