by M. N. KRISH
The tanker had come to a stop now, engine still rumbling, smoke belching out of the tailpipe like an angry monster whose prey had been yanked away from its mouth at the last second. It was about to execute a three-point-turn to have another go at the Ambassador when Nallathambi materialized out of thin air at its side. Despite all the noise, Lakshman could hear Nallathambi letting the driver know his full and frank opinion of his parents.
The driver and his companion were caught completely off guard by Nallathambi’s appearance. They didn’t know what to say or do and froze in their seats for a few seconds. Before they could recover and take action, a jeep screeched to a halt a few yards in front of the tanker. The driver and his companion leapt out of the box and took off in different directions, leaving the tanker at an odd angle on the road.
Nallathambi, who had sufficient stock of words for any situation, picked up on their lack of courage and valour. ‘You cowardly dogs! You spineless worms!’ he yelled, summoning some literary Tamil for a change.
He looked this way and that for a moment, trying to make up his mind whom to go after. Quickly ruling that the driver who actually crashed the tanker on his car was more guilty than his companion, Nallathambi was about to launch a hot pursuit when he was stopped in his tracks by the eruption of gunfire right behind him. The explosive report nearly stopping his heart, he dropped his heroic plan and went cowering back to his car clutching his ears.
A few more gunshots rang out on the bridge at somewhat regular intervals. No one in the Ambassador had the slightest idea what was going on. They clapped their ears and ducked in their seat, their heart pounding violently in their chest.
The gunshots died down after a couple of minutes, but none of the three could muster enough courage to stick his head up or peep out of the car. They crouched in their seats for some more time – only a minute or two but it seemed like an eternity – until they heard a loud rapping on the car door, metal knocking against metal.
They slowly raised their heads like turtles and turned in the direction where the sound was coming from. The sight that greeted them made their heart skip a beat: A brawny hand clutching a revolver framed by the window.
49
The brawny arm shoved the revolver back into the holster and flung the car doors open. ‘You can come out now,’ he said in accented Tamil and then in English.
Joshua recognized the voice and nodded to Lakshman. The three of them stepped out of the car one by one, dumbstruck and trembling all over in a rush of adrenaline.
Lakshman surveyed the bridge from one end to the other, his legs quivering inside his pants like a pair of reeds in wind, the contents of his stomach in a whirl, his guts going into a spasm. A smell of sulphur lingered in the air. A fleet of unmarked cars and jeeps was blocking both ends of the bridge with a posse of cops standing guard. There was no traffic anywhere on the entire span of the bridge. He could see three or four cops hauling a man towards a jeep – alive or dead or injured, he couldn’t tell. The jeep swallowed them all up and screeched away in no time.
There was no sign of the other man. Some of the cops were scouring the bridge for vantage points, taking positions by the railing and scanning the turbid waters of the Adyar flowing beneath. Lakshman figured he must have jumped into the river – whether it was with or without a bullet in his body, he couldn’t hazard a guess.
‘Hello sir, if you don’t mind,’ Joyshankar Banerjee said and put an end to Lakshman’s curiosity.
Lakshman gawked at Banerjee.
‘None of you saw anything here, understand?’ Banerjee said in Tamil, addressing both Lakshman and Nallathambi. ‘It’s for your own good I’m saying.’
As seasoned citizens of the country, Lakshman and Nallathambi knew perfectly well that when it came to murder, one was better off being a victim than a witness. They nodded their heads in sync, in silent affirmation.
Banerjee then turned to Joshua and repeated his caveat in English.
‘What’s going on here exactly?’ Joshua asked.
‘I’m not sure, Professor,’ said Banerjee. ‘That’s something only you can tell.’
‘What is that supposed to mean?’ Joshua said.
‘We don’t have time to talk now, we should get moving. We need to open the bridge for traffic. I’ll meet you later today and we can talk further,’ Banerjee said.
