SUSPENSE STORY

                                    "THE UNKNOWN CONSULTANT"

Life was hectic and eventful for me like in any other Software company in Overboard Softwares Pvt Ltd …my self Daksh Menon…. hailing from the smart city Kochi .Though I have very poor memory of dates there are obviously some dates in our lives which we never forget .I bet one is your wife’s or fiancées Date of birth as the proverb says .Apart from that I do remember by date of joining Overboard Softwares , that was 22-Jun-2009 the same day on which I met that person and also the day after India was disqualified and Pakistan won the T20 World cup cricket finals.

Phase 1 -Requirement gathering and Analysis

I

I was not much surprised to see too many dull faces in the organization on the day I joined … Being a cricket fan myself I could understand each of their feelings. The first face that I remember having met in the office is Ms.Neha Khanna …. yes the HR executive of our organization . Like every one believes about the HR ..she too was a pretty looking young lady dressed in formal outfits .She greeted me with a handshake and a smile .

“Hello Daksh, I am Neha Khanna.. Welcome to Overboard … Hope you are doing good “ Neha said .

“Thanks Neha …yes I am perfectly good…” I replied

“This way please” she pointed towards the door.

After finishing off the formalities at the reception … I was shown my way in to the Office facility of Overboard Softwares. Like any other IT firm it had a well lit reception area and a lobby and a restricted access entry into the main production area .I was provided with a temporary access card for the day .I was walking through the corridor of the production area. It had cubicles on both sides with different flavors and shades of people … Some busy over phone , some seriously staring at their monitors, some of then peeping up the next cubicle and discussing about the world cup tragedy etc. The interior of the office had a lively environment as office was colored light orange and white.

Being and experienced Consultant myself I was aware of the next steps which were ahead…the Induction .I was sure I could at least gaze the lady for next one hour .I have always thought why does company have this Induction process where in people sit watching the slides move like a school kid watching the rain … just waiting to get over so that he can go out and play.

The relief turned around when she introduced me to Mr.Sreejith HR Assistant who would be guiding me through the Induction. Well I had not recovered fully from the tragic loss of India now … next tragedy awaits me. Anyway the induction went fine(not for me) and I was taken for a facility walk. I was introduced to almost all teams and almost all the Mangers in the organization .The company had a mix of all races. Mostly Indians, but of course few Non-desis mostly Americans. After the teams were introduced I was taken to the Center Managers Cabin. The Center Manager was a mid aged Man in his early forties. I did not feel he was interested to talk to any one at all. Pretty serious faced man. As I was about to leave the Center Head said

“Let me know if you need anything … and if you face any issue with the building facilities.”

“Sure I will …thanks “I replied and left his cabin.

After coming out from there Sreejith took me to a Cabin at a corner of the floor. It was where I met Mr.Jones who was leading North American Projects and an new addition to the company …I felt some thing odd when I first saw him .I was not able to identify what was wrong but I could feel something wasn’t right about Jones. When I entered he was seriously working on something in his machine…As soon as he saw us entering he jumped from the seat and gave me typical American hand shake. After a brief chat I left his cabin. As I was walking through the facility my thoughts were about Jones Yes …I have seen that face some where else… but where… where did I meet him..? I was a bit disturbed. Did I know him earlier? Have I met him anywhere in the past?

II

I gradually left the thought as I was shown my team and my play ground. I was introduced to my Manager Mr.Issac … mid aged man around 40’s and to my team – Sona, Aravind , Manoj , Krishanan and Reena .I was to lead this team and report to Issac .

As the studies say first impression is created within first 30 seconds once you meet a person this was my first impression-

Arvind – little shy and introvert but looked like a hard core techie. He wore old fashioned specs which was slightly heavy for his face.

Manoj – seemed to be smart and … I thought he was a semi playboy style.

Sona – looked like very polite and well dressed and little beauty conscious.

Reena – seemed lost in thought though she was talking … Nerdy.

Krishan – was somebody who was side lined by others and he did not seem to bother.

Except for Krishan and me no one was married.

After trusting my intuitions I tried to build my first impression as a smart guy eager to get going with work and a person of good leadership potential who can lead the team efficiently. Sat down on my machine…Just then I got a call on my office desk phone.

” Hey this is Center manager calling…Have you got all that you need? Let me know if you need anything…”

”Sure Thanks a lot” I replied.

As I was settling down … Manoj called me for a Tea break.

” Daksh coming for a tea..?”

As I did not have anything else for the day I readily agreed.

As I was walking with him towards the Coffee machine … I passed by Jones’s Cabin. His Cabin was near to the coffee place. He was busy over phone …The thought again ran into my head …where did I see him before..?

Over tea Manoj casually offered me a smoke… reluctant in the beginning. I took a Puff… simple thing I am a bit scared of my wife. If she catches hold I am done. Back at desk I could see my imagined impressions about each of my team members almost turning correct.

The first day went on casually analyzing and gathering the inputs from people and I now I thought I do have a picture of the company now. Issac came to meet me on a couple of occasion for matters related to my ID card, Official email id and network logins.

Phase 2 Solution and System design

I

Next day in office … as anticipated, all busy with work but Krishnan was little too serious…

I asked casually …”hey Kris what’s wrong”?

“Call me Krishnan…”

Oops I thought…

“Sorry Krishnan” I said

“What wrong with him today ..? or is he always like this??”

I asked in a whisper to Manoj.

Manoj said “He just had round from all others.. We were all pulling his leg”

Oh so the usual bait. Poor fellow I thought. But I was more curious about Jones. I thought I would ask Manoj because from his style I assumed he might know most people in the office.

I asked Manoj “Hey whoz Jones by the way”?

“Which one? The man with long hair? He is a new recruit just joined 6 months back”. Said Manoj

“Ok fine … do you know anything more about him??” I asked without pretending to be very curious.

