The Man in the Grey Suit

Chapter I

"Your marriage is invalid and your children legally do not exist," says the man in the grey suit.

In spite of knowing that the man dominates the current situation and that his authority cannot be challenged, I am obliged to put on a brave face. "How can you say that?" I say in my most no-nonsense voice.

"Here is how," he snaps back as he relishingly opens a black file, an action that looks all the more chilling due to the white mask covering his face. "You claimed, officially, to have met this woman," he pauses and points at my wife whose movements in the living room he can see," On the 13 Down on the first day of the year AE 377. Am I right? "

"You are," I say.

"You were not on that train that day," he asserts flatly. "No evidence exists of any such journey made by you. The railway certainly has no proof. "

"The train leaves the city at 6:50 a.m., "I say desperately, "Reaches its destination at noon. Six intermediate stops on the down trip, as opposed to seven on the up. But that day it was late due to a signalling malfunction, further slowed down due to the rain and reached at 12: 27 PM," I explain rapidly. The man's masked face shows no reaction.

"It is astonishing," he muses. "You know so much about a trip you never took."

"It is not, because I remember all my trips very clearly," I say with defiance.

"We have wasted far too much time mincing words," he says, his voice having hardened chillingly. "As it happens to be, you have no proof you ever met this lady. Therefore any subsequently dated documents claiming your union are invalid. That also leaves no evidence of the origin of your children." He tilts his head and looks into my house through the half-open doorway that I steadfastly hold together.

"My children very much exist," I say as sternly as possible.
"Legally they have never originated, so they cannot," he retorts flatly. "Your union will have to be dissolved. You have committed a severe breach of the Law of Evidence. We deal with baseless objects and baseless wealth all the time. But this is the first time in my career that I have encountered baseless individuals." Laughter suddenly escapes his mouth like a hiss from a cobra.

"What were you saying?"
My wife emerges from the house and moves past me to stand face to face with the man in the grey suit, who takes a step back. She stares at his masked face without any trace of fear on her own. "What about the children?" She asks boldly.

I can feel that her boldness is not grounded. It is the need of the hour, just like mine. And he seems to sense it too. He just shrugs, then scans her from head to toe, while I scan him. Often a mask does not succeed in hiding that which comes from a person's core. Be it a white, tangible mask or not. I cannot see him sneering, but I am sure he is doing it.

"Nothing that is baseless can be allowed to exist."