It dawned upon both Joshua and Lakshman like a ton of bricks, rendering them too numb for words: What happened just now was no accident but an orchestrated attempt on their life.
Banerjee turned to Nallathambi. ‘What the hell were you doing, taking a U-turn and then running back to the tanker like an idiot?’
The indomitable Nallathambi usually didn’t shy away from wagging his tongue at cops on the road. But he knew he should draw the line there. It was obvious Banerjee was no traffic cop looking for a bribe and there was no way he could afford to offend him. He just stared at him like a frog, licking his lips, not sure what to say.
‘But you did well,’ Banerjee continued with a smile. ‘If you hadn’t done that, all three of you could’ve been crushed to death or gone plunging into the river – the stench alone would’ve killed you in seconds.’
‘But sir, my car . . .’ Nallathambi piped up hesitantly.
‘Own car or company’s?’
‘Own, sir. I’m still paying the loan. The company only gets me clients and takes a commission.’
‘Good. I’ll send someone with you, he’ll help you get it repaired. Just go with him, he’ll take care of everything.’
‘I’ll do as you say, sir.’
‘You saw nothing here, nothing happened here. Keep that in mind.’ Banerjee clearly didn’t want to read about the shootout in the papers or answer uncomfortable questions.
‘Yes sir.’
Banerjee turned to Joshua and Lakshman. ‘If you don’t mind, I’ll send you both back in our car.’ He paused and then said, I think this driver was the one who saved you in the nick of time. I hope you’ll keep that in mind.’
‘I know,’ Joshua said. ‘I’ll take care of him, don’t worry.’
Joshua handed over two thousand rupees to Nallathambi.
As Nallathambi was about to go away, happily tucking the money into his pocket, Joshua pulled him back and handed out three hundred more – in American dollars. ‘Please accept this for now and meet me later at the hotel.’
Banerjee summoned one of the constables and asked him to attend to Nallathambi.
Many modern cars like the Expanzo would have crumbled like a puffy pappadam in Divya’s hands after the first kiss of the tanker, but the Ambassador defied it like a steely gladiator of yore. Its boot had caved in and its windscreens had shattered, but it was still in running condition. Nallathambi got in with the constable and drove away after handing Joshua’s briefcase back to him.
Leading Lakshman and Joshua to another vehicle, Banerjee said, ‘Please be careful for some time, stay on guard. I need to go take care of some things right now, but I’ll come and meet you in the afternoon. Stay inside the campus till then. Don’t go out at any cost.’
50
Neither Lakshman nor Joshua uttered a word for the rest of the ride. The officer escorting them wasn’t very talkative either. He was under strict orders from Banerjee. He panned the traffic, checking whether they were being tailed. The first time he addressed Lakshman was when they reached the campus entrance.
‘Where do you want to go, sir?’ he asked.
Lakshman was still feeling unsettled and wasn’t sure how to respond. ‘What do you mean?’
‘To your house or office?’
‘Office,’ Lakshman mumbled. Urmila would see how shaken they were, and he was in no state to answer all the inevitable questions.
The officer got out of the car and walked up to the guardhouse. He had a quick word with the guards and examined their
record book, checking registration numbers of vehicles that had entered the campus recently, before returning to his seat and nodding to the driver.
Much to Lakshman’s surprise, the driver not only knew how to navigate the campus, he even knew where Lakshman’s office was. He didn’t ask for directions anywhere.
‘Well, sir, you should be okay now, now that you’re back on home turf,’ the officer said to Lakshman as he and Joshua got down from the car. ‘I’ll go around the campus just to make sure everything is all right, and then go back. Banerjee sir will get in touch with you soon. Don’t leave the campus till then. I’ll also put in a word with Major Madhavan to tighten the security.’
‘You know Madhavan?’ Lakshman asked, surprised.
The officer only gave a smile in return.
The car pulled away and they walked into the building.
‘Phew,’ said Joshua. ‘That was close.’