“That’s all I know about him … why did you ask specifically ..?”He asked back

“No Nothing just casual” I quit the topic.

II

I was thinking about my team and the plans ahead and of course about Jones… Sona came up to me …she said manager had assigned some work for me … I got back to work…I did notice the manager was mostly interested in Sona … he chose her for all his tasks .His next favorite was Arvind followed by Manoj last Reena and never Krishnan. I was not sure yet how good each of them was when it came to work. But …I could see Krishnan was not really bad at work. As far as I understood he was a hard worker and good technically too. He was much competent than Sona or Manoj for that matter. But what he lacked was people skill. He did not care about how or what people thought about him. I did not understand what it takes in a corporate to reach the heights .One may be good technically… one may be a hard worker… but the one on top may not be either of them. To reach desired heights one only needs to be good to his Manager and he only needs to have a smooth relation with the top management. The reason I know this little funda is because I too had a bad quality in me which I had realised lately. I used to oppose managers decision and used to convey openly my dislikes. This was totally against what you call as a pure Corporate rule(of course unwritten).I could see why did Issac choose people in this order. When I was made the lead …only then I realised how you feel when you have a person who abides by rules VS one who opposes you.

I tried to build a safe rapport with my manager as I intended to work long here in this firm. Krishnan on the other hand was never opposing nor following. I got interested in his personality. He was little close to Arvind though he was busy with his world.

I enquired with Arvind…

“Hey what’s wrong with Krishnan …?”

“He is a good chap you will learn soon… “May be I thought.

“What about Jones? Do you know him?” I asked in a casual mode

“No idea boss!” Came the reply from Arvind

Just then Issac called me up for some urgent meeting.

“Daksh… We have your first Client call now …get ready”

“Ever ready Issac…” I got off my desk.

The meeting went fine…Issac was impressed.

When I came back I saw Manoj and Sona sitting very close to each staring each other and no one else was in the cabin. I made a loud entry before I saw anything else. Okay now the picture is clearer … yea Manoj is smart, so is Sona. But my area of interest was some where else…partly because I was married .I straight away rushed to my place of interest…yes I went up to Jones’s cabin. But this time he was not there…Just then office boy who passed by informed me that, he has taken vacation for a week said he was going to Shimla. I was not surprised… It’s a major tourist spot anybody or every body goes there. But the question still chased me, Do I know him…? How do I know him..? Where did see him before …?

III

Few days passed with routine stuffs and at last one fine day I found Mr. Jones over the coffee place. I thought this was my chance. I made a casual approach

“The Weather is getting cooler… isn’t it??”

“Yea true” he replied.

After some usual casual talks and after I felt comfortable with my chance I said

“Jones have we met before…”

He was little surprised

“We!!! Nope I don’t think so …why did you ask..?”

He gave a weird expression …I was taken aback from his expression….

“No just casual I thought I knew you earlier” I replied without any facial expression.

We emptied our tea cups and both parted ways.

After that incident I got little nervous. Did I ask something wrong…??Did HE know me earlier? His expression was haunting. I left for the day little more confused and worried.

Next day in office was usual start…I found when all leave for break Krishnan is always at his seat.

I asked him “Why you are here all alone…?”

“Just checking some stuffs…” he replied

I peeped into his monitor and found some Mysterious and interesting stuff that he was looking for. This was some thing interesting I thought.

“Hey what are you looking for? Can i know?” I asked.

“Just some thing interesting… wait lets do this … think of a 2 digit no: ” he said”

“OK done” I said

To my surprise he guessed accurately as 33.

“WOW how did you do that?” I asked surprisingly.

“That’s something like mind reading “he said without even a smile.

He thought I really am interested in his ways .

He said after a short thought

“Let me ask something about you…You had an accident 5yrs ago correct?”

Man he is the man I thought. I knew no one in the company knows about that. And he said many such instances from my past and also explained about my personality traits.

I was impressed and I became more curious…

“How did you know all this”….

“HAHAHA this is simple, but unexplainable”.

I was totally surprised that a person who was least valued in the team had some trade with him as well.

I asked “Haven’t you told about anybody else like this?”

He said “Nope I know what to say to whom and to whom to say what”.

Great I thought… because I was always interested in predictions like these and solving mysteries .So I was happy I have some one to talk these matters too .When all others discussed only cricket film and software development its always fun to have something different to talk about. And I decided he is some one with talents and to be respected.

I used call him with me for coffee breaks and we used to discuss our topics. Though I thought Manoj would be a good friend. Manoj was busy with Sona mostly .Arvind had his machine and Reena had hers. I really wanted to see her smile or at least speak something. I was always thinking why she so serious.

Phase 3 -Actual Program Coding

I

Now I have some one who can be trusted and has a wavelength match. One day over coffee I asked

“Hey Krishnan I have a question …I am not sure why I feel so… I think I know Jones even before seeing him here ….but don’t know where or how. Can you help me with this?”

Krishnan immediately replied “I was sure one day you would come to this… my friend do one thing check out some old newspapers or even check out on website … search for 26/11 you would get the answer”

I was totally jolted

“WHAT!!!”

Now I could recollect from the dormant portion of my brain…

“Yes…. now I know him, yes!! “I shouted in whisper

“He looks like David Croft!!!!” I said… Krishnan smiled and left.

I ran to my machine Googled for David Croft Images

“Wow it’s him!! He definitely looks like one of the suspects behind India’s 26/11 incident” I said.

But some features are definitely different it’s close to 90% match…What non sense I thought. If he is Croft others would know him …Company would not have hired him. He would not be sitting here…he would have been caught. I laughed out laud within…I thought that was interesting….

