Prisoner's Dilemma

Prisoners’ Dilemma

Source: http://images.nymag.com/arts/books/reviews/chair090216_560.jpg

A sequel to
13 – A perfect murder

Prologue

‘Sir, can we start with the interviews?’ the coordinator asked in a rather nervous tone.

‘Yes..’, Mr. Peterson said.

‘The first one in line is one Mr. Patrick…’, the coordinator started.

‘We would like to have a meeting with Mr. Cooper first’, Ms. Patel said, even as she was engrossed in a file.

‘Ma’am, but there is no one by that name on the list of shortlisted candidates’

Her eyes left the file and fell on the coordinator. 

‘I wonder, why would that be?’, she said raising her eyebrows

‘Because he didn’t apply for this job’, the coordinator suggested.

‘I don’t want reasons; I want him’, she raised her voice.

The coordinator stumbled with nervousness.

‘You are new here, aren’t you? You can check with your seniors if you might, I always get what I want’

‘But Ma’am..’, he started.

‘If you fail to arrange our meeting with him, we won’t hesitate to walk out of this process’, she warned.

‘The more you try to reason her out, the more formidable she is going to get; so please bring this guy in’, Mr. Peterson made an effort to kill then argument.

‘Sure Sir..and…Mam. I will try and….umm…I will get him in 5 minutes’, he hesitated and left.

‘Why trouble that poor kid?’, Mr. Peterson asked.

‘Because, he needs to learn how to handle pressure’, Ms. Patel smiled.

‘Why are you so interested in this Cooper guy, anyway?’

Ms. Patel re-opened the file in her hand.

‘Here… take a look’, she passed on the file to him. ‘This file says his IQ is 215. That is 65 points north of what is considered as Intelligent’ she started.

‘If the numbers are to be believed, this guy ought to be smarter than 99.99% of the world’s population’

‘And do you believe in these numbers?’, Mr. Peterson asked.

‘Well, if he outsmarts me, I will start believing in them’, she said.

***

‘It’s a pleasure meeting you Mr. Cooper’, Mr. Peterson said.

‘The feeling ain’t mutual, no offense’, a young man dressed in a cramped T-shirt and a boxer replied.

Mr. Peterson was visibly taken aback by his rudeness. Ms. Patel spoke nothing; she was just 

observing her subject, her eyes and mind were doing all the work for her.

‘I was disturbed from my slumber to attend an interview for a job which I am not interested in. This conversation better be worth my sleep’, Cooper said, looking at the ground.

‘We shall together try to make this conversation a fruitful one, Mr. Cooper’

‘We represent the European Detective Agency and we are here to recruit for our task-force. If you make it through the interview you will be trained for 1 year and then you will be a detective for one of the most reputed Detective agencies in Europe’, Mr. Peterson started.

‘Being a part of your task-force doesn’t interest me’, Cooper started.

‘Why should I join your agency? Give me one good reason’, he said, still not making eye contact with Mr. Peterson.

In 20 years of his experience of conducting interviews, this was the first time he met someone with the nerve to ask him why he should join EDA.

With every passing second Mr. Peterson’s dislike for Cooper increased exponentially.

‘What are you interested in Mr. Cooper?’, Ms. Patel finally spoke.

‘I’m passionate about solving problems…problems which no one else can solve’, he said.

‘Great, so I will give you one of our cases. Would you please solve it for us, because none of our detectives could solve it’

Cooper’s eyes finally left the floor and met Ms. Patel. ‘Go on’, he said looking her square into the eye.

‘So here’s how it is going to work. Since I do not have the case report with me here. You can ask me for the facts that you will be needing to solve the case’

‘About 5 years back, a person in his mid-40’s was found dead in his house’, she started.

‘What was the cause of death?’, Cooper asked.

‘According to the forensic reports, he died due to suffocation’

‘Murder weapon?’

‘None found’

Cooper paused for a couple of seconds. ‘What did the murder scene look like? Any clues? Finger prints?’

‘Glad you asked’, she smiled.

‘A number 13 was scribbled on the table with the blood of the victim’

’13….Why 13?’, Cooper thought.

‘I want to see a picture of it’, he asked.

‘I don’t have it right now but…’, she started.

‘Never mind, it won’t be of much help’

‘Why 13?’ he asked.

‘I don’t have a definite answer, but I do have a theory. As per the theory, the detective who was investigating this case had 12 unsolved cases in his kitty. Through this number, the murderer was trying to challenge him that this would be his 13^th unsolved case’

‘That’s a ridiculous theory’, Cooper commented.

’13 could mean anything’, he continued.

‘We have good reason to believe that the purpose of this murder was to maintain a count’

‘And why do you say that?’, Cooper asked.

‘Because this was not the only murder. There were four other murders similar to this one’

Cooper raised his eyebrows. ‘We are talking about 5 unsolved murders!’

‘Yes. We couldn’t even figure out how these murders were done, let alone catching the murderer’’

‘Who were the victims?’

’14 was Mr. Paris, the detective who was investigating the 13 murder. About 1 week later we found Mr. Paris’s maid, Ms. Douglas, murdered with the number 15 scribbled in front her corpse. 16 and 17 were Tony and Ashley respectively, both of whom had assisted Mr. Paris in investigating his last case’

‘This is all the information on this case that can be disclosed to you’, Ms. Patel said.

