587. In Search of Evidence

"I can say with certainty that Ramgopal has received a huge sum as kickback for this contract. But we can't prove it. How helpless we are!" lamented Santharam, the Managing Director.

Vigilance Officer Dayalan remained silent. It appeared to him that the Managing Director was indirectly rebuking him for his inability to book an employee of the company, who had blatantly committed an irregularity.

Dayalan approached a friend of him, who was running a detective agency and requested him to arrange to closely watch Ramgopal for the next few days. 

He explained to his friend that though he was asking for the surveillance in connection with a matter involving his company, he was getting it done at his own expense, since he didn't want to involve the company at that stage and requested him to do the job for a concessional fee.

After three days, Ramgopal received information he considered valuable.

The detective agency found out that Ramgopal had the habit of going to a club with one of his friends every Saturday evening.

Dayalan paid for the service rendered till then and and told his friend to end the surveillance.

That the charges for three days' surveillance were not substantial was a matter of relief to Dayalan. But he was still uncertain whether the information he got from the agency would be useful to him. 

'If my efforts succeed, I can get the amount spent by me reimbursed by the Managing Director' he thought.

"Brilliant! How did you record this?" asked Santharam, feeling excited and elated.

"I found out that Ramgopal had the habit of going to a club with a friend, every Saturday evening. I have learnt from experience that crooks like Ramgopal would brag about their wrongful acts to people close to them, as if they were proud achievements! So, I approached his friend who had been accompanying him to the club, gave him a mobile phone and asked him to call me from that phone and keep the call alive during the time the two were chatting in the club. I also gave him a list of questions, he should ask in a natural way, during the conversation. 

"For the last three Saturdays, I was spending three hours of my evening, listening to their conversation. Ramgopal spoke about so many things, but not about the matter we are interested in! His friend, knowing that I was listening to their conversation, was speaking with a lot of circumspection and fear, choosing to be reticent, as much as he could be! I hit pay dirt the fourth week. That day, Ramgopal spoke to his friend proudly about how he cheated you and received a kickback for the contract. I am sorry" said Dayalan.

"That is fine. I am not bothered about his bragging to someone about making a fool of me. I was fooled, after all! But, you got Ramgopal's conversation with a friend recorded in your phone. Is it legal?" asked Santharam.

"Don't worry about it, sir. If I summon Ramgopal to my room and play the recording in front of him, he will confess to the misdeed committed by him. People like him, who project themselves before others as strong men, are cowards at heart. They commit wrongdoings and constantly live in the fear of  getting caught. A call from the vigilance officer will, by itself, create panic in them! In my experience, I have seen many such people. Even if Ramgopal doesn't admit his guilt, his friend will testify about what Ramgopal told him. That will seal Ramgopal's fate."

"How did Ramgopal's friend agree to your request? Why did he agree to play a role in exposing the misdeed of his friend?"

"Making him agree to my request was not easy. I had to dig up his background, unearth a wrong he committed in the past and threaten to expose him, if he didn't agree to co-operate with me!" said Dayalan, smiling.

"You are a dangerous man. I should be careful with you, myself!" said Santharam, laughing.

Thirukkural
Section 2

Materialism

Chapter 59

Managing Intelligence Operations

Verse 587 (in Tamil):

maRaindhavai kEtkavaRRu Agi aRinthavai
aiyappAdu illadhE oRRu.

Meaning:

A spy should be capable of extracting what is hidden,

and verifying their veracity beyond doubt.

(This is the English version of the Tamil story 'AdhAraththaith thEdi' by the same author.) 

Verse 588 (Soon)
Verse 586