II

Some days passed by normally until it came to the Independence Day …when I was sitting home and reading some detective novels. I came across a story where an International terrorist infiltrates into an organization and no body catches him .This paved way to my next thought…Now is it that this person is indeed Croft and is in disguise? I research more on such stories and incidents and I came across many such where the person has disguised him self as Police officer, House keeper, Artist and many others. Now my thinking turned around if terrorists can disguise them selves in so many ways they can manipulate in a software firms too.

Next day I went to office and waited in the Coffee lounge for Jones to come in. I just bumped into him and asked

“Jones did not see you for couple of days?”

“Oh yea I was in Shimla “?

What is he doing in Shimla every other month I thought?

“Oh it’s a good tourist spot….you must have good fun there” I added trying to get more details.

“Oh yes I had some good fun …Ok see ya bye”. He quickly left.

It seemed like I was the only person who had this question on Jones and I was the only one mingling with him.

I ran to Krishnan….

“Dude.. help me with more details on Jones please”.

“Chill man let it take its time nothing is going wrong… too early for any comments from my end”. Krishnan said

That was even more confusing for me. I researched on the net to find more details about Croft. He was on top fugitive list. So I knew he was not caught and no one knows where exactly he was.

“Krishnan do you know hacking?” I asked

“There is nothing beyond our control but this is not the correct time” he said.

I knew Krishnan had some answers but was waiting on something. I could not make out what to do now. I could not control my thoughts.

I called up some of my friends and explained the issue. Some of them took it casual…while some of them thought …it could be him. I was totally confused. What to do next? Now my thoughts wandered around. Could it be like this? This person is indeed David Croft and our company officials DO know about this….I quickly referred to company history and records .I could not see anything strange or odd referred anywhere about the company except for the fact that company has strict policies which are closed door Policies .

Unlike other companies there is no open communication channel between employees and the top officials .This was little surprising for me. Usually Corporates… though they follow an hierarchy system, they are open to employees. Employees can reach top officials if needed…which is not encouraged in this firm. I did discuss this with my Manager Issac a veteran in the company regarding this policy… but he assured me that this policy has been in place from the beginning and there is nothing fishy about it. I could not ask much about Jones at the moment as I did not know his relation to company and Issac.

Few days passed by and one day I was surprised to see Reena talking to Jones.

Oh! I thought so she talks…by the way what would these people be discussing? I could not find anything common in their area of interest. Once Reena was back in the cabin…I enquired very politely …

”Reena so Jones is your friend?”

She gave me a stern look and said

“That was something personal and we are not friends” and turned back to her machine. Arvind also gave me a stern look. I thought I was between Devil and Deep Blue Sea.

”Nothing guys carry on” I smiled and went back to my seat.

III

As days passed on my doubts increased I could see Jones had strange work timings on some days he would be in office like 3:00 am in the morning…some days he does not work …He starts late night some days …some Sundays he is in the office. I tracked these through the attendance register in our office. While this was happening I was bugging Krishnan to help me out. But he was reluctant, but assured me to believe I was doing the right thing and there is a change that will happen very soon in my life and that all he knows now. My secret investigation was slowly becoming a talk among team and gradually it reached Issac. But I know they were aware that I was up to something but I don’t really know if Issac pitched this up to top or he ignored this. He never spoke to me anything on this.

It was then that I got a chance to refer one of my friends Rex to my company as a Network admin. I was glad he got in….he was some one I knew from pretty long time,

I gave Rex a picture of the company and of course about the Unidentified so called David. Once Rex was well set in the company I had some plans with him.

It was then that Manoj and Sona came to me one day surprisingly feeling concerned about me saying Issac was enquiring some details about me .I did not understand why were they so troubled about this …until I found I was to review them for the upcoming annual appraisals. I asked them in a friendly manner

“When are you guys getting married?”

Sona blushed and said ” Yea will happen soon…”

Manoj did not look that happy. Anyway so now the arrows are coming towards me. Issac has got the news …and people have started noticing about my interest on Jones.

I must soon find a way to Jones.

Phase 3 –Testing

I

As days passed… I convinced Rex to get Jones machine hacked to track down what’s in it and to get a clue out of it. Rex asked me for two days time and I agreed to it. In the mean time …I was investigating near Jones’s cabin…I could hear Jones speaking to some one…I tried to pretend I was busy looking for something but kept my ears sharp to hear what Jones was speaking.

I was surprised to hear him speak something that sounded like Arabic. My doubts became stronger .Now I must crack a way through…I thought. I ran to Krishnan to explain what I just heard. Krishnan was busy with some stuff and he said …

“Issac is behind me Daksh…he needs me to finish off some stuff urgent, so please excuse me for now…very busy yaar…”

I looked for Manoj he was looking totally shattered …I could guess…surely he had some clash with Sona. Sona was not around. I went to Rex to tell him what I just heard. Rex said he was close to get the Jones’s system in control (N/W Admins have access to all machines they can log in to any machine with Administrator password)

“There are certain drives in his hard disks which were locked by him … I am not able to get in there”. Rex added.

“This was totally against company policy. N/W Admins have right to get into any drive for proper reasons and this is not permitted by any case….I am I correct??” I asked Rex.

“Mostly true…but special cases company does give these privileges to some users…but let me check this my Manager “ Rex said.

Rex decided to approach his manager asking me to wait. He fabricated a story that Jones’s machine seems to have a virus threat but system is not fully accessible. His Boss Vijay was one of the best employees in the company. He did not seem to be surprised at all and casually answered

“That’s ok just leave it…Management had sent a mail earlier stating, do not scan Jones’s machine without his permission”.

Now my testing phase was in full swing. Something is really wrong… Now I have started to strongly feel he is none other than Croft. And… that there is some thing wrong happening …there is something Fishy about Jones.

II

As a responsible citizen I thought why can’t I just let the Police know about this? I just ran my thoughts towards people whom I knew in the police department. I could not think of any one very close to me. Then I thought why can’t I just call the Police help line number. But then I thought do I have enough evidences to support this? What if he is totally innocent?

