The Flawless Retribution

“When a man is denied the right to live the life he believes in, he has no choice but to become an outlaw.”

Nelson Mandela

“All units…Repeat…All units reach the Kindergarten School in the Central Zone ASAP. We have a hostage situation there…Repeat…we have a hostage situation…” Inspector Ronald aka Ron got the message on his wireless.

Two days ago, he had got his home ventilation system repaired which was not working for the last few weeks. After the recent death of his only son, his wife was in severe trauma & was being treated in the nearby mental asylum. Since he was working on a very serious case, named the Autumn Trails, a case which had cost the police all of their statuses, he couldn’t give more time to his family, which ultimately cost the death of his only son due to lack of money.

Resuming his work from today, after a gap of almost a month, he had just started from his home, when suddenly along with some units he was ordered to reach the school immediately.

As he reached the school gates, he opened his car dashboard unit to get his police badge. Suddenly his cell phone popped out.

He then remembered he had lost it for the past 2-3 days.

Was it here all the time?

Leaving aside the thoughts of how it got lost, Ron grabbed it & got out of the car.

“Damien, what are we up to?” Ron said as soon as he reached the school gates.

“There was a social gathering inside this school & many kids with their parents had gathered inside. The school organized this event & they had called their old deaf & dumb principal as a chief guest for this. Apparently, we got a call stating that someone has hijacked this school. There are about 50 people, with 25 kids below 12 years. The auditorium is locked from inside. All the windows & doors are closed,” Damien, his associate answered back.

“So, what’s happening now?” Ron asked, looking at the closed school gate.

“Call the commandos. We can easily climb up & blast the door.” Ron ordered.

“That isn’t easy, boss,” Damien said, showing him the LIVE CCTV footage of the auditorium entrance. On seeing it, Ron frowned.

“They’ve placed explosives on the outside. Meaning, if we break through it, they’ll explode, killing not just us, but probably, all of them inside.” Damien said, “Also, we can’t see what’s happening in, because they’ve released tear gas inside through the ventilation system.”

“But we can at least disable that…!” Ron said, trying to find a solution.

“It’s a trick boss,” Damien answered, “The canisters are placed just outside the blowers in the auditorium. You can’t disable them, even if you can send a drone inside through the vents. They must have come in from the rear entry in the Hall.”

“Damn it. It means all the people inside have their eyes covered. No one can see how many are there & who controlling this. Damn smart. Did we get any call, anything…?” Ron asked as a huge barrage of NEWS reporters stormed in the area for LIVE coverage.

“We’ve not got anything as of now,” Damien said.

At once Ron’s cell phone vibrated. He checked the display & saw it was a call from his colleague, Austin.

And then Ron immediately realized why he had called him.

“I know your kid is in this school, but don’t worry, we will have the situation…”

“Has the terrorist called? Did he demand any ransom?” Austin stopped him & questioned.

“I’m afraid not. We can’t even go inside as all the doors are locked from inside. We are not able to…” Abruptly Ron’s cell phone vibrated. He disconnected the call and checked the message.

“How are you doing Inspector Ronald?” the message read, “You’re going to have a very busy day. It’s not important who I am & how I got your number. Tell the authorities to keep a ransom amount of 100 million dollars ready. Once it’s done, let me know.”

The terrorist had sent his first message to Ron. He checked the number & found out that it was a temporary one generated online for a single communication.

“Who are you? And why are you doing this?” Ron replied back.

“Soon you will realize this. Keep the amount ready & then I’ll give you the account number. Do it fast else a person will be killed every 30 minutes.” Again, this message came from a different number.

“This appears to be some online number. Such types are used for a single conversation. Anybody can generate them & its very difficult to trace the source.” Damien said as he gave the relevant details about the number.

“He’s asking for a ransom of 100 million dollars. Else he will kill a person every 30 minutes.” Ron told him.

“Let’s just ask the Government to keep it ready. We can’t waste more time…! People’s lives are at risk…!” Austin said after Ron informed him about the ransom the terrorist had demanded.

As he was thinking about his next step, he got a call from Sir Nicholas, the Inspector General (IG) of Police.

Ron explained the current situation giving him all the important updates.

