It’s an ill wind that blows nobody any good! (Part III)

I have selected the story, It’s an ill wind that blows nobody any good! (Part III), for today. I had written this story for an educational course, I was taking in the 1990s.

It’s an ill wind that blows nobody any good! (Part III)

“The memory cards are all blank, Syed!” the video editor came out of the lab with the disappointing news. “Nothing is present in them!”

Radha could sniff the fragrance of a crime right away and turned to her interviewee with anticipation. Syed’s face was downcast. “We’ll have to go through everything again, then. This was the last schedule. Getting star-dates is a big problem for the producer. I’ll be held responsible for this. I am at the threshold of a promising career…”

Radha was moved. She put herself into his position and thought that if it were one of her articles that had been sabotaged, instead? God-forbid, it had never happened till then. The True Story staff including the editor, Mr. Iyer, had been like a family.

“Do you have any enemies?” was the first question that popped into her mind.

“No,” was the monosyllable reply.

“Do you know anybody who could go to any extent to sabotage your career?”

“No.”

Radha’s gut feeling insisted that Syed was hiding something, probably since she was basically a crime reporter, so she thought she ought to set things straight.

“Syed, I’m talking very honestly, man to man. If you think I will use this against you, be rest assured I won’t. I only want to help you. I won’t publish anything until we get to the bottom of this and catch the real culprit.”

“Do you promise me that? But, how can I trust a crime reporter?”

“You can trust me. Look here, I will not breathe a word about this incident even to the film editor. I will only file the interview. Now, do you trust me or do I give it in writing?”

“That’s ok, I trust you. There is someone, who would be interested in damaging my career, but I don’t know who it is.”

“Some other cinematographer?”

“Dunno…”

“Ok. Were there, really, quite a few contenders for this job as you said earlier in the interview?”

“That I had exaggerated a bit.” He replied sheepishly. “But there were a couple of other technicians vying for the job.”

“Who are they?”

Syed gave her a couple of names. “But they are my friends and they are out of town today. I don’t think they…”

“Someone else might have done it on their behalf. I think I saw it happen right in front of my eyes!”

“Really? What exactly happened?”

“Yes. During lunch break, I saw…” She narrated the incident where the camera was taken into a room.

“That is nothing. My assistant was just taking the camera to that room and he was just keeping it in his safe custody. He is a very trusted friend of mine. He couldn’t have done it. According to what the video editor said, I think it must have happened on the way here or during the time the interview was going on.”

“Are you absolutely sure?” Radha still doubted the young assistant. “How did you get the indication that someone was trying to sabotage your career?”

“Couple of telephonic warnings against my doing this film and a camera was destroyed in an out-door schedule.”

Syed promised to keep her posted on the developments and they parted ways. Radha on her part made discreet enquiries with her film editor about the other two cameramen, who did not get the job and drew a blank. Before the editor could get suspicious about her questioning, Radha went to her desk to file the interview. All through the evening, her mind was on who would have erased the memory card.

To be continued…