It was then that an incident happened, about four tables away from us. There was a gunshot. A person shuddered and fell to the ground before my eyes. People who were talking to him till then ran off in random directions. I saw one of them quite clearly. A couple of workers chased them, but none were caught.
Jesintha and I were among the crowd that flocked around the wounded guy. I tried to catch a glimpse of him. He was lying under the table. Some people pulled him up from there. He’d been shot in his chest. There was blood splattered all over his face. The crowd waited for the ambulance to come. Some started leaving the place.
“They shot a person in the open, in a public place, and fled. No one could catch them despite so many of us being here,” I said morosely. “The Public Security will catch them,” Jesintha said briskly. By then, the ambulance-boat had reached and he was shifted to it. It was a speedboat. It sailed away within minutes…
The Public Security officers arrived at the spot and started their investigation. They began by asking the people in the cafe to describe the incident. All of them shied away from it. When I was about to get up, Jesintha stopped me, pulling my hand. “You don’t go there and get involved. Let the Public Security do their job. We have not seen the incident. We have come here just now.”
“But, Jesintha, when such an incident occurs in our island, isn’t it our duty to help the Public Security team? Shouldn’t we give them the information they need?”
She made a face and then smiled. “Yeah, right… our island… there is still a huge contest about who owns this land. Our island! Whatever. Anyhow, more than knowing who the killers are, you’ll be stunned to know who the victim is.”
She got up, her bag on her shoulder. “In your search for your classmates, the number has been reduced by one. The person who got shot was Senthil from our class.” She said it nonchalantly and walked away with her friend.
“So, you were saying… who is it that’s missing…?”
“A friend of mine. He didn’t go missing, he was murdered.” He understood the change of tone in my voice.
“Yes, yes. But that is something we have to prove.”
“We should prove. If you look into it, it’ll be done.”
“I’ll do one thing. I’ll introduce one of my officers to you. You talk to him in detail. I’ll follow it up then.” He rang for a peon. He mentioned some officer’s name and told him to accompany me to his cabin. My only option was to follow the peon.
He took me to the office of Chief Investigator Vijay Mullikratnam. A rough guy. He looked as if he was angry at the world. He behaved as if I was a suspect. I somehow managed to explain the situation to him.
“Dude, it is very strange! First of its kind ever in Diego. By the way, how was the missing person connected to you?”
”He was one of my friends.”
”How long had you known him?”
”We studied together till high school.”
“What was your relationship with him in recent times?”
“We had none. We’d not met in more than a decade.”
“What was his name?”
“Senthil.”
“House?”
“Don’t know. Somewhere in Peruntheruvu.”
“Occupation?”
“Don’t know.”
“Address?”
“Don’t know.”
“Don’t know his house. Don’t know his job. Don’t knowhis address. Was not in touch with him for ten years. And you have come to complain that the guy is missing… Dude, do you know that someone going missing means he is not available at his address? So, if you don’t know his address, on what basis are you saying that he is missing?”
Till Melvin suggested it, the possibility never occurred to me. I had been tracking Senthil’s death through government records. I didn’t give a thought about the living records – the eyewitnesses. There were some ten or twenty people present when the incident took place. About a hundred people must have seen Senthil lying dead. Won’t at least one of them be brave enough to admit he had seen it? Won’t at least one of them be uneasy, like me? Actually, I should have started my inquiry with the witnesses. This is the difference between an investigative officer and an imaginative writer. Even a common man would have approached the case with more discipline and order, and may even have cracked it by now. I had just wasted time going round and round, to no avail.
The fact was that I didn’t remember the face of anyone who was present at the time of the incident.
Who else was there other than Jesintha and I? Searching for a third face, I spent three days picking my brain. Suddenly, I remembered one person: the coffee shop owner. Damn, how did I miss such an obvious thing! He had feigned ignorance when I’d asked him earlier. But this time, I decided not to let him slip away. I rushed to the place immediately. I hurried thinking I must reach there before he disappears. I didn’t want to miss him because of a momentary delay. I ran to the coffee shop, leaving my boat at the bay.
Luckily for me, he was there, seated on a tall chair. I was relieved. I slowed down and went to my usual table. He raised his hand seeing me. I signalled him to join me.
“I’m going to the mainland, do you want to accompany me?” I threw a bait.
“Oh, really? When?”
“Next week.”
“I’m also coming! I’m also coming. I need to see the mainland. There is no point to a life if you don’t visit the mainland at least once. What do I need to do?”
“Nothing. You just need a clearance from the Public Security department. You’ve been in Diego for how many generations?”
“Ah, who knows. I know that I was born here. That’s all.”
“Where is your family from, originally?”
“I don’t know.”
“Do you know your great-grandfather’s name?”
