Cheat!

There is pain coming from every part of my body. I am hanging from a wooden beam in a large room. My hands are tied to the beam with rope and my feet are a metre above the floor. Inspector Godbole has been hitting me for more than an hour. Earlier, he pushed my head into some water and held it there. I nearly drowned.

Now he is holding a pen and a piece of paper in front of me. The words on the paper say:

I, Ram Mohammad Thomas, cheated on the quiz show Who Will Win a Billion? and l will not take my prize or any other prize. I am very sorry.

Inspector Godbole wants me to sign my name on the paper. It is not true, I did not cheat on the show, but the television company cannot afford to pay me a billion rupees.

The pain is terrible. I cannot stand much more of it. Suddenly, I hear voices shouting. Then a young woman comes into the room. She has long black hair and nice teeth. She is carrying a brown bag.

‘Who are you?’ shouts Godbole.

‘My name is Smita Shah,’ the woman tells him. ‘I’m Mr Ram Mohammad Thomas’ lawyer.’ She looks at my body hanging from the beam, then she quickly looks away. ‘This is against the law,’ she says. ‘Stop it now!’

Godbole is very surprised. So am I. I have never seen this woman before. And I cannot afford to pay for a lawyer.

‘His lawyer?’ says Godbole. ‘You’re his lawyer?’

‘Yes,’ she says. ‘I want to see the papers for his arrest. Give them to me now, or I’ll take Mr Thomas from the police station to talk with him privately.’

‘Er ... I ... I’ll have to speak to ... to the Commissioner,’ says Godbole. ‘Please wait.’

Then he hurries from the room.

I do not know when Godbole returns to the room. By then I fainted - from pain, hunger and happiness.

It is late evening. I am at Smita’s house in Bandra, a very nice part of Mumbai. I have eaten and slept, and now I am sitting on a large sofa in her sitting room. Smita is sitting with me on the edge of the sofa. She is holding a DVD.

‘I’ve got a DVD of the quiz show,’ she says. ‘Now we can look at it carefully. How were you able to answer all those questions? Did you cheat? You must tell me the truth, Ram.’ ‘Can I trust her?’ I ask myself. 1 take out my lucky one-rupee coin. ‘Heads I talk to her, tails I say goodbye.’ I throw the coin into the air. It comes down on heads.

‘I was lucky,’ I say to Smita.

‘Lucky?’ she replies. ‘You guessed the correct answers?’

‘No, I didn’t guess them,’ I say. ‘I knew them.’

‘So why were you lucky?’ she asks.

‘I was lucky because he asked me those questions,’ I say. Smita is silent for a moment. Then she says, ‘Begin with question one. And promise to tell me the truth.’

‘I promise,’ I say.