The other end!

Please read “deceiving looks” before you read the following, if you want to enjoy this! This is an alternate ending to that story (deceiving looks).

As I shifted gears, my hand rubbed against Kumar’s thighs and I could feel a metal object and I instinctively stared at it. And Manoj caught my stare and stared at Kumar’s pant pocket. There it was, the black shining muzzle of a gun. I caught my breath and I’m sure the poor chap sitting behind me skipped a heartbeat. I could hear his heartbeat, and so I could hear it skip too.

Manoj: I Hope the moron of the driver does not ask anything about that gun.

And I asked Kumar “Is that a gun?”

Kumar: Dam! Shouldn’t have let it slip out.

Kumar: I’m working under cover, I’m a cop. Here is my ID.

And he flashed his ID. I was happy. This was the first time I’m taking an undercover cop in my car. Wait till my client hears about this.

Manoj was quiet and thinking Ya right! as if we know what an ID of an Indian cop looks like. Just then Kumar had taken the pistol out in one quick motion and was pointing it towards Manoj and shouted “Don’t even try to move, I’ll shoot you. What do you have inside the bag?”

That was the point when I started thinking if Manoj was really the killer. But I couldn’t just convince myself that a guy like Manoj could murder anyone and I could hear my head scream “THE MEETING”. The cop checked the bag and found some money, nothing more. Manoj was shivering and almost in tears. By now the cop realized the mistake, apologized and asked to be dropped off. I obliged. I told Manoj to relax and dropped him off at the Guindy bus stop. As I dropped off Manoj I gave him my business card and told him to call me if he needed any help in town.

I had 10 more minutes to meet with the client. And I reached in time. The client was there. The one hour meeting went on for two hours as I narrated the whole “car episode” to the clients. They were impressed that I maintained my calm even after such an ordeal. They congratulated me and the deal was mine. As I sat in my car and about to turn on the ignition, my mobile rang. It was the client. He called me inside to show me the news on the TV about the murder I told him about. I went inside, not that I wanted to, but had to. “Customer is the boss” rule no.1 in corporate culture. As I watched the news, the sketch of the suspect came on the screen. I couldn’t stand anymore. My knees went weak with the thought of how close I had come in contact with the killer. I was still shocked when I got a call. I saw the number and unable to recognize it, I picked the call. It was Manoj on the call ( I almost forgot about the business card I had given him). He said “Did you see the news?! Seems like he was not a cop after all!”

Sam Jayanth