“So, what’s your next step? How are we proceeding on this?” the IG questioned.

“Sir, unfortunately, we don’t know how many terrorists are there, & also who is their leader. Austin says we should get him the ransom ASAP. That’s the only way we can save the people. But what if the terrorist still proceeds ahead Sir? How can we guarantee that he will let go of all the people?” Ron raised a concern.

The IG was silent for a moment.

“We don’t have any other option, Inspector.” The IG replied. “Put up a request in the State Administration. It’s a huge amount. Let’s get it arranged.”

“I’m planning to send in drones, sir. We need to know what’s happening inside. I can maneuver them stealthily through the smoke vents in the roof.” Ron explained his idea to the IG.

“OK. But proceed with caution.” The IG warned.

“Ron, we have snipers in position,” Damien said, pointing at the respective locations on the neighboring buildings.

“That’s right. Get me the drones. We can try & storm them inside from the smoke vents on the roof. We need to know what’s happening inside.” Ron said.

“What’s the situation inside, sir? What are you planning to do next?” one of the reporters giving a LIVE coverage questioned.

Ron neglected him & moved towards the closed gate. It was locked from the inside & two sensors were placed on the lock bolt. Anyone opening it forcefully would trigger the explosives inside.

Ron looked at the terrace & visualized the path through which the drones can move in by staying away from the windows.

Immediately drones were brought in. The operators started moving them through the desired path from the rear side of the building. Fitted with LIVE cameras, the drones slowly rose upwards & proceeded ahead towards the smoke vents. As they approached the vents, Ron saw the footage on the screen & realized his mistake.

“Goddamn it…!” Ron said as he saw the vents were covered with multi-layered thick wired mesh which prevented the gas from escaping out. Moreover, there was a small camera placed on the outer side, which meant the terrorist could easily see what’s happening on top.

“Stop what you are doing…. you are risking the lives of people…!” Suddenly Ron got a message on his mobile.

“We have a visual of the terrorist…repeat…we have a visual on the terrorist…” Ron’s earpiece thundered with the incoming sound of one of the snipers. He closed the message & looked at one of the windows. Someone wearing a gas mask was trying to open a window with a gun in his hand. Abruptly all the reporters stormed towards the gate to get LIVE footage of the scene. Instantly the area was filled with cries & panic as people tried to move away.

“Damien, get the public away from the gates…!” Ron ordered, “Snipers, don’t shoot...! Hold your fire…! Repeat...hold your fire…!”

Suddenly, the man popped out the gun & fired 2 rounds towards the road. The public including all the reporters panicked & started running for cover.

“Negative, we can’t hold fire…taking shot now…!” Before Ron could stop, the snipers fired straight at the man with the gun. As the bullets hit him, he collapsed & fell down 2 stories on the ground.

“Goddamn, it idiots…! We wanted him alive…!” Ron screamed on his earpiece. He instructed the drone operators to take the camera towards the deceased man. The rifle bullets had pierced his left eye, damaging his brain resulting in immediate death.

Before Ron could say anything, he got a call from the I.G.

“I’m watching a LIVE coverage…! Why did you order to shoot him? We could have got him alive…! Please hold the situation there…! The money is getting arranged from the state ministry...!” The I.G. screamed at him.

“Your shooters did my work, cop. Now restart the timer again to 30 minutes.” Again, he got a message from some unknown number.

“Damien, let’s check all the CCTV footage. I think the leader & his team must’ve entered inside before the event started.”

Instantly all the footages were asked for. Ron & Damien observed each & every person entering the school. They finally zeroed down to a group of 8 suspects. Ron instructed Damien to do a thorough background check on every suspect.

“We have information on the shot man, sir.” One of the people from the research department came & informed Ron, “He was a man with a lot of criminal background. He was a right hand with one of the most wanted goons of the country.” She then gave a document to Ron, which contained all the information about the person who was killed a short while ago.

“It means that he was inside with his daughter & wife.” Ron said, looking at all the documents, “It means he is not a terrorist. Then why was he pointing a gun outside?”

His thoughts were broken when he got another message, again from an unknown & untraceable number.