Just having few drives locked doesn’t mean he needs to be a terrorist. Ok then what about frequent travels to Shimla …is not Shimla close to Jammu Kashmir? Is this Shimla just a cover fire? And why does Jones work on strange timings and company is ignoring those blind. After these thoughts I was not able to work steady. It was close to appraisal time and this time it was world cup football on the go.

Tense situation for all. It was funny that, though India never played in the Football World cup…the spirit of game is no lesser than Cricket in India. I was a person who would even compensate on my work when it came to World Cup football. But this time my Football interests were over ridden by Croft. News about Croft was capturing all eyes and I was surprised why no body is thinking about Jones. I was a person who used to mostly read just the headlines but now I started reading all News channels online and other news updates. The last news I heard about Croft was… he was within the US custody and India was trying to get him back for questioning. So I thought

“Ok so …Jones MAY NOT be Croft”.

But I have known from news and books that Big shot terrorists have look alike and body doubles and you never know who the real one is. This put me in further trouble and more made me more inquisitive.

Is Jones Croft’s look -alike??? Or is the person caught in US the look alike of actual Croft who is here.

III

My next few days were pretty busy with appraisals and other project deadlines… Again sorrowful world cup …this time Spain took over…Neither Argentina or Brazil. I was noticing since I joined the company…things were not going very positive. Not even things of my interest are materializing.

Appraisal sessions for each of them went pretty fine. Sona was the most active and playful among the team and very poor when it came to work and I could sense her feelings. She tried to act smart and tried to prove she was better than others. But interestingly she brought up certain areas in which Manoj was a failure and was she scored better. I casually asked…

“Why are you pointing out his issues? You guys had a very good relation”

She almost burst into tears …

“No not any more…He is not in my life any more…I hate him…”

Oh my god I thought…so that story has reached climax…I enquired further since she was crying in front of me ..

“What went wrong…?”

She said something that shook me .

“You remember you asked the other day about our marriage …that triggered the issue between us…but I would never blame you. Because of you I saw his actual face.”

Oooh! I did not know what to tell here, should I take the credit or should I say I was sorry…Any ways….I asked her to leave for the time being and said …

“We shall continue sometime later….please go wash your face and be good as you always are”.

She said wiping her tears…

“Thanks to you Daksh …because of you I could see his face …you helped in this…God will bless you for bringing out this truth”.

Was this god’s indirect message for me??….I thought for a while…

“Ok” I said.

I did my review with Manoj he seemed pretty ok and he was a typical male .Of course he did wrong but never tried to put Sona in trouble or pointed anything on her. Arvind as expected was serious in his stands and talks…While talking to Arvind I was having a feeling am I interrogating him..?? Chill man why so serious I thought.

After his review I needed a break….as I could not take Reena next.

Before stepping to Krishnan …Isaac called me for a talk. He said He wants to see a curve in the appraisal review report with Sona on top and Krishnan at the bottom. I was to fix others as required and Issac was not very happy with Krishnan’s nature mostly than his work. But now I am going to be the bad guy .Anyway. I spoke to Krishnan in his review but statistically I saw him much better than Sona. Ironically expect for Emotional quotient I did not find anything higher in Sona. This is what Corporate is all about I thought. As for me the order was Arvind, Krishnan, Manoj Reena then Sona…but its almost reverse for Issac.., anyway unwillingly I changed my Review report.

IV

After all those hectic and bad times now I got some time to think of my own area. I called up Rex

“Hey Rex any updates or anything suspicious about our friend..?”

“Yes Sir…I do have an interesting update for you….I can see quite lot of data being transmitted from you user group server to Jones”. (User group servers are restricted to particular teams and people. Only a certain group of people have access to it. This is mostly used to transfer data among the teams or people in the company)

“I could not make out who that was ,because the files were moved immediately to Jones’s machine while those were copied. “ Rex added.

I was totally lost here…who could that be or what could be that…?

“Is it Issac” I asked.

“Nope … His server is different” was the reply.

Next step was identifying the culprit in my team. I thought that would be easier than going behind Jones himself. Few weeks passed by and still I could not track the black sheep. Rex was also busy .Suddenly rewinding all the incidents… I realised I had a good friend in the team. He was definitely odd one out. Is that him..? Is that Krishnan?

Just then I received a call from Issac to be at his desk immediately.

“Can I come in a while?”…I asked

“No come right away …we have an urgent issue..” Issac said.

“Oh! God boss always calls at wrong time” I said to myself.

I just made sure Krishnan was in his seat and I rushed to Issac.

It took some time there and once I was back I did not see Krishnan in his seat…

“Where is he?” I asked Manoj…

“Went for Lunch would be back in an Hour” Manoj said.

That 1 hr was 10 hours for me .As soon he came and sat on his seat I turned to Krishnan immediately.

”Krishnan what’s up?”

He just shook a bit and looked at me little tensed.

I said firmly

“You have no choice tell me now… more about Jones.”

“You don’t need to shout or give me a shock for this…Frankly I don’t know much about him. I have not got enough of him to give you a correct evaluation” Krishnan said

I gave him a sarcastic expression…

“Believe me Daksh…I am not lying…but from what I can see about you…there is a change coming up soon”. He paused.

I really did not trust him any more…

“Okay friend …see you”. I said

I thought now seeing the appraisal report Krishnan would think I purposefully degraded him for this issue. What ever…let it be, I said to self. I would crack Krishnan first and would reach out to Jones a.ka David Croft. After these incidents I started planning ways to crack Krishnan, suddenly to my at most amazement 2 people came and stood in front of me.

V

The 2 people in front of me were Arvind and Reena with a folder in hand.

“What’s it?” I asked…

“We are getting married day after tomorrow …we invite you for our marriage occasion all other guys except Sona would be present…So please do come for the occasion..”

