Thriller Short Story – Smooth Talker
Photo credit: cohdra from morguefile.com
Krish stared down at the man holding his shirt lapel. The man’s face was inches away from his. Anger was visible all over the face. Krish controlled his urge to tell the man that the stubs of hair on his cheeks are not shaved properly. He let that pass. People around them were also showing signs of aggression. They did not try to separate the angry man away from Krish. In fact, they were ready to throw a punch or two given an opportunity. Women too were not showing any sign of compassion. The bus had stopped and parked on the side of the road. All the vehicles were passing on; occasionally some would slow down to look into the bus to see what the commotion was all about.
“Allow me to explain.” Krish said slowly with a slight shiver in his voice.
The man was now shaking with more anger, “What are you going to explain? That this is not your bag…and you did not do it?” He shouted into his face.
“No and Yes” Krish said. The man gave a confused stare.
“No this is my bag. Yes, I did not do it” explained Krish.
“What audacity you have to say that someone else had taken my purse and left it inside you bag” asked the man, the victim amused.
Krish nodded vigorously still with the shiver, desperate to prove his point.
“Precisely” He said, “And…and there is every possibility that the thief may still be on the bus.”
That caught the victim’s interest. He loosened the grip on the shirt lapel. Krish placed his hand on the wrist of the victim and slowly pushed it rest of the way down and away from him.
“When I got onto the bus it was very crowded” Krish started before the victim could say or do anything more, “I pushed my way over to a seat and gave my bag to a gentleman sitting in that seat so that I can stand freely. The crowd resided after sometime and I finally got a seat. I got my bag back”. Krish turned slowly as he spoke to see if the person was still there to confirm his statement. But the person who had been holding his bag was also acting ignorance visibly showing that he does not want to be identified. No help there Krish realized.
“You mean that the thief had taken my purse and saved it in your bag. You did not have anything to do with it?” asked the victim. Krish was unsure what to say.
“People like him can also cook up stories” a stubby man behind the victim pointed out, “Don’t let him go. He should be thrashed” He suggested. The victim nodded, now the anger building up again in him. Krish stared at the stubby man; He appeared to be All-Talk-No-Action type you often come across under these circumstances.
“I can prove my innocence” Krish said still staring at the stubby man, slowly turned towards the victim, “see if I am the thief then I should be still having on me the things that are stolen” Krish patted his pocket, “I don’t have them, see…”
“These people don’t do it alone. They do it as a team, the accomplice would have long gone with the valuables” a stocky man from the back shouted, “slap him few more and he would spill the beans.”
Krish now covered himself like a boxer defending an opponent’s punch and said, “Ok, ok…let’s go to the police station. They would check the purse for the finger prints and see if mine were inside the purse folds” slowly bringing the hands down seeing that the victim was not showing any intention of hitting him and continued, “Because I cannot take the valuables without leaving finger prints inside the purse folds. So let’s go to the police station and get it sorted out” by now showing bold demeanor.
No new theory was put forth. People around now seem to be convinced. The Victim too now saw that Krish had a point though the doubt had not completely been wiped. Suggestion of police station had an impact, the all interested people now showed no interest. None of them were interested in getting tangled into a police case. Krish was waiting for the affair’s logical death.
“May be, He is not the thief” said the lean person sitting beside Krish finally conjuring up his courage. He had been all this while, a mute spectator to the whole thrashing and bashings. Fear evident for being sitting beside a thief, rubbing shoulders all the while. He was probably scratching his brains to ensure that he had not been talking pleasantries with Krish for there is every chance for being mistaken for an accomplice. “If not He would not have suggested police station” He said with saintly expression.
Krish saw some nods now among the crowd. Possibly because they genuinely believed Krish was innocent or to fight away a need to visit the police station was not known. Still Krish kept silent. Waiting for the next suggestion to come in from the victim or the onlookers for any suggestion from him would be mistaken.
Finally the stubby man beside the victim said, “Let it go. He seems to be innocent. The thief would have long gone. You see some had even left the bus when you started the search. What say if one of them is the actually the thief?” now looking at Krish remorseful. “This guy here had got into this for someone else’s doing” He said.
The Victim now tucked the purse into his pocket. The purse was practically emptied of all the money and credit cards. Krish slowly took his seat. Put his bag on his lap. The bus started. The victim finally looked at Krish and said, “Look I’m sorry. I was mistaken; finding the purse in your bag just took me off.”
Krish nodded understanding. “How much did you have?” He asked.
Victim said” About 100 or 2 in cash not much. It’s just that the credit and debit cards are taken that’s disturbing.”
“That shouldn’t be a problem. Call the Banks and tell them that your cards are lost then they would cancel the cards.” Krish said.
Victim nodded “I guess that should be my immediate action.”
“Debit card should not be a problem because cash cannot be withdrawn without the pin so safe there. How much is the credit limit you have if I may ask?” asked Krish.
Victim said, “About 75,000 is the limit not used more than 5,000.”
“Good God!!!” Krish said widening his eyes “That’s a lot of money. Please call the bankers immediately.”
Victim nodded acceptance “None of this would have happened if my bike had not gone flat. The damn mechanic didn’t have time for fixing mine.” He muttered.
They were quite for some distance. Krish got up and gave his seat to the victim. “I’ll be getting off at the next stop” He took a 100 from his pocket and gave it to the victim “I know this will not fix your problem but until you get cash use this. It’s not big amount but still it should help.” He said.
Victim hesitated. Krish assured, shoved the money into the victims pocket. Patted his shoulder with a smile and got off the bus. People on the bus were now feeling sorry for mistaking a Good Samaritan for a thief.
Krish smiled as the bus went past him. If not for his smooth talk he would have been beaten to pulp. He took the cards from the bag which no one checked further once the purse was found. Threw the debit card into trash, kissed the credit card and went shopping.
END