“Don’t waste your time in unnecessary investigations, cop. Make arrangement for the money as fast as you can.”

Ron read the message again, & he understood something.

How come he knew what we are doing? It means there is a mole in our department.

Damn it.

“Damien, let’s get a list of all the criminals whose kids are studying in this school. I think some of them must be inside. This may somehow help us track down the terrorist through mutual contacts.”

Ron explained his idea to his colleague.

“We are tracking certain people with a criminal background & whose kids are in this school.” Ron explained his plans to the IG, “Through their mutual contacts, we may come across certain people which will help us to gain some ID on the terrorist.”

“That sounds good, inspector. The money is ready. Ask the terrorist to send us the account details. We will immediately transfer it.” The IG said & disconnected the call.

“Ron, we have zeroed down a list of 3 suspects wanted in bank frauds, false stamp papers & many other political bribery cases,” Damien said, producing a paper which contained 3 names of such people & their photos.

“They must have disguised themselves & come here,” Ron said, clearly remembering not seeing any of these faces in the CCTV footages he saw earlier.

“Then how are we going to have a check on the terrorist?” Damien questioned.

Suddenly there was a huge commotion outside. Ron instantly realized that 30 minutes have got over, & someone else must have been shot down.

“Over there…Over there...!” the reporters ran towards the gate. Another person had fallen face down outside one of the windows.

“I told you, you’ll be responsible for all this. Get the money ready fast. Else, set the timer to 30 minutes again.” Ron again received a message.

Damn it, I forgot to message him about the account.

“Send me your account number. I’ll transfer in the amount.” Ron replied back.

The leader then messaged him the account number.

“Damien, get the details of this account number. Let’s see in whose name this is. I’ve messaged it to the IG. Soon the amount will be transferred to this account. Check all the details & let me know” Ron gave the necessary directions.

“Sir, we have an ID on the person who was just shot down,” The girl from the Research Department gave the details to Ron.

As Ron went through the details in the report, he was shocked.

“That’s right, sir,” the lady replied, “This time, the principal of the school was taken down.”

“But why…did he have a criminal background?” Ron questioned.

“We are trying to find the data sir,” the lady replied, “Also the medical authorities have confirmed that he is in an induced coma due to the heavy injuries on the back of his head. We’ll start questioning him as soon as he is awake.”

“Tell the doctors to work on him ASAP. We need data from the principal about what was happening inside.” Ron said. “Damien, did we get the account details?”

“This is a wired account, Ron. It has a name on it, but it’s coded with some unusual characters which we are not able to the crackdown. We’ll take some time boss.” Damien replied.

Shit.

“Sir, we have a situation here,” Ron called up the IG & informed him about the developments.

“We need the principal alive. And as you suggested, keep trying to find the source of the account. Maybe that will lead us somewhere. The money is already getting transferred in a short time. The State Authorities will soon inform me about it.” The IG said.

As Ron disconnected the call, he thought about an idea.

“Damien let's get the CCTV footage of the principal’s cabin in the past couple of days. I assume the terrorist must’ve dropped a visit to the principal some days ago.” Ron spoke about his idea.

Instantly, the team got the footage of the CCTV inside the principal’s cabin. Ron then observed that in a 4 days old footage, an unknown person had entered the cabin. He was not from the staff or resembling anyone from the school. Ron then enquired with the gate-keeper & came to know that this guy had come in a rented cab. They got the details of the cab from the CCTV fitted above the entry gate.                                                                                

“Damien, get the details of the Cab driver at once. We need to question him as to where did he drop this guy who met the principal.” Ron ordered.

“We have got some details, sir,” Ron spoke to the IG & explained all the scenario. The IG then told him to message the terrorist that in a short time the money will be transferred to the said account. Ron sent the message describing the same to the terrorist.

“Good Work, cop. I knew that finally, you will always do your duty right.” The terrorist replied back.

Suddenly there was commotion where the reporters were standing. All of them were pointing to the main entrance inside the school.

Ron saw that two people wearing gas masks & facial protective gear were lifting an old man. He appeared to be unwell.

“No one shoots…Repeat…no one shoots…! Hold your fire….!” Ron ordered the snipers & his team.

