The hobby

At six in the morning when most of the city was sleeping, a man was standing on the bridge watching the sunrise and the river Vrushabhavathi rushing to meet river Arkavathi. He seemed to be contemplating something. Anyone would have guessed that he is a yoga instructor by his skinny looks and the “world yoga day” pin he was wearing. But this story wouldn’t be worth telling if he was just a yoga instructor. He was a software engineer, but even software engineers are too common in the silicon city. The thing that makes him and the story interesting is his aberrant hobby which is killing people.
Yes he killed people, but neither in cold-blood nor was he a serial killer. It wasn’t about money either, as the company he worked for was making huge profits and he was being paid well. The reason why he killed people was because he could! “An idle mind is a devil’s workshop” is the best saying that could explain his uncommon hobby. He would kill people and openly challenge the law, but he never got caught. Because nobody would ever suspect that there is a killer hidden inside an innocent looking guy named Rohith Kumar.
He had been bothered from last few days about someone he was supposed to kill. His “broker” who maintained his money and clients, had accepted an offer to kill a C.E.O. of a big software company on his behalf. Unfortunately, that C.E.O. was his boss. Normally, when he killed people, he did not know who they were, as he was never connected to them, police could never even get a chance to know that someone like him existed. In fact, he killed people in such a perfect and untraceable way that, many people who got killed in his hands, were still “missing” in police reports.
But this time it was different, he could not kill his boss straight away because the police would come and enquire in the office once a high profile person like him would go missing. He was doubtful about himself that he may give a few leads to police with his over-confidence. He could not risk that. That was why he had been vexed from a last few days.
He was angry on his “broker” for not consulting with him before accepting the deal. But he wasn’t to blame, because there was no way for him to contact Rohith, until Rohith himself contacted him. In fact, the “broker” never even knew that his name was Rohith. For him, it was some guy without face or a name. It is an interesting story how he got associated with the “broker”. One day the “broker” was making deals with someone on secure and dark browser, and a command prompt screen opened in front of him. There was a message in it, which said, “I will do the job for you, give me 30%” he thought that it was too good to be true and closed it. Next day he was surprised to see that the person he was supposed to kill was already dead. From then he stopped doing the dirty business himself and started assigning it to the faceless guy who texted through command prompt screen.
Vehicles started making noise in the streets as he simply stood and cogitated about the way to accomplish the task given to him. It was then when he got the idea. He planned the course of operations. He smirked and made his move towards his apartment after which he was going to his office.
                                * * *
He called in sick that afternoon and left the office. He knew that his boss, Mr.Harsha always went to his home to have lunch. So he was all set for that afternoon. Just before Harsha reached his home, his wife got an anonymous post which had photos of her husband and his secretary sitting a little too close, that it was enough to light an argument between her and her husband.
Undoubtedly there was an argument, but Harsha could not do anything to convince his wife in such a short time. He had his lunch and left as soon as possible because he had a meeting. His wife stood there and started thinking. She was trying to understand where she had gone wrong. She had quit her studies and eloped with him just because her parents were not ready to see her living her life with a guy who wasn’t up to their standard. But she always had faith in him. Today if he has the monopoly in the type of software he sells, it was all creditable to her support. She had loved him more than her life and this surely wasn’t what she was expecting from him. Tears rolled down her cheek as she sat on the floor in the middle of the room. She felt something move behind her but did not find anything when she turned back.
Her husband had been too obsessed with work lately, he would sleep only for 4 hours, he would never return from the office sometimes. She always thought that he was too dedicated to his work and as the head of a software giant; she did not doubt him when he used to go to “business trips”. But now everything felt different. She decided to have a “talk” with her husband when he would return in the evening and resolve everything because she did not want to give up on him so soon.
As she was thinking all these, she felt someone’s breath on her shoulder. She was horrified for a moment and tried to scream but that scream never left her throat. Even before she could turn, Rohith had silently slit her throat. She died there, with blood oozing out of her throat. But she did not suffer. Even though it meant nothing to Rohith, he never made his victims suffer. He was not a sadist, and he had given an instant death to all his victims.
