A Dozen Ways To Kill

A Cigar and a packet of Biscuits

It was a fine Chennai morning. Kids were going off to school, grown-ups were going off to work; everyone in the city seemed to be busy with something or the other.

It was about 8:30 in the morning when a large multi-purpose van pulled up in front of a huge state government building. The back door opened and a couple of guys with huge cameras and microphones came out. A female reporter came out after them.

"Can you believe it? Apparently, the cop's wife was serving him coffee when her husband came home!" one of the guys said humorously. "She didn't even recognize him. How about that?"

"Crazy huh" said the other guy. "Unbelievable. After a year of hunting, and failing to find him, he just literally shows up on your doorstep one morning!"

"Well, someone's gonna get a promotion."

"Guys" interrupted the lady reporter. "Let's get an initial shot before it gets more crowded. This place will soon be packed."

"Yeah, come on."

More and more vans kept piling up as the entire media arrived at the High Court. There was a crowd of protestors as well who wanted justice. In other words, they wanted to see the accused hanged in this particular case.

The headlines from the previous day had sent shockwaves through the entire state. 'The Mad Man' had surrendered, and not many had seen this coming. But the real question was Why? Why had he surrendered? Sure, there may not be enough evidence to put him away, so could he be here to clear his name? Legally?

Amidst all the commotion outside a well-protected SUV arrived. Out stepped Sourav, followed by Paul Mathews and a few other policemen. The cameramen strained their necks to get a proper shot of the infamous criminal. All eyes were on him.

Paul looked around with his large shiny eyes. He saw a camera being held high above the head by some cameraman to get a clear shot of him. He gave a cheeky little wink.

The cops pulled him into the court. The court was filled with people. The public prosecutor was going over the files again. There were a couple of other lawyers helping him. It was their chance to ensure that this guy was sent behind bars.

Some people in the court wanted him dead. Some feared him, for being the fearless psychopath that he was. It would be fair to say, that almost everyone in that court hated him. Paul could literally feel that, from the hateful glares he was receiving, that too from people whom he had never even met.

The judge made his way into the room as the entire court stood up for a second. Paul was left alone, as the policemen retired to their seats. Sourav sat down beside Adithya who was saving him a seat.

"Well, this should be interesting" said Adithya as he smiled at Sourav.

"Oh, hell yeah" said Sourav. "Trust me, I've been waiting for this moment for a long time now."

"You're quite proud of catching him, aren't you" Adithya grinned. "This should earn you that promotion you were after."

"Well, to be fair, it wasn't really me catching him as much as him turning himself in" said Sourav. "As for the promotion, I would take that nevertheless."

"Why do you think he's doing this?" asked Adithya. "Why's he surrendering? And above all, why do you think he came to your house?"

Sourav looked off into the distance. He could see Paul standing far away. He didn't even seem to care that he was in court. His carefree attitude was difficult to understand.

"I have no clue man" Sourav said. "But listen, this guy is a very successful lawyer, remember? That means that he also knows every single loophole in the Indian Penal Code. He knows we don't have conclusive evidence for any of the 12 murders he has committed."