Mine mine I thought… so they turned out to be silent killers and all others around were just fools!!… I really liked the way they exhibited their lives. They turned out to be what we call “Chupa Rustams”. I wished them good luck and promised to be there for the occasion.

VI

Back after marriage I was again busy with work and I had to go to Chennai on deputation for 2 days. After I returned back first thing I checked for Jones…The update I got was he was going to Shimla in a couple of days…This is serious…I am sure he is not going there for a tourist visit every month. I have heard of many such terrorist camps in the past who train people in Hill stations during off seasons. Now I was sure beyond doubt I should inform this to Police. I just checked with Rex about the black sheep in my team and he said past one week there is no data transferred.

I am sure except for Reena and Arvind all others are in the office and if that was regular transmission of data it should have happened even now. I thought I did get a clue…I have seen Reena with Jones earlier….Is she linked in some way…? I could not wait for Reena to come back to office…I could at least make Rex ask her about the data transfer volume (If the data transfer volume on a server is high the concerned person is answerable).

I made my plans. Now Krishnan was out from the next is Reena.

Reena and Arvind came to office after their vacations. Rex and I were ready. Rex sent out an email to Reena copying Issac and me asking for an explanation about the huge data transfer. Reena came to me in panic…

“Daksh what is wrong”

“Yea Reena what data was getting transferred all the while to Jones??” I asked firmly.

“Well well…” she stuttered “Actually Jones wanted some details and some snaps of Shimla’s eternal beauty…I was passing him some videos and photos of the place I know…”

“Why you?” I asked again…

“Actually I am from Shimla …when I met Jones I had told him that .And I have been in Shimla for many years so I gave him all that I had …That’s all…”

Ah! That makes sense I thought…so she was not a black sheep…My plans were shattered. I thought I got the right link to reach Jones but now it turned out to be something else.

Phase 5- Implementation

I

After much thought and consideration I decided…I would call the police and give them the clue I had enough of evidences…

Frequent visits to Shimla…Speaking Arabic over phone…unusual work timings ..and less interaction with anyone in the company…policies favoring him in the company and above all his actual appearance.

Was not that enough…I made up my mind. I moved to an empty space in the office…

Started dialing…rang one bell and I cut the phone.

No….not from my mobile by any means…that’s foolishness.

I came back to my cabin. Just then HR team called up people around the floor to come and join company’s Annual Cocktail party which used to happen after declaring the profits for that year. I thought I would skip that as I needed to leave little early today…But team compelled me to join the fun.

The party started and Jones was there this time…but reserved in a corner…I just went up to him just for casual enquiry and talk…and while that happened ..I was not aware of the danger which was hidden in the coming hours.

II

After the party was over…I left for home but that day I decided to go little far from office and home to find a phone booth. I re-planned …should I speak my name over phone or just be anonymous…? What is to be done…I may loose the reward Govt: would offer for trapping the most wanted man on earth….or if the situation turns around I would be trapped…No let me keep myself anonymous. At least my conscience would say I did something for the world (though with some disappointment of losing the reward).

I found a phone booth away from home and I dialed the number.

“Good evening Police station” Hard voice called.

“Err Sir I am informer…just wanted to tell you David Croft is India …I can tell more about him put me to the commissioner…”

“Hold on” said the voice

“Commissioner speaking …”

An unexpected female voice…Oops that confused me a bit…as I had a predefined plan and I was expecting a male voice…

I stuttered again

“Sir…Madam…David Croft is in India and he has disguised as a consultant and is working in Overboard Softwares here…hmm…yea ok thanks”

I slammed the phone and started immediately for home.

III

After reaching home my wife found me totally disturbed…

“What’s wrong” she asked..

I just explained her whole thing…I knew if I had told this earlier to her…I would never had taken this step. So I told her…

“I kept this off from you…”

“No wonder you were so tensed these days and you never told me…”she got emotional.

“Please give me a minute…let me sit idle for a while …I will come back to you…”

Just then I realised I should have switched on the TV…I ran to switch on some news Channel. My 3 yr old kid was busy with her cartoons. I knew it was easier to convince my Manager but not my kid…I danced and sang for her amidst these tensions and convinced her so that I got remote in hand but she burst out crying..

“Please take care of her …”I shouted”

“You created this mess you take care …” Shout echoed back.

“Oh oh…please..” I said

Anyway….I switched to my news channels…Scanned through all the scrolls running at the bottom….looking for news something like –

“David Croft suspected to be in India…Information received from an anonymous caller”

Just then my wife came up consoling my kid.

“What are you looking for …did you give out your name to police by any chance..?”

“No no” my eyes were still on the scroll.

“Come let’s have dinner. Now its up to them…you don’t need to take any more tension”

But I could not take it that light…I had my dinner in front of the TV…now my wife also started getting irritated…

“Its my reality show time …I want to watch the TV…”

I thought…It has been over 2 hrs…till now if its not in TV…It may not come up again today. I thought let me give it a break…

I just moved off the way… and un willingly watched the reality show.

Every time advertisements popped up…I used switch to my news channels…still no update…? May be police really wants this to be confidential. The cops would be in office tomorrow for sure…I thought.

I could not sleep that night…every 20-30 minutes I used to jump from by bed and checked the new channels…nothing yet. I anticipated the events that were to happen in the office next day.

After a hungry and sleepless night …early morning I woke up and got up ready early and did not wait for breakfast …rushed to office. I could feel severe head ache due to sleeplessness and heavy stress on my brain.

IV

On the way to office …I was imaging a picture in my mind…

Office is full of Khakis and entry is restricted …tight security.

As I entered the building i did not find any police cars or any Police vans as expected..

“What the hell is happening..? Did not they get my message properly…? Didn’t they get it clear”.