‘Very close,’ said Lakshman.
‘And these guys were saying I could be at risk if I went back to the US,’ Joshua said. Then changing tone, ‘I’m terribly sorry to drag you into this mess with me, Lax–’
‘Shut up, Josh,’ said Lakshman. ‘Let’s figure out what to do next.’
Lakshman opened his office, switched on the fan and threw the windows open. Joshua sat down and pulled out the copy of Janaki Ammal’s Sri Ramajayam notebook from his briefcase.
The most striking feature of the notebook – the only striking feature of the notebook – was the names of cities and towns, many of them tagged with a number.
Joshua and Lakshman leafed through the pages repeatedly but they got nowhere.
‘Tell you what,’ Lakshman said after a while, tired, ‘why don’t we go home, get a bite for lunch and come back? I can’t do much thinking right now.’
~
Lakshman alerted Joshua not to speak a word about their miraculous escape in Urmila’s presence. He even refrained from rubbing the pain spots on his shoulder. This was not the first time he was putting himself in the way of peril and it was not going to be his last. He would rather do without his wife belabouring him on the merits of staying within the limits of his job description and not going poking his aquiline nose in other people’s business.
Their agitated, hyperactive mental states notwithstanding they had a rather quiet lunch with minimal conversation. While seeing Lakshman like that was nothing new to Urmila, Joshua was seldom a damp squib at the dinner table. So she could sense he was weighed down by some concern but there was no way she could imagine what the two of them had been through. Lakshman was rather satisfied with the way the shroud of secrecy was working, but he was well aware of the formidable power of Urmila’s laser-light stare, the one that often had him confessing his sins in minutes. He didn’t want to spend any more time in the house than was necessary and risk falling prey. He was quietly chivvying Joshua out of the house when thunderous knocking on the door nearly brought it down; someone clearly preferred a battering ram to a doorbell.
Lakshman opened the door and peered out, somewhat annoyed.
It was Banerjee.
Lakshman invited him in. Urmila served orange juice to him and his driver waiting outside, then withdrew to the room upstairs, where she could listen to every single word spoken downstairs.
Lakshman and Joshua thanked Banerjee for showing up at the right moment and saving their lives, but he just brushed it aside. ‘I was just doing my job,’ he said and asked after their wellbeing.
After making sure Joshua was comfortable talking in Lakshman’s presence, he delivered the latest news. ‘I had a discussion with your Consul General about what happened,’ he said, ‘and she has made some decisions.’
‘Decisions?’ Joshua said.
‘Yes sir,’ Banerjee said. ‘She wants to put you on the next flight back to the US. Tonight.’
51
Joshua was livid with rage. ‘She wants to put me on a flight back to the US?’ he said.
‘Yes. Those were her exact words. She seems to feel you’d be safer in their hands in America than with us here.’
‘Right!’ said Joshua. ‘When I wanted to go home she stopped me and made me stay back, because it’s safer here. Now she tells me I’ll be safer back home?’
‘I’m only telling you what she told me, sir. I’m just a messenger. As you Americans say, don’t shoot the messenger.’
If there’s anyone doing any shooting today, it’s you, thought Joshua.
‘Well Officer,’ Joshua said, ‘I’m not going anywhere until I get this thing resolved.’
‘What is it that you want to get resolved, sir, if I may ask?’
‘I don’t know yet. I’ll tell you when we figure it out, though my feeling is that it’s not going to be of much help to you. The people who can act on it are out there in the US, not here,’ Joshua said. ‘Would you mind telling me how you happened to be there at the right place at the right time this morning? How long have you been tailing me?’
Banerjee smiled. ‘Well Professor, I’m not at liberty to divulge all the details of our operation, but let me just say that your missing laptop has been keeping us on our toes. We don’t know who did it, but our informers – people who turned down the job – tell us that it’s a highly syndicated operation. So it’s going to be very hard to nail the source. But we’re clearly dealing with someone whose stakes are high – though we don’t know what they are. They weren’t sure if you’re involved in this, so they were just shadowing you, but slowly they must have got some serious indication that you’re involved.’
