The Consultant

Chapter 1

I finished my drink and signaled the bartender for another. The pub had a somber mood about it, a kind of slight dullness around it, which somehow created its own ambience. A slight array of tables, moved along towards the back, close to the bar, but appropriately away from the noisy dance floor. This was my second visit and I had already started liking it here. As I wait for the bartender to fetch me another drink, I gaze through my empty glass. I couldn’t help laughing at my silly luck. I mean, I couldn’t believe that, on My First Day at the job. My First Day at the desk and I land a client!! and it wasn’t even noon then. WOW!!… My head had reeled at this fact for the whole day. As I entered this pub tonight, something told me that its not gonna be a good start for my job. Its gonna be a great start. Come on Bartender, celebrate with me.

The guy next to me, however, didn’t seem to share my feelings. He looked like the typical booze-rookie, Typical and Obvious I-Drink-To-Forget-My-Sorrows kinda guy. GOD, He isn’t even pausing to taste the drink, just emptying it into that pot belly of his.

“Hey, go slow there, buddy. I don’t think this bar table would like to see you throw up so soon.” He looks at me with those reddish puppy eyes, swollen face, and rugged unshaven chin. Sheeeeeeesh!! This guy can stand in for Clint Eastwood, that too without makeup.

“Leave me alone” he grunts

“Well, if you continue like this, it won’t be long before you get hauled outta here. This pub can’t risk allowing a first time drinker like you losing control like this”.

“How did you know I was…. How did you know that?” he double-blinked at me.

“And this is perhaps the second cigarette you have ever had, right?”

“Yea, how…” He now turned towards me.

“Well, it’s obvious, isn’t it? You are blowing more smoke than you sucked out of that cigarette. A seasoned smoker would have inhaled and enjoyed at least half of that. And that’s not water in that glass, buddy. That’s alcohol, something which you don’t just gulp down, glass after glass. You sip it, slowly, feeling it flow into you, feeling it surge within you, enjoying its effects gradually.”

“Huh?” he was looking completely stoned now.

‘Hey Bartender, My man !! Get a plain soda for this guy, will ya? ……. Here, leave that. Take this. Have this soda for sometime. Let it mellow you down”…. Like a child who’s just been chided and scolded, he quietly obeyed me.

He finished a glass and slowly I could see his pupils learning to focus again. I took this chance and shook his hand.

“Hi!! I’m Mohak Chattopadhay” I said as I tried to shake the dullness outta him.

“Ohh … Hi Mr.Mohak … I’m Pramod … Pramod Modi … Thanks a lot for that soda”

“Anytime, Man!! … and Pramod….. My friends call me ‘MC’” I winked.

“Thanks MC …. I was at the edge of losing my mind, I had no idea what I was gonna do, no idea how this night would have ended.. I did not want to return back home … Actually I’d rather go anyplace other than home. Coming to think of it, the last thought, that I had before entering this place, was whether I would be lucky enough to have an accident when I drive back.”

“What the hell are you saying?”

“Why … I thought you just said its quite obvious”

“Yea, I mean … you did look troubled … But … I didn’t know that you had already decided to book a trip to the pearly gates”

“In a way….. In a way” he mused.

“Good that I saw and stopped you from drinking anymore. You were out of your senses or what?”

“SENSES??? SENSES ?? “.. he suddenly erupted … “What use are your brains when you are being crippled by fate .. Being stamped upon by destiny,… like an insect beneath a boot”

“Come on, buddy .. How bad could it be? … If you have lost money…. hey.. You aren’t the only one … money comes and….”