I remember I was hysterical while speaking but…I am sure I was clear enough. Did they take it light or did they label it as a fake call..?? All these thoughts were mounting on me…I could not see a reason for not having at least a Police Constable in the building. Should I call again..? This time with my name…the thought got intense should I call the commissioner once again and tell him all my details and details of the incident…?or did they already know this… and were waiting on some thing…?or did they enquire through top officials or got the info that, he was clear…? I felt my head was burning hot like a furnace and was about to burst.

I entered the office before any one else and was sitting alone in the cabin lost in all different thoughts.

While I sat there…I saw Jones exiting quickly out of the office.

I just hid myself under the table quickly…as I was not sure how to react at that point.

Again strange timings I thought.

“Police where are you..? You could have caught him now… “ I said to self.

People slowly started coming in…

Issac came to me and called for a meeting with Center head. We had some usual discussions of improvement of facility with respect to my team and usual matters.

As I exited I saw two people …with a visitor Id card entering the company and went straight away to Center Manager.

Could they be police officers in Mufti..? I assumed.

But this is usual I see lot of people meeting him daily…but today was special for me. Though I was in my seat my mind and eyes were in Center Manager’s cabin. Krishnan was on leave and Rex was out of office for audit.

I could not share my state of mind with any one at all. Whole day 3 set of people visited him .The 2 people I saw in the morning then a lady with an elderly man came in and then a mid aged man visited him.

Nothing suspicious at all. Whole day I was checking all the news sites on the net to see if there was any news at all…nothing at all. After a tiring and a painful day… I was about to leave from office then came a call from unknown number in my mobile.

“Is this Mr. Daksh…”a sharp voice echoed

“Yes speaking “I said casually thinking it to be a credit card call.

“I am CI of police speaking we needed some of you details …it would be nice if you come over to the police station”.

I was done …”WHAT..?? Me but why …what details…?”

“We can explain all that once you come here…reach Central police station immediately”. the voice got harder..

“Ok I am coming”

I called up my wife and told her I have an urgent meeting and would be late.

V

I started to police station and on the way I saw TV showrooms crowded with people…it was India vs. England matches where India was struggling to win the last test and that was going to be a disaster too…I did not take that in my head at that moment.

I reached police station and asked for CI. The constable told me CI has gone to an accident site and I would need to wait. I could not see any reason why was I held up here…I am sure they have not traced my call…No way they could do that…Nor had I done anything wrong or criminal in the past.

What was happening…I convinced myself…I have not done anything wrong …all I did was I tried to help the nation. Yes…I am good I said to self. But still sitting in a police station without knowing heads and tails is tough. Still what could be it…after 2 hours of wait CI came in with some people and I could hear him shouting and I also heard some drum beats happening inside…

What was that? I could figure out what state of mind CI was in. I concluded I am done. Next was my turn …the CI called me inside.

“So you are Daksh working in overboard correct?”

“Yes sir….”

“Do you know this person in the photo?” CI asked. I was stunned seeing the picture…that was me with Jones.

I did not know what to answer …what to say…I was dumb struck. Seeing the picture I figured out this was taken during the last night’s party. But how did this reach here..?

I was totally lost. So was not there any one else with Jones..??

I remember having spent most of the time with Jones for the party…well that’s fine…but why I am I called here…my thoughts were just going uncontrollable. I cannot say I do not know this person.

What’s wrong in admitting what I know…

The CI asked again. ”Mr. Daksh I am asking you…do you know him…?

If yes how …what’s your relation with him?”

”I know him he is my colleague” I said firmly…

”And I do not know anything more about him… his past or his links or his illegitimate connections ”I added.

”I did not ask you any additional information other than do you know him and if yes how…So you admit… know this person does have some illegal connections” the CI was sharp.

”Sir I said I DONOT know any thing about him or his connections” I pleaded.

CI asked “How do you know this person does have some illegitimate ties”.

“No Sir I really do not know anything…I am telling the truth”

I was still thinking how did the police get this photo and why are they behind me…

I thought shall I tell them the truth why hide it…I will tell them…it was me who called up the commissioner and gave this info.

”You need some time to think…Sridhar just come in” CI said.

I saw an elderly constable come in …Oh! he was the same guy who came with a lady today to my office.

I do remember…Now the story was becoming more and more clear. So he along with some lady Police officer came to office for enquiry and they would have asked for Jones’s pictures and Centre head would have given him last nights Party’s snaps.

Okay so that’s the whole background. I assumed. And unfortunately all of Jones snaps had me in it. No wonder I am caught. So my call did have an affect. I was surprised to see the way our Police Department worked. Without anybody knowing they got the details they want …but trapped the wrong guy. God what’s the way out…shall I tell him I was the informer…at least that would prove I was innocent.

VI

In the mean time I was getting incoming calls from my Wife and Rex…obviously I cut the calls …I was thinking how to defend myself.

I asked”Sir just standing together for a party or in a photo does not mean… I am a culprit or a criminal”.

CI smiled and said

“What makes to think Jones is a culprit or criminal…and we know who is a culprit and who is not…Okay now… for your information it was not just because we saw you in this photo you were caught. I know from the people that you were mostly with Jones…right from the Office boy to Centre head. And also I have updates from your company that you had a rapport with the so called culprit and you were the only one who had connections with him”

“No! no sir !! no!…thats not correct…I did talk to him on a couple of occasions but I do not have any connection with him…You can check this my team whom I interact the most” I cried out.

”You don’t teach police what to do we know how to investigate a case…you understand” CI was getting harsh.

“Sorry Sir…but I was…just…” I tried to explain.

”Why do you think Jones does have some unlawful connections tell me NOW…”

CI slammed on the table.

I said “Sir I don’t know if he has any …but all I know is he is a typical character …”

“What kind of “CI asked.

I explained him all his activities I felt suspicious his odd work timings… his speaking Arabic over phone…his frequent visit to Shimla and also Company having some liberty towards him and his conservative style in office…and I said

“Sir…most important from his appearance I do feel he is…emm…he may be…he could be…David Croft…”

I did not find any reaction on CI s or constable’s face.

