EXPECT THE UNEXPECTED

Chapter-3

Senthil and Rajesh were seated on the sofa when I arrived at the hall, 'Hey,' said the latter 'Sit here' and gave me space for sitting. It was much clear all three of us were not able to adapt to the cold climate. Rajesh wore a three piece suit as he was to attend a business meeting under the name 'Ram Mohan' and Senthil wore a jeans and a t-shirt protected by a jacket. I wore the same costume like Senthil. I sat between the both.

'Anand,' said Rajesh 'Aparna called up when you were showering and she asked you to immediately come to Liverpool Street.'

'Whom did she want me to meet?' I asked.

'I don't know, she only said me inform you about this'

'Do you have any idea where the street is located?'

'Yes, first take bus no 35 at any stopping on this street, get down near Bishopgate and walk a few metres till you reach the street'

Crowd started to gather near gift shops for buying Christmas present but the traffic was affected in no way. I could see people in Santa Claus costumes. The bus no 35 arrived at the bus stop a few seconds later and I boarded the bus. It stood for not more than five seconds and it had started moving. I was seated at near the window and I could see no man standing on the bus as compared to the Mumbai buses. The bus swiftly hurled its way through the road. It completed quarter of a mile within a minute and it stopped at the traffic signal. The buildings were much taller than those of Mumbai and there wasn’t a single shop seen at the footpath. The bus started again a minute and a half later and this time it slowed down as the traffic has started to gather. I reached Bishopgate in not more than a quarter of an hour and I started to move.

Liverpool Street was much narrow than Borough High Street but it was sufficient for buses to move on. Aparna was standing on the start of the road and she immediately spotted me.

'Hey,' said I 'Whom did you want me to meet?'.

'Robert Ryder,' said she 'Senior Advocate'

'Okay, do you think he can help me?'

'Yes and the most interesting part is he was Ranvir Sharma's advocate in the drug scandal till he came to know that Ranvir was found guilty.'

'Then.'

'He did not find any cases for a few months but he immediately recovered after getting some petty cases and soon he rose as the one of the most powerful advocates of London.'

'Seems interesting,' said I 'Hasn't he arrived yet?'

'Nope,' she said.

I heard her phone ring and she picked it up 'Hey Robert,' and she spoke for a minute and ended the call. She spoke 'He's on his way at Great Russell Street and he'll be here within 10 minutes.'

No later than 10 minutes a tall man reached there and obviously he was Robert. He stood at six foot one and wore a black suit and a white shirt with a tie. He wore brown square rimmed spectacles and his hair was receeding. He had a fair complexion and was slim and fit.

'Hey Robert,' said Aparna 'Have you been at the court?'

'Yeah,' said he 'At the Brian Jones case'

'Is it about the bank robbery?'

'Yes, hope this time I'm not arguing for the culprit' he returned as he laughed.

'Robert,' started Aparna 'And Anand introduce yourselves.

'Anand Chidambaram,' said I 'Intelligence Officer.'

'Robert Ryder,' he replied 'Senior Advocate.'