“The society we live in seem to become increasingly evil”, He sighed, looking away from his laptop. He was buried reading News for the last half hour. And most of them were about the recent spate of murders in the city, mostly women, the cause unknown and police still working on the clues.
“You first stop reading News. You are going unrestrained. You read the morning Newspaper, you spend time on the internet reading News as it trickles by and what else do you think your head will be processing”, — the wife said.
“This is the problem with Women. They are always blissfully unaware of their environs. Men always are cautious. They are wired that way. A sudden change in the way things happen around can stiffen their ears. I can tell you that the way things are going is not something you can cheer about. It is not just the murder. It is the ease with which people, that too, young ones, seem to carry weapons. Mostly they are corrupted by these TV serials which show all kinds of violence right into our living rooms. The kind of things that is available uncensored on the web”, He went on.
“But you can’t be paranoid about all this. It will be difficult to walk on the street even” — She said
“OK, you see this broad daylight murder of a working woman in public view in a railway station. How can you expect some one carrying a weapon so early in the morning?” — He showed a CCTV image of the killer on the screen. It was not very visible.
“The Police will figure it out. Why should you worry about it ?” She was about to leave.
“Yes, they have already zeroed in on a guy and say it was one sided love. But there are also videos about the differences between the raw CCTV image first published and then the refined image” — He said
“OK..Now you are not only wasting your time, but mine as well. Go do your work” She became restless.
“Fine. I will go for a jog..it’s been a while” — He left after changing over to his shorts and shoes.
**********
He left his house and walked several streets to come to the entrance of a large university campus where he normally jogs. It has large areas of tree cover and it is usually unpolluted.
As he walked on the road before the entrance into the university campus, he saw this guy crossing him. Let’s call him X.
He looked at X as X crossed him from the opposite side. And he found X was staring at him.
X was wearing a faded pink shirt and his eyes were on him stubbornly. As he with a curiosity looked into X, X turned his gaze away and crossed him.
As he reached the entrance X had crossed him and gone past him. Before entering he turned back to find that X who walked away had by now started to come behind him at a distance. Now he became alert.
He kept a watch behind and walked slowly to enter the campus. X by now crossed him and walked in front of him as if nothing had happened. He found X go in the front and enter the campus, then take a immediate left onto a very narrow path.
For a while this whole thing looked strange for him. Why would some one do this in the first place?. As thoughts crossed him and he entered the campus, he started to jog from that point. He saw X going into that narrow path and felt may be X might be one of those fruit sellers who normally put a shop out there. But he was not entirely convinced. After doing some distance, he looked back and he saw X who appeared to have gone into the side earlier, now had come back and was looking at him.
This was a bit too much for him. He was jogging but his mind was now filled with suspicion about X.
Why would some one stare at me and when I stare back, follow me, cross me, detour, allow me to go and again come back from the hiding to look at me? I have seen his face somewhere. Ah..was it close to what I saw in the raw CCTV image ? My God, this means the murderer is hiding in this campus?.
He went through his usual jogging path all the while filled with thoughts.
Now when I go back, will he be there? Should I call any of my friends ? or Should I call the Police ? But how stupid it will be if he turned out to be some one normal?
In any case, he thought he should have some means to protect when he goes back. He picked some stones and stuffed it in his shorts. He saw a large stick with thorns. He thought in case X is there and does something nasty, he will need this.
As he jogged back and came to the entrance he did not find X. Quite likely he left by then or probably hiding somewhere behind some tree. He left the campus and while walking back, saw his friend.
“Hey, done with your jog?” friend asked
“Yep. just coming back”, He said.
“OK I will join you” , friend joined him.
“Things are not looking good man”, He said.
“What ? In office ?” friend asked.
“No…I am telling with all this kind of murders happening in the city and News about terrorism”. He went onto narrate what happened to him.
“Oh..I see your point, completely agree. I feel we should report this to the Police. Do you have a clear idea of how that X looked ?” Friend asked
“Yeah, he almost looked like the one in the CCTV footage. And I am sure he is scared that some one will spot him. So he turned his head when I looked at him. But what is puzzling me is why he came behind me and went on to look at me” He said
“We will anyway inform the Police” his Friend said and both walked into the nearby station.
As they were about to enter, he saw X talking to the Sub-Inspector. He was stunned. He pressed his friends hand hard. He signalled him to stop and quietly slipped out.
**********
“Hmm..these days I guess the police are even more alert. But I never thought they will suspect me” He said his wife after narrating the whole thing.
“Of course, go and look up in the mirror. Not shaved for a week, unkempt hair, wearing glasses, look like those high end terror operatives” She smiled.
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