”If you thought so… then why the hell didn’t you intimate the Police!” He was very harsh than before …and I thought next dialogue his palm would leave an imprint on my Cheeks.

Now I had no other choice…I opened up…

”Sir let me tell you the truth…please listen to me”

I narrated all that happened …and I said

“Sir I was the one who called up commissioner yesterday and informed about the suspect…please believe me…”

”Are you trying to fool us you! *@&!#$%^ * …. Last night a lady called the office and gave us the info…don’t you try to act smart…”

”Sir No!!!….that was me…!!” I tried to explain.

Who was that lady who gave the info…?So what happened to the info I gave…where did that go? Did some one call ahead of me…??What was happening around I had no idea.

VII

It was getting late for me and I have been rejecting all the incoming calls. I gathered courage and asked

“Sir…I need to call my wife … its getting late for me…”

Call whom ever you want…but you cannot go till we are convinced”

Convinced?? What did he mean…What ever …I called up my wife…I did not know what to say. It’s a bad idea to say I was in Police station…my family would panic. I better say some thing else

“Hey…I am going to meet Rex…something urgent has come up ..I may be really very late or would come in the morning only…manage for a day dear”

“Oh!! why so late…try to come early na I have prepared something Special for dinner” She said.

“Yes yes… I shall try to make it…need not call me I shall call you when ever I free up ok ….love take care”. I quickly cut the call.

Next thought came up…I shall call up Rex to explain the story…I called him up.

Rex was totally lost hearing the story far…He assured me not to worry and he said he would come with an Advocate soon to release me…

“Rex no please don’t bring any advocate with you…come on your own…As far as I know…if we take if an advocate interferes …case would be charged and till now I think I am just called for an enquiry” I said..

”Ok Daksh not to worry I will be there soon…” He assured.

As the CI got some other priority case to attend… I was asked to wait for some time out side…

Within few minutes Rex came in and I could see him talk to the constable .I saw him inserting a note into constable’s pocket. The Constable went into the CI’s cabin…and Rex was let into the CI’s cabin. I was glad some one came for my help .He had some talks with CI in the cabin…and I was called in.

CI told me… I could be left in one condition 2 persons should sign taking up my responsibility…

One was Rex…fine… who else I thought…The officer said no body in Family can sign for me. All the accessible faces flickered in my mind…Ok how about calling Issac…no its difficult to explain him the situation…Sona…? It would be an issue to drag a lady..? No I will call Manoj…I called up Manoj.

Explained him the story…after hearing all that he said….

”Daksh I am out of town…I am going to hospital for emergency… talk later.”

I did not see a point calling Arvind…I thought I shall call Krishnan…called him up…phone ran and rang…he did not pick up…

”Rex whom else to call..?” I was getting tensed.

In the mean time there were cases going on in the Police station.I could see some haunting faces behind the bar…Would I be one of them for no reason…god save me I prayed.

Just then I got a call from unknown number.

I picked up…

”Daksh, Krishnan here …this is my wife’s no: …my phone did not have enough balance. What’s up?”

”Krishnan …need your help.” I cried out the whole story to him…

”Daksh no worries I will be there within half an hour…I will help you out” he sounded confident.

I was no relieved and glad…As promised Krishnan reached on time and both of them signed for me and I was left free.

They advised me to go home … have a peg relax and take proper rest and come to office fresh tomorrow.

VIII

I went home and took a cold shower…and at the right occasion I casually explained my wife what happened that day…She advised me to keep off the situation.

I told her now till this Jones’s issue is sorted …nothing would be over.

Next day I went to office…and first thing I searched was for Jones…but he was not in office as expected. I could not concentrate on my work …Just then Krishnan came in “Daksh no worries man…you will be alright …you will be good.”.

Manoj was busy over phone and I believed no one else knew about the issue.

Just then Issac came to me and called me for a talk.

“What is going on Man…what issue did you create??”

He was not so smooth as usual.

”Issac please trust me I did not do anything wrong…I have asked you also about Jones earlier right”

”Yes that’s my question why were you so curious about him…? If you had any doubts you could have openly discussed the issue with me or you could have intimated the police in proper channel I would have helped you….”

Oh yea….”Sachin you should have played cover drive and not square cut …that too after the match …any moron can comment” I did not say it… I just thought.

Issac told me Center head informed him that Police was coming to office to talk to each one in the team .

”Issac lets wait for the police…what else we can do now?” I asked

As expected Police came within some time and they were seated in the visitors area and one by one my team members were called in.

Rex came to me and said…

”Do one thing when the constable moves out just throw a Rs1000 note at him and ask him how can you get off this”

”But would not that put me in trouble…without having done anything wrong why should I pay …?” I asked

”Hello Sir…this is not the time to be logical…pay him something and move out…that’s it”

”Fine …so be it “I decided to tip the constable…

The interrogation was going on …one after the other were going in and out from my team…So did the office boy…one constable was taking notes and other one was standing beside the inspector he was Sridhar whom I saw last day in office and Police station.

After that…the inspector walked to the Center manager cabin and the one of the constable moved out and the other sat down to complete the notes.

As soon as the constable went out I chased him and without even giving a chance I forcefully inserted two Rs.1000 note and said

“Sir…what is happening…please roll me off. I am not a criminal nor have I done anything wrong…then why I am I trapped please save me”

He immediately looked like he was somewhat convinced with what I said or may be the Rs.1000 note did the trick…

”Come with me he said”

Took me behind my office building….

”See of your team mates …except for Krishnan …what ever others said is going to put you in trouble… none of them spoke in favor of you they all said they have seen you inquisitive about Jones and interacting with Jones…Krishnan explained what ever happened actually”

“Oh Ok ..” I said…

He continued … “Krishnan told you had doubts on Jones from beginning and actually you were clear ….Any way let me see what I can do about this.” He said.