He cleaned the floor and wrapped her up. He completed his job and silently returned back to his apartment. Harsha, who returned home as soon as he could, was not surprised to find that his wife was not in the home. Recently, after the IPO of his company, his in-laws had started talking to them. They had sorted everything out and occasionally, his wife would go and visit her parents. That day afternoon when he left for office, he knew that his wife will not be home when he returns. He thought that she will be with her parents.
He tried to call her then but her phone was not reachable. He called his in-laws and was surprised to know that she was not there with them. Then he called all her friends and asked if they know where she is, he felt a little insecure, but he tried to calm himself telling that she will come back soon.
He could not sleep that night as he had a sense of guiltiness. Afternoon he had felt that his wife was over-reacting, but now he had realized that whatever she was doing, it was because she loved him. He started feeling guilty that he was not being attentive to her lately, and that business has become the priority of his life. That is why he had planned a vacation for them. But now he wasn’t sure if his wife would be ready or the vacation.
He tried to call her few more times in the morning. Later he found her cell phone beneath the sofa cushion when he sat on sofa for breakfast. He made up his mind and went to the police station to lodge a complaint.
                             * * *
Afternoon he got a call from police telling that they have found a body wrapped in plastic, in Vrushabhavathi River. The world stopped for him for a second. Hoping that it wasn’t his wife’s body, he went to the station. He was soon deprived of that hope as he saw the body. Everything was over for him. But he did not cry. He silently left the police station after all the formalities and went home. He cried alone and in his bedroom trying to hurt himself, thinking that it was all his fault.
Next day, police started their investigation. They started with Harsha himself and asked him, when was the last time he had seen her, to which he answered “day before yesterday” But he did not mention about their quarrel. Next when the neighbors and the driver were enquired, the police came to know that Harsha had a quarrel with his wife that day. Then when the police enquired about that with him about the quarrel, he said everything to them. But the police never found the photos which Mr.Harsha told them about. Harsha became the prime suspect when his in-laws cried in front of police telling that he was responsible for their daughter’s death.
                                 * * *
Evening that day Rohith had called the “broker” to ask about his payment as soon as he saw and confirmed from the news that Harsha who has been accused of his wife’s murder, was in jail. Broker informed Rohith that the people who had hired them had refused to pay the money. Rohith hanged up the call without much talking and switched on his laptop.
The media people had shown the news as he had expected. They had done their job too well by showing Harsha as “a rich person who thinks he can buy the law”. His plan had worked correctly. People who think corporate espionage is a myth, would never believe in something like corporate killings .Media had praised the police for showing “interest” in the case and solving it within two days. News channels publicized the “story of a mastermind” who killed his wife first and then gave a missing complaint to save himself from being accused. They had run the video showing the grieving parents, and they even elaborated about the alibi Harsha tried to provide that he was attending an important business meeting which he left before it concluded.
The people who had hired Rohith, obviously were from the only other company which was also in the same business. They had seen the growth of Harsha InfoTech ltd, and were afraid that they will be kicked out of the business soon. That is why, they had hired people to kill Harsha, so that the market price of his company falls, and people start investing in their company. Rohith, who had understood their intention correctly went one step further, and made his boss look like a criminal who killed his wife in cold blood. This had affected the market price of shares even more than it would have, if Harsha had died.
He texted the person who had hired him, the C.E.O. of Mil tech ltd through a secure line. He asked for his compensation. He was not expecting that they will refuse to pay him, after seeing that he had done the job perfectly. But they backed out of the deal telling that this was not what they had agreed for. They wanted Harsha to be killed, not imprisoned. They argued that he may come back after trial proving himself innocent. Rohith simply switched off his laptop, as it was never about the money for him.
                                * * *
Three months later,
The C.E.O. of Mil tech ltd, was sitting in a solitary confinement cell “for his own protection”. With all those bars around him and so much time to think, his thoughts were, “why didn’t I simply pay him the money?”

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