All the King’s Men

This short story is selected as Story of the Month January’2015 and won INR 1000

This story is selected as Editor’s Choice

“In answer to your unspoken question,” said the President of the Republic. “yes, this is blackmail…” Only the flutter of his hands, held carefully behind his back to conceal them from the woman cowering on the settee, revealed the tension that filled him.

He understood the risk he was taking, calling Liana away from the reception downstairs to the Ambassador’s guest bedroom for a few private ‘moments of your time’. She had followed unsuspectingly, excusing herself to a group of dignitaries. He had allowed her to precede him into the bedroom, then – leaving the door slightly ajar so that no reason for even the whiff of a scandal should arise – he proceeded to bring her world crashing down.

Waiting till she was seated, he faced her, expression grim. “I bear unpleasant tidings, Liana.” began President Soude. “I know about your secret.” He saw Liana stiffen. “Last week, you were in the company of a young man – the same on both occasions – while you were ‘officially’ attending State-functions. The fact that your security detail did not accompany you means that your husband, our esteemed Prime Minister Roel Elgare, is unaware of your liaisons. On these two occasions, after your ‘escort’ picked you up, both of you went to a suite at Hotel Excelsior on Ludegton Road where you spent an hour before coming out alone and catching a taxi to your ‘official’ destination.”

“You’ve been spying on me.” There was some hesitation behind the statement, but none of the trepidation Soude had been banking on. It made him uneasy, and he wondered if he had played his cards wrong.

“You must understand, Liana, that as the PM’s wife, you are in a sensitive position. Enemy agents have tried worse tricks than seduction to learn our secrets. I could not take a chance: what if the man you were with was a foreign spy? You understand my perspective, I’m sure.”

She smiled, a fleeting one with no humour.”Yes, I do, and I thank you for your concern. But it’s all very innocent; there are no spies involved in this matter, I assure you. The young man is a relative.” Liana rose. “I’m sure we can drop the matter now that this has been cleared up.”

Soude shook his head slowly. “Not quite so easy. In ordering surveillance on your movements, I had to use government resources and manpower. All this has generated a great deal of paperwork, in addition to photos and video-footage wherever it was possible, which invariably means a File. There’s a Blue flag – which gets automatically tagged to VVIPs – on your file. This means that one of the people reviewing it will be your husband.”

Her whole frame seemed to shudder as his words emerged, and Soude was aware of a frisson of excitement. He had been right! That not-so-subtle reaction proved – to his mind – that the wife of the Republic’s Prime Minister was conducting an extra-marital affair. Until this very moment, he had had no proof at all; his every effort to install recording devices into the Hotel suite had been stymied when, inexplicably, the couple had opted for a different room at the last moment. He had cursed the lost opportunity, had even momentarily wondered if he was jumping to unfounded conclusions. But now…

“You can’t allow that to happen!” Her voice suddenly was no longer firm. “He can’t- he can’t know about this-”

Soude managed to look uncomfortable. “Liana, by rights as our Commander-in-Chief, Roel is required-”

She stepped up to him, her poise all but shattered. “Suppress it, Soude! You’re the President; you have powers- use them! Help me. I don’t want him finding out about this…”

Soude frowned. “So, you are having an affair?”

She looked angry. “Don’t be ridiculous! I told you: he’s just a relative!”

“Then why are you so distraught at the thought of your husband learning of these- liaisons?”

She chewed at her lip for some moments, then sighed. “It’s supposed to be a secret. We’re making plans for a surprise party on Roel’s birthday…”

Soude studied her face carefully. The woman could well be telling the truth, he realised; the next day was Roel’s birthday. And the PM had been in Germany the last three days, due to return tomorrow. He would have to tread carefully. “Liana – try to understand my position: out of a sense of concern, I set in motion a process that is largely irreversible. I had my doubts then, and frankly, they continue to persist.” He paused. “It’s not impossible for me to suppress the File; I can, and I will but only on one condition.” She looked at him questioningly. “I want proof of this surprise party: the cake order, the caterer’s, invitation cards, the booking receipt for the venue. Tomorrow’s the birthday, so most of it will be ready by now. This is for my peace of mind: to convince me that everything is above-board.”

She looked away, her expression miserable.

He felt a wave of exultation. He had his proof. He sighed softly. “That’s what I feared, Liana: you are involved with another man.” She said nothing. “I don’t believe it: the PM’s wife, having an affair… What were you thinking? Did you think you could get away with it? Someone would have noticed… Like I did.” He shook his head sorrowfully. “I can’t even begin to imagine Roel’s reaction when he gets to your File. He’ll order a full investigation; you know how much a man of principle he is. The outcome: he’ll arrange a quiet accident for the two of you.”

He saw alarm leap into her features. “I’m not exaggerating, Liana; he can’t afford a scandal to tarnish his image. A separation or divorce would be equally bad. And as for killing you, I’ve seen him at work. He signs an Executive Order – and the victim is history. He’s had opponents removed in all sorts of ways: heart attacks, auto accidents, even a helicopter crash. No suspicion of foul play. Politics has always been more important to him than family. That’s no secret. And in your case: infidelity. He’ll discard you like a broken doll.

