Strict vigilance is exercised by those who oversee the younger ones, especially those who are fired by political ideologies, who want to change the world, alter the status quo, carry on the struggle against neo-colonialism. They have got to concentrate on the job at hand. That’s where you can’t go wrong. As for political beliefs, I don’t possess any. We don’t betray, we don’t change sides. We give our word and it is trusted. Not through any sense of morality but because that’s the only way we can build up our select clientele and establish our credibility. There are those hit-men who’ll carry out any slaying for a mere one thousand rupees or less and the fanatics who do it for nothing. We count our price in the region of billions and the account is safe in Swiss banks. Those in power are able to lay their hands on immense quantities of gold, of dollars, of sterling. They will let nothing come in the way of holding onto that power. And in the present political climate all kinds of personal vendettas, killings, massacres, abductions are thriving. It’s easy to blame everything on the Proscribed Party or those terrorists, as they are called, from the North.

As we drive along, the faces of my companions are impassive. No one speaks a word. I demand strict silence, concentration on the mission before us. We have got to get this job over and done with. Tonight. No postponement. No failure. We cannot fail. We are prepared and armed to the teeth. The man, Nilame, isn’t. Strange how men like himself are often caught unawares. Sometimes there are intimations, rumours, but they feel so confident in themselves that they disregard these warnings. The face of that young journalist flashes across my mind. No chance of escape. They came at dead of night. Surrounded the house. Blocked off every exit. Wrenched him from his mother’s arms. Took him away. Tortured him. Murdered him. His body found the next day, quite by chance, by a fisherman, as it drifted in the ocean. Didn’t that young man know he was in danger? Didn’t he receive any prior warnings? Didn’t he guess he was being followed? A senseless killing. Our executions are swift. We don’t interrogate. We don’t torture.