”Please help me sir” I begged. ”And sir who was the lady who called up the office”

“We are investigating …should be someone in your office. We have the audio tape of that conversation recorded…we are going to check with few people we suspect”

He answered.

“Sir if you let me hear that may be I can help…”I suggested…

”Yes good thought…. come with me” The constable said.

IX

While this was progressing I took a peep inside office and saw the inspector investigating Jones cabin in detail and Rex was not seen…others were seated normal but everybody’s eyes and ears were on the Police officer. I was glad …there was a point I suspected Krishnan but now he is had proved to be a good reliable person.

The Police constable took me to their vehicle which was parked near the office …I asked him on the way to vehicle

“Sir what is the actual update about Jones…Who is he …is he the fugitive Croft…? if he is how come he hid here for so long…”

The constable smiled to this and said…

”I do not have right answers to these questions exactly my friend…all I know is he is absconding for past 3-4 days…no one in the company has a proper update about him. He was interviewed over phone by the top management and then he was made to join in this office in India for initial training on projects and he was seen mostly interacting with you….this is the background”

Though I did not get answers to all my questions I got some idea of what was going on. After we had that talk….the constable played the audio recoding from the tape recorder he had in the vehicle…I was astonished hearing that…

That was…ME!!…that was my voice…

I remember I was hysterical and I stuttered while I spoke… and amidst the tension my original voice never came out. I just sounded like a female.

I shouted to the constable

“Sir that’s Me!!…its my voice…its exactly what I said…the voice seems different because I was in tension and when I heard a female voice from the receiver end my plans were distracted ..And my tension increased …That’s the reason I sounded like a female…its me actually”.

”Oh possible “…the constable said softly…

”Any way let me take this up with the inspector and I will see what I can do for you…and you do take care of me..” he smiled and left.

I thought …yes bugger for no reason I am trapped and I paid you almost half months salary and need to take more care of you.

”Sure sir sure”…I said.

X

After feeling a bit settled I thought I will go to office have a few words with my manger Issac …and Rex.

When I entered back in the office …people we staring at me like they saw an alien creature.

”What’s the matter “..I asked one of the guys in office…” nothing Daksh nothing …”

What’s wrong with all of them..? I was walking towards my cabin…I happened to gaze at one of the monitor screens…it had the news open…India loses final test with England.

I knew this would happen…I knew it…I could see where this was going on. I settled down in my cubicle…I could feel a sense of disgust among my team mates towards me…

”What the hell … I thought …what I have done wrong…”

I just tried to be a good guy but now I have become the Worst guy…Just then Krishnan came to my cabin.

“Dude chill…its ok…as I said this is a time of change…something’s are off our control…here people are under the assumption that you had some connection with Jones

”Krishnan ,who was Jones actually…was he the wanted Croft..? Or is his body double or is he just an innocent man…??Please let me know”

I was almost at tears…

”Daksh…come to my cabin now!”

Our Center manger said in a firm voice…I saw Issac also beside him.

“Daksh please come with us now” Issac repeated.

I just had to leave Krishnan without any answer….I most reluctantly went to the Centre Heads cabin.

The Center head and Issac got seated and asked me to pull my chair…they just looked at each other and Issac decided to start

“Daksh…you have seen what ever happened in last 2 days…This is something very new for us…None of us really like things like this happen …this creates a bad impact to our firm.”

As I was about to utter Issac stopped me

“Listen to us fully…the management is very much pissed off and their blood is boiling…we do not know anything about Jones…from what you observed…we do find things pretty strange…but that was top management decision….but they have bigger reach and their circle of influence is much much larger than we can imagine…they have washed off clear …that they just interviewed Jones on phone and they are not aware of anything much. Now you are in the limelight as people have seen you with Jones on several occasions and you being most unfortunate and you running through real bad phase of your life I have to ask you with regret please resign by your self and quit.”

I did not act surprised nor was I…I knew this is not at all a news in corporate. You can be a scapegoat any time …absolutely any time. Same happened to me. I had seen many people quitting jobs for unconvincing reasons. Today I knew what all this was about…

My experience today showed me any one can be a victim of corporate politics.

“Sure I shall quit…but please tell me something…what did police say about Jones…?Was he the fugitive…?Can I know this at least.?” I asked strongly…

Issac immediately replied

“The police is also not very sure…the evidences against him are not very strong but at the same time there are lot of mysteries surrounding him…so no comments in general”

”Ok fine”….I said and left the cabin..

I just came back to my seat. I typed my resignation letter fast… I did not need time as it was not long since I drafted a similar letter. Krishnan came to me…In the meantime I sent out the email…I just smiled at Krishnan .He gave a sigh and said

“All the best, friend please keep in touch”

”Ok sure…”

By that time Rex came in…He gave me a hug and said will catch up in the evening at my place.”

“Ok see you all” I said to my team…as I did not have anything much to say to anybody.

I got my formalities done in express mode. I did not have any exit interview… and was shown my way out.

XII

Back home… I thought …I should take a break and decided to go for a long outing to Singapore…My wife and relatives too thought the same.

In the mean time…I had begun my job hunt…The episode of Overboard systems could never vanish even with the exotic beauty of Singapore and Jones …was a question …a question what can be called as a million dollar question……he always remained unanswered and unknown….as I called him the Unknown consultant.

XIII

As soon as I was back from Singapore….I was lucky …Luck was with me I immediately got another offer and I jumped in…

First day in Newcon Systems. I was waiting in front of reception…a young smart HR executive came to greet me………………………… I settled on my machine…without even looking around for familiar faces…I switched on the machine…my table desk phone rang….a thin voice said “Daksh…this is Jones here…”

__END__

                                                                                                        SOURCE BY-ENJAYLIFE

PUBLISHED BY-OURHELLO.COM