“Of course, if I could help, I would have, but the minute Bureau Chief Sinha read the File and realised how explosive it could be, he ordered it sealed. No one, short of the PM can approach the File now, not without very good reason. And Sinha’s a loyal stooge of Roel. There is no way I could bury the File without leaving a wide trail.” He shrugged. “The way I see it, this is what is going to happen: Roel arrives from Germany tomorrow evening. At night is the official dinner to mark his birthday. My guess is, if Sinha hasn’t already informed him, Roel won’t get to the File until after the dinner. You have that long to act.”

Her eyes were heavy with a combination of fear coupled with doubt. “To act?”

“One of Roel’s favourite Executive Order weapons is a cardio-toxin.” He took a small vial from his pocket. “Introduce three drops into the victim’s food. Within 15 minutes of ingestion, he’s dead. Apparent cause of death: heart attack.”

Liana was struck speechless.

Soude continued to look down at the vial. If he noticed her reaction, he gave no notice. “I have two clear options here. One is to leave matters as they are, and let Roel take care of you in his own way. There’s a problem however: my own knowledge of your affair – Roel will know who initiated the investigation – makes me a liability. Which means I could become his next victim. My second option is to strike back. Remove Roel and thus remove the threat to my well-being. But how? The solution, the only one with any chance of succeeding at this stage, was to approach you and persuade you to act. As his wife, you can get close enough to insert the poison in his food. As his wife, you would not be suspect. Following his death, I could then suppress the File, and you could quietly fade away from the public’s eye, with your lover.”

She was groping for words. “I can’t- I just can’t- believe-”

“Believe it.” He said, just the trace of menace in his voice. “Neither of us has a choice in this matter. Think it over – and you’ll realise the truth of it.”

She was shaking her head. “But- you’re asking me to-” She faltered. “-kill him…”

He placed the vial on the bed. “Three drops. That’s all it takes.”

She stared at it, as though spellbound, and he left the room.

As he entered the corridor, his hand slipped into his jacket pocket to turn off the recording device. He would have to hand it in for a check. It was a great pity that she had been too stunned to say anything incriminating, but perhaps that had been too much to ask for. If only, maybe, she had broken down and admitted to the affair… Wishful thinking.

He dialled a number on his mobile telephone. “It’s done; I’ve given her the vial.”

“Will she do it?”

“I don’t know. She will need time to think this through-”

“She has to do it! We may never get another chance!”

“I know, damn it!” Roel Elgare’s brain tumour was something that had scared the few that knew about it when his condition was diagnosed some weeks back. What had scared them further was the specialist’s opinion that the PM was no longer mentally capable of holding such a significant position. Roel had been notified, and his reaction had stunned them all; he had refused to consider stepping down. He would continue to hold on as the leader of the Republic until the cancer killed him or rendered him physically unfit, whichever came first. When the Working Committee – a three man unit – had insisted he resign immediately, Roel lost his temper and threatened to make public the actual facts of dealings in their past. He had sole access to a horde of sensitive documentation that he had accumulated in his 4 years as the PM. The threat he had made was not an idle one. Roel was now effectively, untouchable.

There was now only one sure way to remove him from office. And the success now depended on the man’s wife, a frightened woman whose only crime was having a fling on the side.

###

The following evening, at the reception for the Prime Minister, Soude received his first shock when he found that Liana would not be attending. He felt anger bubble up, followed by alarm. His prime worry was that she might talk, and if she spoke to her husband… Thankfully, he had wiped his prints from the vial before leaving it on the bed. But still… the prickly feeling of unease persisted until half an hour into the dinner. Which was when he received his second shock. Roel Elgare, PM of the Republic, pitched forward, face-down, into his plate.

The ensuing chaos took 20 minutes to clear up, in which time the PM was officially declared dead, of a heart attack, and then carted away.

A manservant handed Soude a sealed chit. Master bedroom. Now. He stared at it, knowing instinctively it was sent by Liana. He decided to go up and meet her. He needed to get the vial back; it was too dangerous a weapon to be left in the wrong hands. He also wanted to know how she had killed Roel; it was important that he learn if she had involved others in the deed.

The person who opened the door on which he knocked was not Liana. It was Shola, the daughter of the First Couple, Liana and the late Roel Elgare.

“Mr. President…”

Soude hid his surprise. “Shola. I – I need to speak with your mother…”

She grimaced. “Not possible, I’m afraid. She’s been sedated by the doctor.”