“Great-grandfather’s name... I don’t remember. Why are you asking these questions? Is it that difficult to go to the mainland?”
“If you have been here for less than four generations, you can get PIO status. But don’t worry. You have a passport, right?”
“Yes. I got it five years ago, in the hope of visiting the mainland someday.”
“Then let’s arrange for the visa. It’ll take only three days, and costs just ten dollars. And then the packing. That’s all. The Public Security is a hurdle. How will we get the clearance?”
“I’ve no idea, sir…”
“I’ll take care of it. You’ll have to come with me to the Public Security office.”
“Oh, I’ll come. I’ll come wherever you want me to. I need to see the mainland somehow. Oye, Majid, we are going to shut the shop for a week. I’m going to the mainland. Make a super special coffee for sir…”
“Sit down, let me tell you something.” I slowly eased him on to a chair. “When we go to the Public Security, we need to talk about one more thing.”
“What?”
I moved closer to him.
“About the shooting that took place that day.”
“What shooting? Here? I don’t know about any shooting…” He got up in panic. “Nothing of that sort has ever taken place in my coffee shop.”
“Who ordered you to say so?” I stiffened my voice as much as I could. “Look, I now work at the Investigation Directorate. I’m in charge of the case now. Don’t lie to me.”
“Yeah right, an investigating officer! You think I’ll get scared hearing that? Better don’t go around saying that, you’ll be the first to get into trouble.”
That shook me. “How will I be in trouble?”
He came close to me. Stared at me. “Like me, you are also an eyewitness. It doesn’t take much time for a witness to be called an accused. So, let it go. Let’s stick to talking about the mainland.”
I finished my coffee and got up. There was no point in lingering. We had nothing more to say to each other. He had made it clear that he was not willing to cooperate with me.
I walked slowly to the jetty. I had been so excited before meeting him, and confident that everything would fall in place. I had even dreamt of going to Vijay Mullikratnam and challenging him: Look, here’s the second witness. Now can you tell me that no shooting happened?
But man is a coward. If something costs him even a scratch, he won’t stand up for it. Why should I put my life on the line for the sake of someone else? What will I get out of it? What have I to do with him?
I reached the jetty and was about to get on to the boat when someone tapped on my shoulder. It was the waiter at the coffee shop. “I’ll come with you, wherever you want. I was also a witness to the incident.”
Excerpted with permission from Yellow Lights of Death, Benyamin, translated from the Malayalam by Sajeev Kumarapuram, Penguin Books.
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Jesintha and I were among the crowd that flocked around the wounded guy. I tried to catch a glimpse of him. He was lying under the table. Some people pulled him up from there. He’d been shot in his chest. There was blood splattered all over his face. The crowd waited for the ambulance to come. Some started leaving the place.
“They shot a person in the open, in a public place, and fled. No one could catch them despite so many of us being here,” I said morosely. “The Public Security will catch them,” Jesintha said briskly. By then, the ambulance-boat had reached and he was shifted to it. It was a speedboat. It sailed away within minutes…
The Public Security officers arrived at the spot and started their investigation. They began by asking the people in the cafe to describe the incident. All of them shied away from it. When I was about to get up, Jesintha stopped me, pulling my hand. “You don’t go there and get involved. Let the Public Security do their job. We have not seen the incident. We have come here just now.”
“But, Jesintha, when such an incident occurs in our island, isn’t it our duty to help the Public Security team? Shouldn’t we give them the information they need?”
She made a face and then smiled. “Yeah, right… our island… there is still a huge contest about who owns this land. Our island! Whatever. Anyhow, more than knowing who the killers are, you’ll be stunned to know who the victim is.”
She got up, her bag on her shoulder. “In your search for your classmates, the number has been reduced by one. The person who got shot was Senthil from our class.” She said it nonchalantly and walked away with her friend.
~~~
“So, you were saying… who is it that’s missing…?”
“A friend of mine. He didn’t go missing, he was murdered.” He understood the change of tone in my voice.
“Yes, yes. But that is something we have to prove.”
“We should prove. If you look into it, it’ll be done.”
“I’ll do one thing. I’ll introduce one of my officers to you. You talk to him in detail. I’ll follow it up then.” He rang for a peon. He mentioned some officer’s name and told him to accompany me to his cabin. My only option was to follow the peon.
He took me to the office of Chief Investigator Vijay Mullikratnam. A rough guy. He looked as if he was angry at the world. He behaved as if I was a suspect. I somehow managed to explain the situation to him.
“Dude, it is very strange! First of its kind ever in Diego. By the way, how was the missing person connected to you?”
”He was one of my friends.”
”How long had you known him?”
”We studied together till high school.”
“What was your relationship with him in recent times?”
“We had none. We’d not met in more than a decade.”