The two masked men came & dropped the old man in front of the gate & went back in. All the people around rushed to have a closer look.

“It’s the old school teacher…!” someone screamed. Ron then saw that it was an old man who was holding his chest & panting hard. 

“I think he’s the deaf & dumb old school teacher who was called here for this event. Looking at him, I think he’s suffered cardiac arrest.” Damien said.

Ron ordered his guards to carefully open the gate & take the principal out. One of the guards informed him that the RED light on the trigger attached to the gate has been switched off. Quickly, they opened the gate & rushed the old school teacher out & boarded him in an ambulance.

“Ron, I have the details of the driver. He said he dropped this guy in an area on the outskirts of the town about 3 days ago. I’ve asked the local police to immediately launch a search on the said location. We may get something out of it” Damien said.

“Sir….! We have finally cracked the details of the account…!” the lady from the Research Department came running towards Ron & gave him the details.

And then Ron knew who was the real mole in his department.

“Damien…. immediately arrest Austin…this account is wired in his name…! Take him in Police Custody right now…!” Ron ordered.

Instantly, Austin was taken into police custody.

“Damn it, now I knew he was that dog who was informing everything to the terrorists…!” Ron hissed angrily. He informed the IG about the same. The IG then informed him that the money is already transferred.

Ron then dropped a message to the terrorist informing them about the wired transfer.

“Good job, cop. Now as promised I’ll start realizing the hostages one by one. And I have a surprise for you, friend.”

“Ron, Austin is saying he had got a call from someone through some number & informed him to play this game with him. That anonymous person assured him that he will save him from the recent money laundering case that Austin had got arrested in. He said to open an account in Austin’s name, & then get the money & send it to all the corrupted officials in the Government.” Damien gave him all the required details. “We are trying to trace the number from where this call was made.”

Ron still never knew who this terrorist was. He then saw 3-4 kids coming out of the school with their parents. Slowly, smaller groups of people started coming out of the school.

Suddenly Ron received a call from the IG.

“What is this, you scoundrel? You have betrayed us…! I’m putting you under arrest right now…!” the IG screamed at Ron. Before Ron could understand, the IG disconnected the call.

“Ron…you’re under arrest...” Damien said, pointing his gun at Ron. He was accompanied by 4 other officers who were pointing their guns at him.

“Will you explain to me what has happened, Damien?” Ron pleaded to his colleague.

“Now don’t act smart, Ron. The cab driver had told us about some location on the outskirts of this city. We had sent a search party to that location. And guess what, we found a lone house there. We searched inside & found your clothes in it. Further, your cell-phone location was exactly in that area for the past 2 days. Moreover, the untraceable number from which Austin had got a call was traced back to you. So now, you are the real culprit…!” Damien explained the entire situation to Ron.

“God damn it, Damien, you clearly know that I’ve been framed. How could I do this?” Ron pleaded.

“Many reasons boss. Your wife’s in a mental asylum. She needs surgery that will cost 10 million rupees. You’re already in great debt with rising credit card bills. You needed some money, right?” Damien said angrily, still pointing his gun at Ron.

“I’m not a greedy person, & you very well know it…!” Ron said. However, with every piece of evidence against him, he was forcefully taken out from this case.

He then saw a group of people slowly exiting out of the school gates. He looked at his cell phone & saw the last message received from the terrorist.

A surprise.

He did receive a good surprise.

He then saw an unmasked person, possibly a terrorist at the school auditorium window. He further looked up & saw the vents pushing out the tear gas inside.

Then suddenly he realized he had seen the guy at the window…somewhere.

“Damien…. listen to me…I’ve been framed. I clearly know who framed me…!” Ron pleaded to Damien.

“Boss, I have no authority to listen to anything to you. You have to say whatever you want in the court.”

“Please listen to me. Two days ago, the ventilation system in my home had stopped working. I had called a guy to fix this. He was the same guy I saw some time ago in the window of the auditorium. I now know that he had robbed my cell phone & took it outside. I hadn’t used it for some days. I’ve been framed, Damien…! You clearly know I will not do this…! Arrest them right now…! Start questioning him…!”