“ITS NOT THE FREAKING MONEY … “

“Hey .. Man.. cool it … If its gonna help you cool off .. Lay it on me… “

“MC, its not the money, man … I’ve got lots of that … but its just that … nowadays life’s being a burden to me”

“Ohh … Problems at home, eh”

“I hate my home, I abhor it … Its becoming one of the reasons I am making more money …”

“What? .. “

” …. Everyday I leave for office .. all happy and beaming .. like a released prisoner … and every night .. I hate going back .. So I end up staying back .. working more and more … and working even more.. hoping that it’d divert my mind away from my home .. I hate to go back and face her … every single night.. its a torture” “Ohh .. I’m sorry…Just take it easy man .. things will work out” “NO … They wont … I don’t want her … I’ve tried sending her back .. No use … I’ve tried going away.. she comes calling me back …. I just cant live with her … and she wont leave me … I do not know what to do ..”

“Ohh … hmmm” “I’d just wanna get rid of her … Ya .. I’d do that …. I’d give her ‘supari’ to some local mercenary.. and get it done …. I can understand the look on your face.. You are aghast … right? … You cant believe it, can you? … But.. But.. Its true.” My open-mouthed-gape continued. He continued… “I want to get her out of my life … I chose this way because that is the only way left … But … I hesitate … I did not want the gangsters … catching up with me after this act. … Blackmailing me for the rest of my life” “Err .. If I may sug…..” “I don’t want the same old hell to return to my life.. the hell where I have to run away … go back to hiding … How can I trust those people … They’d try to suck more out of me … But then How can I get rid of her .. I have no way out” … and he almost starts whimpering.

“Err .. Pramod … I do not know what to call it … coincidence.. or fate … But I think I can help you..” “WHAT?? … You know somebody like this.. You know somebody capable … “ .. He was visibly very excited.. “Is he trustworthy … would he do the job without any problems … would he … would he …???” … he’s almost grabbing my collar. “Hey .. Hey … Calm down … You are in no good state now.. You need to go and rest … if u sit here anymore you are gonna end up drunk .. and dangerous” ..I help him up … and somehow lead him to his car. “Thanks MC … But you said you can help me…” he could walk.. luckily he wasn’t that drunk. “And I will.. Here … take my card.. Call me tommorrow” .. He gets in the car .. and I wait till the motor starts. He glances over the contents of the card. “Hey .. what’s this .. Here’s just ‘MC’ written on the front side.. What do you do? … where’s your number?” “My number’s on the back …. I’m a consultant … Its time for you to leave, Pramod.. Drive slowly and safely.. … We will talk tomorrow… Good Night”

He calls the following morning … I had thought that he might forget about everything that happened the previous night. But he hadn’t. He agreed to come and meet me at my office.

The second day at my office, the second day at my desk, a new day full of promise. By about an hour past noon, I welcome him into my 2 room office. “Hello Mr. Pramod … Have a seat … I hope you have given enough thought to the task at hand … and you have no qualms about it” “Yes MC … I am sure about it … I just want to meet this guy.. Arrange …and get it done with” “Good …. Then he’s right in front of you” “WHAT?? … Mohak.. you?? .. How can it be .. You said you are a consultant .. .. “… i saw fear in his eyes. “Hey .. Pramod.. Take it easy … I am a Consultant.. I am a Murder Consultant”.. “Is this some kind of a stupid joke … Look yaar MC … I know I would have sounded depressed and desperate last night… But … “

“Hey .. Who said anything about joking.. I am not joking.. You would understand that when you get my bill” “You mean … you really are … the killer??” “Come on Pramod.. What’s so hard to believe? “ “I mean … you look like an educated man …” “B.E Chemistry” “Really .. and then this job ..?” “For Better challenges.. Better money.. Better satisfaction … just like everybody else”. I think he got the meaning of all this. His smile spoke a lot. “Hmm.. So i guess ‘MC’ stands for Murder Consultant” “Heheh .. I put that as a joke… Actually I’d love to make it a proper business.. Run purely through contacts.. someday I might have my own team of lawyers … employed to fight for me.. u kno” “…and your own team of consultants..” He winks. “No man.. I work alone.. Didn’t I say yesterday that we met by either a co-incidence or destiny … or perhaps both. … The stuff you told me, about being apprehensive about gangsters, that is one of the main reasons I started this as a one man professional homicidal contractual job. I provide quality and sincere service, and I am dead professional about it. Believe it or not, today is my first day on this new venture .. And tonight itself I bump into you. Unbelievable, eh?”