He frowned. “But- she sent me a note-”

“That was me.” She said, and watched his eyes widen. “And you probably want this back.” She pushed the vial into his breast pocket. Stunned, he made no move to stop her. “My work, my dear Soude, all my handiwork. I poisoned my father. It was my hand that brought him down. All these years, it’s occupied my thoughts: killing that vile, crazy excuse of a father. But how do you kill a sitting PM and raise no suspicions? It drove me crazy, and all the while, he continued to abuse me. Who would believe me if I said my father, the PM of the Republic, was a wife-beater and child-molester? They would have hushed me up, had me sent off someplace distant, and my mother would have been alone, having to face him alone, having to fend for herself, without my help…

“As the PM’s daughter, close to the corridors of power, one learns many things. I started to find out who my father’s enemies were, and who among them hated him badly enough to want him dead. Not surprisingly, I found he had a whole lot of people who hated him. At the top of my list – you. If I was to enlist your aid as an unwitting ally, then I needed something to draw you in. So I set up my mother. I asked my handsome cousin to furtively meet with her twice: to plan a surprise bash for my father. She believed it. She knew nothing of my real plans. Phase Two was phoning you anonymously to tip you off about her ‘affair’. Fortunately, you fell for it and approached her last night. Of course, there was a risk you would blackmail her into doing something else, but if that were so, she was innocent, and she could eventually have proved it. But you wanted Roel dead – and you gave her the toxin.

“Which was what I wanted…”
###

An hour later, Soude stepped into a car with tinted windows. Inside, Bureau Director Sinha looked at him. “Roel’s dead. We got what we wanted – we can now proceed.”

Soude looked up at him, then told him about Shola.

Sinha was stunned. “The daughter? Dear God – she manipulated us…”

Soude nodded. “I have to assume she somehow taped my conversation with Liana yesterday. She was expecting me to approach her mother. If that CD exists, I’m a dead man…”

“We don’t know it exists. But you’re right: we have to assume it does. If so, it’s probably a counter-threat to make sure you don’t reveal her part in Roel’s death.”

“I don’t like it, Sinha.”

“Neither do I. We have to neutralize this threat, and I think I know how: Shola doesn’t know that I’m in this with you. I’ll meet her – equipped with recording device – and tell her you committed suicide, using the cardiotoxin. I’ll show her the vial, which should convince her I’m not lying. I’ll tell her you left a note incriminating her in Roel’s death. If the CD incriminating you exists, she’ll have to reveal it to prove your part in initiating Roel’s murder. Then we’ll have her.”

But Soude was uneasy. “I wonder…”

##
It was after one in the morning when Sinha reached the PM’s residence. He saw the fire brigade tender and quickly found a police officer, and flashed his credentials. “What the hell’s happening?”

The news shocked Sinha to the core. Apparently Shola had jumped off the roof. A stunned Liana was weeping that Roel’s death had been a big blow to their daughter, and that she should have realised that Shola might do something drastic.

Sinha fingered the vial in his pocket. The threat was now gone. Or was it? What if there was an incriminating CD lying around in her room, waiting to be discovered?

He entered the house, flashing his ID until he was upstairs. He found the girl’s bedroom, and pushed the door open, then stopped.

Liana was sitting on the bed. She looked up at him.

Sinha stumbled over his words. “Madam – I’m so- sorry-”

She nodded sorrowfully. “Thank you, Sinha. I was the last person she spoke to, you know. If only I had guessed she was so distraught… Maybe I should have suspected something when she started telling me some crazy tale of how she had conned Soude into helping her kill Roel.” Sinha felt his mouth go dry. “Shola said she had wanted Roel dead for a long time, and now that she had killed him, she was suddenly overcome with guilt. I thought it was rubbish, so I told her to shut up.”

Sinha’s pulse pounded. “She was- emotionally upset. Naturally. It wasn’t her fault…”

Liana shook her head, staring at her daughter’s pillows. “I suppose not. But the strange thing is, this began before Roel died. I recall wearing a device she gave me at the Ambassador’s dinner last night. She told me today that it was a recording-device and that this CD,” She held up a disc. “is of a conversation I and Soude had last night. Some of the things he said to me last night frightened me, and I told Shola. She told me to give the CD to Soude. She said I was not to worry, that Soude would never trouble me again, because she had distributed copies of it for simultaneous and wide release if anything should happen to me.” Liana shrugged.

Sinha sank into a chair as he thought of the things Soude had said to Liana during that meeting, a little more than 24 hours ago.

“The last thing Shola said was: tell Soude he has 24 hours from Roel’s cremation to resign as President if he didn’t want the CD to be made public.” She studied the disc distastefully, then dropped it onto the bed. “Of course, I have no intention of saying any such thing to Soude. He’ll think I’m mad…”

Sinha stared at the CD. The room reeled before him.

Liana got up. “So shocking, all of this, but I can’t let it distract me from my duties.”

Sinha felt his head go up, to meet her eyes.

“After the burial is over, I plan to ask the Party leadership to nominate me to a post within the Party. As a grieving mother and widow, sympathy votes should pour in for me. I would be a real asset. Maybe enough to become Party President.” She smiled at Sinha, and the man felt his blood chill over. “And perhaps, one day, even the Prime Minister of the country…”