‘Me? Involved? In what? And how?’ Joshua asked.
‘I don’t know,’ said Banerjee. ‘Only you can tell us that. They didn’t try anything serious earlier because they knew there was less risk of getting caught when you were alive than when you were dead. But the scales began tilting the other way. Your visit to the museum was the last straw. The final signal to liquidate you was given today soon after you reached there.’
‘Where does the threat level stand now?’ Joshua asked.
‘Not zero, but low,’ Banerjee said. ‘Just for reference, two hours ago it was very high.’
‘Do you mind elaborating?’
‘Well Professor, I don’t think anyone here will try any more stunts after what happened on the bridge, now that they know we’re on the case. They didn’t know that earlier, but they do now. I don’t think anyone here is going to be foolish enough to accept such a high-risk assignment.’
‘What happened to the two guys in the truck?’
Banerjee eyed Joshua sternly for a moment. ‘There are some questions I prefer not to answer, Professor,’ he said. ‘But let me assure you that they are not in a position to hurt you anymore.’
‘So you think I could stick around for a few more days? I won’t hold you to it, but I just want to know your thoughts.’
‘I think you can, Professor,’ Banerjee said. ‘But if you do, I’ll be asking my man Michael to shadow you. I don’t want to take any chances. He is on it already, across the road as we speak.’
‘I really appreciate that,’ said Joshua.
‘Does that mean you’re going to stay?’
‘Yup, I want to see this thing through to the end and this is the best place to do it from. Getting that done and nailing the culprits would provide me far more security than an army of cops and bodyguards,’ Joshua said. ‘If you talk to Thelma Paterson, please tell her that I’m as safe here as I can be anywhere and there’s no way I’m flying out tonight.’
‘Well, sir, I’d rather you give her the message yourself. I don’t want to get in the middle.’
‘All right. If she calls you, just ask her to talk to me directly. She can reach me at one of three places: here or in Lakshman’s office or at the Oceanic.’
‘I’ll do that. If you just stick to these three places, you�
��re going to be totally fine. Just avoid going anywhere else for now. But if you really do have to go somewhere, please let Michael know.’
‘Great,’ said Joshua.
‘By the way, we found your laptop in one of the places we raided on Ritchie Street today,’ Banerjee said. ‘Well, whatever remains of it,’ he added quickly. ‘I don’t think it’s of much use anymore. The hard disk is gone.’
‘Why doesn’t that surprise me?’ said Joshua.
‘Let me know if you need it back for some reason.’
‘Don’t even bother,’ Joshua said.
~
‘Are you sure you did the right thing not going back to the US?’ Lakshman asked Joshua when Banerjee was gone.
‘I think so,’ Joshua said. ‘They would’ve probably been after me with a gun if I was in the US. One in the head, one in the chest and you’re gone. Look at what happened to Jeffrey.’
They returned to Lakshman’s office and resumed their dissection of Janaki Ammal’s Sri Ramajayam notebook. Lakshman spread the sheets of the copy on his desk and took a fresh look at them, his reading glasses poised precariously on the nose.
‘Why don’t you write down the names of these towns in English, on a separate sheet of paper?’ Joshua suggested. ‘Let me take a look.’
‘All right,’ Lakshman said and tore a sheet from a notepad. A soft knock on the door just then stopped him from writing anything. He quickly gathered the papers spread out on the desk, shoved them inside a file folder and hollered, ‘Yes, come in.’
The door creaked open and Divya slid in, her Eastpack dangling from a shoulder. She saw Joshua sitting with a serious look on his face and stopped right by the door. ‘Excuse me, sir. You asked me to come and see you this afternoon,’ she said hesitantly.
‘Of course,’ said Joshua. ‘Come on in. You may be exactly what the doctor ordered.’