A Scandal of Sorts - Ch 10

The woman in heels, Tia, now sat on the sofa and told us our story.

‘As I told you, I was in the organisation at one time; my older sister was against this decision the whole time. 

'I couldn’t cope with it, I couldn’t oppose my sister. But the problem is, you can’t quit once you’ve joined, so that the secrets don’t leak out. When they came to know the motive for my departure, they killed my sister. Now they are after me. That man I murdered in your lawn, he was the assistant of the head. He was following these two men throughout their journey.’

‘And you were following me, weren’t you?’

‘Well, yes. I, err, wanted to talk to you.’

‘No need to freak me out, then. When is this head of the organisation sitting as a judge in the court?’

‘His next hearing is tomorrow.’

I spoke up, ‘Not a moment to lose. Let’s prepare for it. Let’s bring it on!’

The next morning, the four of us – Uncle James, Ralph, Tia and me – were seated nervously in a taxi, in the disguise of journalists. Two of us had a notepad in our hand and a pencil tucked behind our ear, one had a camera in hand, and the fourth person had a mic with the name of the news channel imprinted upon it.

The taxi parked, we paid our fare, and entered into the place where the hearing was to be conducted.

After twenty minutes of looking into evidences, questioning and defending, the judge declared, ‘I  hereby announce that Àaron Abano will be hang-‘

Our friend Tia couldn’t contain herself any longer, for she got up fiercely and shouted some words which won’t look good written here. The whole court paused, absolutely silent. Tia continued, ‘This person is innocent, the one who is guilty is the judge. Juan Pedro, you are caught. You’re doomed.’

The police edged closer towards Tia. She rolled up her sleeve, and on her arm was tattooed the name of the organisation amidst speared heads and spilled blood. I was aghast, my mouth wide open.

Pushing people aside, the former member of the scandalous organisation forcefully rolled up the sleeve of Juan Pedro, the head of the organisation, and on that arm was tattooed the same symbol.

The policeman understood something was wrong. ‘What’s going on? What’s this symbol?’

‘It’s of a criminal organisation which has survived in our mist and has been executing people since time immemorial.’ I, too, was angry now. This is the man who killed my beloved father. He will have to be punished.

I got up, my fists clenched. Somehow, Ralph and Uncle James knew I was getting violent and out of control. They held me back. Juan Pedro would meet his fate, sooner or later.

And he did. Juan Pedro, the man behind the biggest crimes of the century, was awarded one death sentences for all the death sentences he had declared. JUST. ONE. DEATH. SENTENCE.

THE END