The death ticket — short story
— written by Sajith Amma
Room № 13, West Coast Maximum Security Prison, Police psychologist and consultant Mr. Alan D Rickman (53), interrogating Antonio Morger (47) under a hanging low light lamp on an wooden table.
Rickman, (the fat officer with a light smile begins), To be very honest with you, in my career over thirty years of experience I’ve never had a chance to meet a professional killer, and now I’m sitting face to face in an interrogation room with one. Welcome Mr. Antonio Morger.
(Rickman has Morger’s case file with him on the table.)
Morger, (has no feeling in his face of being questioned, gently replied), Thank you officer, (a stranger smile flashes across his face )
Officer Rickman: You seem very pleasant and confident, yeah?
Morger: Yes, of course. Always!
Officer Rickman: Yea, indeed, I believe that suits your profession.
Morger: Yes, I’m with you on that.
Officer Rickman: Ok, So I’m Rickman. Why I am here is, neither to question you nor to collect any more evidence or details from you, because your case is nearly done, and as we both know your rope will be ready with 94kg sandbag proof tested from a hanging height of 8 feet after your final trail next week. (Officer Rickman seemed so determined when he said that)
Officer Rickman (continues): I am usually engaged as a consultant to check the insight of the convict and my job with you will be to have a relaxing conversation, are you okay with that ?
Morger: With pleasure!
Officer Rickman: Alright!, If I understand you correctly, you should have sufficient money in your banks that you have received from killing people for so many years, don’t you?
Morger: Definitely, and of course, without even paying a penny as tax (with a scornful smile) your government has no category for people like me, a slab for a contract hitman is not mentioned anywhere.
Officer: Yeah, the government should have considered that too, huge money! (chuckles) , Brilliant! fair enough!, but when you kill people for money, do you never see what their personality is like, their sorrows, the grievances of the person, their family, relatives, how many people who would be worrying about them, how many depending on them, how important they are to a lot of other people. Aren’t you ever curious about the target or the reason for their demanded death?!
Morger: No, I kill people without knowing the reason, despite what they’ve done to me, or to anyone else. (After a pause) Officer, can I ask you something? You said you have more than thirty years of experiences, how many people would you have questioned so far, perhaps sometimes even used severe mechanism of torture to get them talking, have you ever thought, how important that person may be to many ?
Officer Rickman: Yea not really, that is of course, part of my duty, my job.
Morger: Indeed, it is part of your duty, and as for me, mine.
Officer Rickman: Well, okay. You have a different mode of operation what I’ve learned from your history and records. You take cash and take a note of the person to be killed from your hidden access points where people communicate with you anonymously. You never ask who your client is and how do you manage that?
Morger: You said cash, yes I accept any form of cash, or gold or whatever mechanism the client is convenient with. I don’t really want to know who is giving me the quote. I just want to execute the job with a fixed price tag of 200 grand per person. And about the description note they attach along with it, well, I call it ‘The Death Ticket’.
Officer Rickman: Why it is like that ?
Morger: That is my USP Mr. Rickman. You know that, many people want to kill a lot of other people, but you know why they are not doing that? That’s because they never want to reveal their identity, or they aren’t ready to move out from their safe zone. And me?! I am the right answer in that situation.
(continued)
Some people give detailed description about the person they want to kill, in their Death Ticket. Where we can find him, what their daily routine is and so on, and those notes make my life a lot easier. However, the hard part is when someone just gives a photograph with a name. I do it for the the same remuneration, but I must deal with that. Sometimes I even think for a chance to meet the client to complete the death ticket with a bit more details, but that never happens. Like your department, I too have had difficult times dealing with my cases.
Officer Rickman: Do you have a monthly target or anything of that sort ? Or have you ever faced a dip in your income because no one gave you an assignment? I mean, for salaried people like us, it is common that a dip happens when unexpected expenditure comes about, and for us it takes months of saving to deal with that sometimes. I do even farming on the side to compensate that. How do you manage when such scenarios happen or have you never faced those?
Morger: It is quite funny (smiles). You are saying about a boring day in the life of a hitman, sitting idle with no work to do. It is the only area where recession or global warming is not affected at all (with a proud smile). You know in this world, there is no shortage for problems, only the solution has the throttle, and take it from me, I’ve never had such dips in my life, sometimes I’ve had to work overtime (smiles) but that’s about it.
Officer Rickman: Mr. Morger, I retire in two years. One thing I am sure of, this whole sitting and your story will be there in my memory for the rest of my life.
Morger: Good, but I don’t keep faces in mind.
Officer Rickman: I believe you keep a record of all murders you have committed and will that be above 200 ? Do you have a list or something ?
Morger: Ah, I don’t keep a list of people. It is just like yours, you probably have no clue of how many people you have questioned, or the number of cases you have charged in your long career so far.
Officer Rickman: Well, let me tell you this thing very clearly, we don’t have any evidence or traces of the people you have killed so far, except for the case of Merchant Jane, and that is why you are here. As you know in this case you have a critical eye witness, Mr. David (Rickman shows him the case file page where the witness’s details are mentioned with a picture of David in it), he is the Superintendent of Police ,the one who assigned me to do this task with you. Since he is the witness and also one of the investigation officers in this case, you have no room for escaping this time. The trail happening next week will be the end of your story. At this point, I would like to ask you one thing, is there any chance you could share the assignment note you received for the case of Merchant Jane?