“That’s not possible, Ron. I’ve been instructed by the IG directly to let them go by the rear entrance behind the hall. We can’t stop them now. If we do, they may create a more difficult situation elsewhere... destroying more lives than required…!”

“Wait….” Now Ron understood, “How did the IG know about the rear entry? I don’t remember mentioning that to him…!”

Now every police officer present slowly started realizing things.

They immediately called up the IGs office & enquired about him, but he was not present in the office. He had gone to meet the high command in another country. The attendant clearly told him that the IG had never interacted with anyone for this case nor had he spoken to any inspector as every outgoing call was sent through her desk.

“So, the terrorist fooled us in the name of IG. He nicely framed me, took away all the money. But who is this terrorist?” Ron questioned.

“We have got the call details from the IGs office. His incoming line was tapped using numerous wireless connections. Since it was wireless, its very difficult for us to know the source.” Damien explained.

“Sir…. we have a situation…!” The lady from the Research Department came running inside the cabin, “The ambulance which was taking the old man was hijacked by some goons on the way. The old man is now missing…!”

Everyone was silent for a moment.

And then Ron realized that the old man was the real terrorist. All the time, he was inside with his team.

“But why didn’t the school authorities realize they have the wrong man? How can they be such fools?” Damien questioned.

“No one had seen him. They only knew his name &knew that he resided in some village in another country. No one knew how he looked, no one heard his voice because he was deaf & dumb. He escaped literally under our nose. This old man was the real terrorist who had hacked IGs telephone lines & was speaking with us all this time. No one found out our IGs lines were hacked because no one called him. Every big person knew that he was out of town, except us.” Ron explained, clearly knowing that his department was never informed about the IG’s outstation meetings.

“But why did he do it? What was the reason for all this?” Damien asked.

Ron then got a call from another unknown number.

“So finally, you came to know the real idea, cop.” The person on the other side said.

“Who are you? And why are you doing this?” Ron asked.

“Remember the Autumn trials, cop? How can you ever forget them? You lost your son to a disease, your wife went into depression because of it. You never gave time for your family, dear cop. And the result is in front of you, clearly.”

Ron then remembered the trails. It was a big case some years ago, with an elderly man being charged with the murder of three of his family members. The trials went on for many months, but no proper evidence against the old man was found. The entire media had pulled up this case & the while police department was under fire for not producing the right evidence.

Finally, to save themselves, the police built up a false story & rightly framed the old man. With false evidence, he was charged with life imprisonment. Unable to bear the burden of a crime that he didn’t commit, he committed suicide inside the jail compartment. His young son was further held for serious questionings, but still, no evidence was found against him.

“So you are his son,” Ron now re-collected the entire case.

“Do you know how does one feel when a person’s close relative is held up for a crime he didn’t commit? My father had a mental disorder. Your police had clear evidence of it, but you framed him, just to save yourself. He couldn’t go through it & committed suicide. He was the only person whom I cared for. You rightly know the pain of losing someone so close to you, don’t you cop?” the person said.

Ron now realized he was the son of the deceased old man. He had rightly taken revenge on him & his entire department.

“But why did you harm the innocent kids & their parents? What had they done to you? You could have done that with us...!” Ron questioned.

“I never harmed anyone. I had no other option but to do it. The person whom I shot down was a wanted criminal, not an innocent citizen. The principal is only injured. Now you ask me, how did I do it? It was simple. I came to know about an event this school was organizing. I secretly disguised myself as the old principal. The real one is in a far-off village, never knowing anything about this. I knew the school’s ventilation systems very well. I got tear gas canisters from local dealers & gas masks for myself & all those fake terrorists. I clearly knew your modus of operation. That’s the reason I released tear gas inside so that no one sees me. I placed the explosives rightly in all the perfect locations. I cleverly got myself out. But one important thing, cop. You still can’t catch me. The entire police department will still lose its status to the media. And you will never catch me, cop.” The call disconnected.

Ron then got the message that all his credit card bills had been cleared. The hospital management called him & informed him that they have received the full amount for his wife’s treatment & soon she will be healed from the disorder.

“Did you come to know who it was?” Damien asked.

“Sometimes, we never know what a person goes through until we suffer it ourselves,” Ron answered.