“Hmmm … True MC!! … You do sound right, in some ways. I would not mind doing business with you. But how do I know that I would get my money’s worth and that my interests would be safe and untouched” he looks at me with suspicion. “Come on Pramod, you think I’d start this without planning. My methods are clean and simple and don’t need too much hardware either” “That means you are like a one-pistol guy .. or do you use sniper … you got those things here?” he looked about my office eagerly.

This guy seriously needs to know how to stay calm.

“Don’t worry, Just trust me. Rest assured that your wishes would be carried with the utmost finesse.”

“How much would I owe you for this … task” he asks hesitatingly. “A Couple of lakhs” I don’t take my eyes off him. “A bit steep …?.” “Oh yea ?… you can definitely get two gun wielding noisy gangsters for the same price !!” He smiled “Fine !! How do you want it?” “You are smart, Pramod… Unlike I expected, you didn’t just flash me your cheque book .. good .. I would need a lakh in cash, unmarked and unordered notes, before the job and the same thing afterwards. After that neither of us would ever need to recognize each other”

“Hmm … Done … Then let it be tomorrow” He stands up.

“Tommorrow ?? A bit soon, ain’t it?”… he doesnt answer me, just scribbles down the place and time and hands over a photograph.

Chapter 2

The third day, My first task execution as MC. Wow !!… Its gonna be great. I reach the designated place, a narrow path behind the railway station. Not many buildings or shops around. People use this path mostly as a shortcut to the station.I scout around the place, trying to spot two different vantage points. I finally find a nice dark shady spot behind an old banyan tree beside the road. A few meters across the road, opposite to the banyan, there’s an old dilapidated bus stand. It was at the right angle towards the road, quite above suspicion and moreover easy access to buses, if needed. I decide to wait for her behind the banyan tree.

Soon Pramod joins me. He looks somewhat different now. A bundle of nerves, that’s what he is.

He came, took his jacket off and wearily slumped down beside me.

“Oh .. You? … I was not expecting you, Pramod…. “ He didn’t say anything, just sat down on the ground and looked over towards the road.

“Uh … err .. ok” .. It was clear that he was not listening to me.

“You ok, Pramod?” his eyes were on the road, scanning anxiously.

“yea .. yea .. I’m fine .. “ he glanced at that old bus stand… “The road’s visible from that point?”

“Yea, I verified that .. “ ..

Everything had to be done as planned. I tried reassuring him, he looked distracted, that stupid dreamy look in his eyes.

“I think … it’ll take her 20 more minutes to reach here” .. He sighed.

“Listen Pramod, You can go back if you want. Its not gonna be a pretty scene out here.”

“No, Its ok.. I wanna stay” he insisted.

“Fine !!.. as you wish ..” .. I knew that he still didn’t hear a word I said … just kept looking at his watch.

He got up, absentmindedly leaned onto the banyan, eyes still on the road. He looked in a dilemma of whether to move or not.

“Listen Pramod, You should leave. You can count on me, Man. Listen; I have never failed my client, not once. I assure you that you are not gonna see your wife alive after this. You can trust me on this” “No .. I want to stay … I want to see it happen.. I want to see her disappear… It would be a magical moment to see myself set free”. “Actually I should not say so, But shouldn’t you be killing her boyfriend or something?” “What boyfriend, she has none.” “Ohh .. But … you said she’s making you hate your life” “She is… By being the most devoted wife ever!!”

“What??”

“That’s what she is!! I cannot find a single fault in her, but for the fact that she was never a wife to me. A man expects something in the wife he gets, some personality, some substance, a true companion, a person with whom he can stand shoulder to shoulder. How can you spend a life with a doormat? She never complains, never demands anything, never says anything, I don’t even know that she’s there. I can’t help getting frustrated at her. When I go home, all I get is a nodding head, that’s it.