Morger: I am not bothered about any trail, because I only believe in reality. I don’t mind what the final judgement may be. And as you know, you will never get a trace of who gave me the assignment for Jane, even I don't know who it is. Perhaps Mr. David mentioned that you collect that from me in this sitting. You probably need that for the final trail to ensure my hang. But as you believe and you know from the conversation we’ve had so far, I am a professional, in my word and in action.
Officer Rickman: There sure is no bet on your brilliance, that is surely a good supporting evidence. But even without that, your punishment is cent percent sure!
Morger: Sometimes people in their contract note, I mean in the Death Ticket, mention, where they want the target to be prosecuted and sometimes suggest how brutally they want to deal with it. Jane was that kind of case where the person in the note wanted him to die in the market right in front of many people watching. I hope I did my job decently.
Officer Rickman: I appreciate your dedication on keeping the word with your clients. You seem so confident even in the last days of your life, that why I like you very much.
Morger: Thank you Mr. Rickman. And regarding Jane’s case, I am still not sure that the death of the client was done as expected. As I mentioned earlier, sometimes I think if only I had a chance to meet the client once just to clarify the death note a little more, but that has never happened.
Officer Rickman: I understand your concern, you are perfectionist I would say. Perhaps you are unlucky in this case, where Mr. David was in the spot when you killed Jane at the market. For him, it is his prestige issue, he already has a lot of black marks in the past and this is a good chance to get all of them back and prove something critical like this for the society, that’s why he made the imprisonment. What does this mean to you, you know you have no way out of these walls. Hope you are still confident.
(Morger just Chuckles)
Officer Rickman: Ok, let me ask you one last thing, you said you have no records of the people you’ve killed so far, but you might have at least made a list of people you agreed to kill as part of a contract, but you still must get the task done.
Morger: Yes, I have
Officer Rickman: I know you are not a fool to reveal the list by any chance, but are you still saying you are obliged to your clients? (after a short pause, with smile ) Don’t worry, that was a Joke (he smiles). Okay I am done with your case, further formalities will be done by other authorities. And yeah, it was quite a different experience with you gentleman. Not sure whether we will meet again, but it was nice talking to you.
Morger: My pleasure! Before you leave sir, one thing. You asked me, how many people I have in my to-do list that is still pending. I can’t reveal the list to you, but I can tell you one name I have in it. You might know the person.
Officer Rickman: Who is that?
Morger: Mr David, the name you mentioned in our conversation.
Officer Rickman: Yes, your witness
Morger: (with a determined smile) He is one special guest in my list.
Officer Rickman: (curious, then with a smile) Very interesting. Okay, then how do you plan to kill him? (with a kidding smile ).
Morger: Well, for this case I was paid more than double from what I usually get, 500 grand to be exact. I am very pleased with it and thus obliged to do a good job no matter where I am.
Officer Rickman: That is something new in our conversation, and a good point I could note down. Perhaps I am a lucky man, I meant is it like the first time a person knows about Morger’s next target on his hit list. (simply smiles).
OK Mister, I will tell this good news to David. Let’s see how your game is progressing. The guy, your target, Mr. David Sam is sitting 75 miles away from here, surrounded with more than 100 officials and securities, while you are here sitting in the Costal Prison with no hope to even see a ray of sunlight. Interesting Challenge Mr. Morger! And you know another thing, David is flying off shore right after your trial next week, I will be sure to tell him about this, a well-wisher waiting here with his incomplete to-do list. Your destiny is almost done with him, but I believe you are still confident, aren’t you?
Morger: You know something sir? The only case I was not so confident until now was that of David. But now I am very clear on my part and even more confident.
Officer Rickman: Hmmm, why is that?
Morger: I have somebody to help to do it, and he is sitting right in front of me.
Officer Rickman: : Me ? You mean, Me?!
Morger: You’ve already helped me by saying how far he is right now and also mentioned about his travel plans, this is indeed everything I needed. I had zero knowledge about David other than a picture and a name. Never even knew he was a police officer and that too in this case, my game changer!
Officer Rickman: Oh, I became the navigator for you, anyways, the details I shared, was only part of our conversation. Anyways, good luck with your plans, and our department will deal with it in our own ways, and I will be sure to convey your warm regards to David
Morger: Sure sir.
Officer Rickman: (before he was about to leave the chair), Mr. Morger, In David’s case , consider giving him a reputed standard of death, may be one in his uniform if you get a chance in the future, All the best! (kidding smile)
Morger: I will definitely try and thank you so much for fulfilling one of my longest wishes. Sometimes I’ve thought even about a second chance to meet with my client to complete the Death Ticket with a bit more of clarity, but that
had never happened before. Mr Rickman, I hope you can deal the dip of the unexpected expenditure in coming months, farming these days are worth an effort, all the best (victorious smile)
THE END