Majoring in Murder

Chapter 18

I was ill prepared for the eastern philosophy test on Friday. Okay, that's not exactly right. Ill prepared would indicate some sort of preparation on my part. In fact, Friday's test completely blind-sided me. The professor had reminded us last week and it was even in the syllabus, but the truth is, I completely forgot about it while preparing for the last job and hadn't studied for the test.

I sat among my classmates in the test-taking silence, head down, staring at the multiple-choice and essay questions, and knew I was not going to pass the test. The first multiple-choice question was this:

Who is known to have said, "An eye for an eye makes the whole world blind"?

A. Sri Aurobindo

B. Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi

C. Swami Krishnananda

D. Paramahansa Yogananda

E. None of the above

I recall the professor mentioning this quote in her lecture, but for the life of me, I couldn't remember the philosopher who uttered it. I vaguely remembered reading it in my textbook, but the answer eluded me. The first essay question was this:

Describe two important elements of Hinduism:

I knew Karma was one, but went blank on everything else. Those were only two examples of where my mind was at a loss. I was the last student to hand in my paper and leave. In an attempt to take my mind off botching the philosophy test, I decided to go to the gym.

I'm not overweight. I'm not skinny as a rail either, not at six feet two inches and one hundred ninety pounds. I've never been athletic nor am I a fitness buff, but I thought that getting into better shape would be beneficial for my jobs. Primarily, I thought improving my cardio would be the most helpful if I ever had to run for my life. If forced, I can run, but probably not for any significant distance. I wanted to improve that, building up my stamina so I could run several miles, in case I ever had to.

When I entered the lobby, the air was redolent of perspiration, rubber pads, and metal weights. A loud clang, that metal-on-metal clash, echoed against the high ceiling as someone put down a barbell full of heavy weights. Because I usually avoided physical fitness, it felt strange being there. I approached the front desk, where a student sat reading a science-fiction paperback, and swiped my student ID card to access the gym equipment. I went to one of the vacant stationary bikes on the front row that faced five wall-mounted flat-screen televisions, all of them tuned to different channels.

I saw that there were input jacks on the cardio equipment that allowed you to hear the TVs with headphones. The bike I chose was in front of a TV tuned to CNN. I mounted the seat, guided my feet into the pedal straps, and plugged in the headphones that had been connected to my iPod. Next, I tried to decipher the bike's control panel, but with little success because the instructions were vague and unintuitive. Instead, I opted for adjusting the resistance and letting the display blink at me incessantly to choose a preprogrammed workout regimen. The clock on the wall showed that it was 1:15 PM. I began pedaling and, feeling the resistance, quickly realized I'd just be happy to finish a half hour workout on the bike.

Five minutes in, a CNN correspondent appeared on screen to report on a murder in Buckhead.

Atlanta police are investigating a murder that took place on the northeast side of town. The victim, Stanley Russell, CEO of S. Russell Holdings, suffered a gunshot to the head from what police believe was a high-velocity rifle.

Police have no leads at this time.

Chief Gravely said that Mr. Russell had been indicted on several counts of money laundering. The hearing is scheduled for next month. The GBI is helping in the murder investigation as well as the money laundering charges...