She is not like Suzanne … Now Suzanne’s a woman, a true woman. She makes me toil before I can meet her and I’m crazy about her. I want to spend my whole life with her, spend my whole fortune just to appease her. But, my wife, she never leaves me alone, doesn’t even let me start a fight so that I can divorce her. How I crave to lead a married life with Suzanne and How I wish I could divorce my wife. I am not gonna gain any monetary benefit out of this whole deal. All its gonna give me is a breath of fresh life, one that I have craved for years now. I’ve been driven to this point and now I see no other way.”

Pramod was not drunk.. But his eyes were bloodshot… I could see that he meant every word he said.. and all this while I was thinking that I was the only sinner here. Although I did feel sorry about his life and decisions, anyway, who am I to complain? A job’s a job.. and I gotta finish it.

I noticed that he’d dropped his jacket, so I picked it up, dusted it and offered it to him.

I accept the leather case that he had brought for me .. My initial payment… I take it As i start to leave him and move to take my position … he stopped me midway “You haven’t told me how you are gonna do it. Where’s the gun?” “There is no gun, I hate to work with those things. Bullets are easy to trace back to the gun, then back to the manufacturer, eventually back to the murderer. So I prefer to use this.” I showed it to him. “A fountain Pen???” he mocked. “Or you could call it a pressure compressed plastic explosive, capable enough to atomize anything within a meter radius near it. It has an inbuilt detonator circuit which I can trigger using my mobile” I beamed. “Ohh … and how is it gonna land on her?” “Who said I’m gonna throw it on her? She would definitely be carrying some form of bag/purse. All I need is to access any of these, for a fraction of second, and then I’m all set.” “Ohh .. You mean you are gonna plant it on her and then remote detonate.” He was finally getting it. “Yes … Like I said, it’s not going to be pretty… you should leave Pramod .. I am warning you.” I insisted firmly.

“Give the mobile to me … “ he suddenly demanded.

“WHAT??”

“Give it to me .. and show me how it works … I want to do it myself.. .. You can go plant it on her, just signal me after that … then go stand behind the bus stand.. I will do the rest “ he was almost trying to grapple at my pocket. I could not believe this guy.

“Ok … Ok … As you wish … Pramod …” and I reluctantly show him the controls. He nods and motions me to go ahead and take my place beside the bus stand.

I sit there awaiting his wife. My professional eyes can’t stop scanning the surroundings as I re-check all my precautions. Finally I assure myself that the position I chose are secure in terms of range and cover, assuring complete safety to me and my client.

“This is it, MC.” I pep myself, “Nothing can go wrong now”. Everything needs to go as planned.

And then I see her arrive, a petite lady, neatly dressed in electric blue sadee. A brown leather purse hanging neatly from one shoulder, she’s carrying a fruit basket on the other.

I start walking towards her as she approaches down the road. When I’m just 10 meters away from her, I see Pramod’s silhouette in the dark corner, his mobile in his hand. I fake a violent sneeze as I approach her…. pretending to lose my balance; I bump her on her right side. Her purse falls down. I apologize profusely, pick up her purse and give it back to her. She does not look me in the eye, but politely accepts it and continues ahead, and I go on my way.

There, my side of the deal is done. I just catch Pramod’s eye as I move ahead. He understands it and waits for me to clear off after about 10 secs … he presses the button.

.. … … … .. … … …

Two noises erupt into the silent road at the same time. A loud muffled boom and a sharp shriek of a woman. I hate to look back.

Slowly I walk back to the spot on the road where she was standing. I can see the leather purse lying on the ground. I again pick it up and give it to her.

She looks at my face this time “Thanks MC, you are a man of your word, here’s the 2nd lakh, as promised” she hands me the fruit basket and coolly continues down the road, not sparing even a single glance towards the smoking banyan.

I gaze at my earnings. A fruit basket from the first one and a leather case from the second. This had not been a good day. It’s been a great day!!