“What was his name?”
“Senthil.”
“House?”
“Don’t know. Somewhere in Peruntheruvu.”
“Occupation?”
“Don’t know.”
“Address?”
“Don’t know.”
“Don’t know his house. Don’t know his job. Don’t knowhis address. Was not in touch with him for ten years. And you have come to complain that the guy is missing… Dude, do you know that someone going missing means he is not available at his address? So, if you don’t know his address, on what basis are you saying that he is missing?”
~~~
Till Melvin suggested it, the possibility never occurred to me. I had been tracking Senthil’s death through government records. I didn’t give a thought about the living records – the eyewitnesses. There were some ten or twenty people present when the incident took place. About a hundred people must have seen Senthil lying dead. Won’t at least one of them be brave enough to admit he had seen it? Won’t at least one of them be uneasy, like me? Actually, I should have started my inquiry with the witnesses. This is the difference between an investigative officer and an imaginative writer. Even a common man would have approached the case with more discipline and order, and may even have cracked it by now. I had just wasted time going round and round, to no avail.
The fact was that I didn’t remember the face of anyone who was present at the time of the incident.
Who else was there other than Jesintha and I? Searching for a third face, I spent three days picking my brain. Suddenly, I remembered one person: the coffee shop owner. Damn, how did I miss such an obvious thing! He had feigned ignorance when I’d asked him earlier. But this time, I decided not to let him slip away. I rushed to the place immediately. I hurried thinking I must reach there before he disappears. I didn’t want to miss him because of a momentary delay. I ran to the coffee shop, leaving my boat at the bay.
Luckily for me, he was there, seated on a tall chair. I was relieved. I slowed down and went to my usual table. He raised his hand seeing me. I signalled him to join me.
“I’m going to the mainland, do you want to accompany me?” I threw a bait.
“Oh, really? When?”
“Next week.”
“I’m also coming! I’m also coming. I need to see the mainland. There is no point to a life if you don’t visit the mainland at least once. What do I need to do?”
“Nothing. You just need a clearance from the Public Security department. You’ve been in Diego for how many generations?”
“Ah, who knows. I know that I was born here. That’s all.”
“Where is your family from, originally?”
“I don’t know.”
“Do you know your great-grandfather’s name?”
“Great-grandfather’s name... I don’t remember. Why are you asking these questions? Is it that difficult to go to the mainland?”
“If you have been here for less than four generations, you can get PIO status. But don’t worry. You have a passport, right?”
“Yes. I got it five years ago, in the hope of visiting the mainland someday.”
“Then let’s arrange for the visa. It’ll take only three days, and costs just ten dollars. And then the packing. That’s all. The Public Security is a hurdle. How will we get the clearance?”
“I’ve no idea, sir…”
“I’ll take care of it. You’ll have to come with me to the Public Security office.”
“Oh, I’ll come. I’ll come wherever you want me to. I need to see the mainland somehow. Oye, Majid, we are going to shut the shop for a week. I’m going to the mainland. Make a super special coffee for sir…”
“Sit down, let me tell you something.” I slowly eased him on to a chair. “When we go to the Public Security, we need to talk about one more thing.”
“What?”
I moved closer to him.
“About the shooting that took place that day.”
“What shooting? Here? I don’t know about any shooting…” He got up in panic. “Nothing of that sort has ever taken place in my coffee shop.”
“Who ordered you to say so?” I stiffened my voice as much as I could. “Look, I now work at the Investigation Directorate. I’m in charge of the case now. Don’t lie to me.”
“Yeah right, an investigating officer! You think I’ll get scared hearing that? Better don’t go around saying that, you’ll be the first to get into trouble.”
That shook me. “How will I be in trouble?”
He came close to me. Stared at me. “Like me, you are also an eyewitness. It doesn’t take much time for a witness to be called an accused. So, let it go. Let’s stick to talking about the mainland.”
I finished my coffee and got up. There was no point in lingering. We had nothing more to say to each other. He had made it clear that he was not willing to cooperate with me.
I walked slowly to the jetty. I had been so excited before meeting him, and confident that everything would fall in place. I had even dreamt of going to Vijay Mullikratnam and challenging him: Look, here’s the second witness. Now can you tell me that no shooting happened?
But man is a coward. If something costs him even a scratch, he won’t stand up for it. Why should I put my life on the line for the sake of someone else? What will I get out of it? What have I to do with him?
I reached the jetty and was about to get on to the boat when someone tapped on my shoulder. It was the waiter at the coffee shop. “I’ll come with you, wherever you want. I was also a witness to the incident.”
Excerpted with permission from Yellow Lights of Death, Benyamin, translated from the Malayalam by Sajeev Kumarapuram, Penguin Books.