‘So Mr. Cooper tell us how was the murder done…and if you have any insights about the identity of murderer, do let us know’

Cooper didn’t reply for a couple of seconds. He was busy doing some deep thinking.

‘You’re asking the wrong question Ms. Patel’, he broke his silence.

‘Why did the murderer stop at 17; that’s the question you should be asking’, he said.

‘And why did he scribble the numbers near all his victims in the first place?’, he continued

‘If he had figured out this seemingly perfect way to murder people, why stop at 17?’

‘May be he wanted to kill all the people involved in the case. Once he executed them, he stopped’, Mr. Peterson thought aloud.

‘Fair enough. But now comes my next questions; why would he write the numbers?’

‘The murderer considers himself a very smart person. The numbers are his way to show off this expertise in executing a perfect murder’, Mr. Peterson suggested.

‘Exactly. You have finally spoken some sense, Mr. Peterson’, Cooper remarked.

Mr. Peterson frowned.

‘The murderer is a smart guy…and he is showing off. And that’s exactly why he stopped at 17’

‘What do you mean?’, Mr. Peterson snapped.

‘A smart person thrives for 2 things. The first thing: he needs to be told, time and again, that he is smart. Usually this is achieved by showing off. Just like our murderer showed off by scribbling the numbers’, Cooper started.

‘And now coming to the second point: a smart person needs to be challenged. Assuming that our murderer is as smart as he thinks he is, I believe he stopped at 17 because no one could challenge his methods. None of the detectives could even come close to figure out how the murder was done, let alone catching the murderer’, he said.

Ms. Patel smiled. ‘So you mean that he stopped killing as he didn’t enjoy it anymore...because none of the detectives could come close to solve this case! That’s ridiculous’

‘Trust me, I am smarter than this murderer; if I were in his place, I would do the same thing. Why continue to play a game after realizing that it is not challenging anymore’

‘But you still didn’t solve the case, Mr. Cooper’, Ms. Patel exclaimed.

‘I can’t. The information you have provided is not sufficient. I need access to the official reports’, he said.

‘I am sorry, but that is not possible. Only the detectives of EDA have access to the official investigation reports’

‘Give me those case files and I will challenge the murderer. I will drag him out of his hiding. I will be the worthy opponent he is been waiting to encounter’

‘I am very well convinced about your capabilities Mr. Cooper. But rules are rules: only an EDA detective has the access to the investigation reports’

‘I cannot rest until I solve this case, and I cannot solve this case without the official investigation report’, Cooper stopped as a realization dawned upon him.

He looked at Ms. Patel and let a half smile escape his lips. ‘You cunning bitch!’

‘So now, Mr. Cooper did I give you a good reason to join EDA’, Ms. Patel returned the smile.

***

After 1 year…

I stood there restlessly, even as John opened the locker which read: Unsolved cases.

John extracted a file, dusted it and handed it over to me.

‘This one hasn’t been looked at since a couple of years. Given its history, it’s considered a bad omen for any detective to work on it’

‘Don’t worry about me; I trust my abilities more than my stars. This file isn’t going back into that locker. I am going to solve this goddamn case’, I said.

‘After a long wait of 1 year; finally, I have you’, I thought looking at the file in my hand, with an air of man looking at his first love.

***

‘You do realize this won’t be your first case, don’t you?’ I heard a familiar voice.

‘Ms. Patel’, I said.

‘This is for my homework’, I said even as she walked past him.

‘I have a case for you’, she said as I left the file on my desk and chased her.

‘Who died?’ I gleamed, even as I tried hard to catch up.

Ms. Patel gave him a sarcastic glance.

‘It’s a heist!’

‘Which Bank?’

She gave him another glance as she entered the conference room.

‘The Royal Museum of London’, she said even as she started the projector.

 ‘What was stolen?’

‘This’, she said pointing at the screen.

A painting of a girl standing at the end of a cliff, appeared on the screen.

The girl was dressed in black, her hair was dancing to the tunes of the wind. She looked beautiful and spooky at the same time.

‘The Melancholy, by Charles the IV’

‘How much does it cost?’

‘It’s an antique. Antiques do not have a price’

‘So my first case is to hunt a painting?’

’Dull’, I thought.

‘Hunting is one way of seeing it….’ Ms. Patel smiled.

‘Or, you could just ask them where the painting is’, Ms. Patel smiled and produced the pictures of 2 middle aged men on the screen.

‘Who are they?’

‘They are the people who pulled off this heist. Your job is to extract the painting from them’

‘Where can I find them?’

‘They are in the police custody. I made arrangements to have them brought here’ she started.

‘Recover the painting from them and I will consider this case closed’, Ms. Patel concluded.

‘You must be kidding. This can’t be my first case. It’s an open and shut case’

‘Solve this at the earliest and I will allow you to reopen the 13 case’

‘She does know how to play a man’, I smiled.

‘If you know what a man wants, you can make him do whatever you want’, she gave a mental retort.

‘How much time do you need to close this case?’, Ms. Patel asked.

’20 minutes’, I said.

‘Are you sure?’ she gave me a glance whilst adjusting her spectacles.

‘A couple of hours?’, I hesitated

‘You overestimate yourself; I’l give you one day’

‘I need to see the painting back in the museum by tomorrow’

‘Easy..very easy’, I smiled

***

The Duel

‘You are not focused’, he said even as he attacked her with his left arm.

Elizabeth tried dodging his attack, but in vain. She shrieked in pain and fell on the ground.

‘On your feet’, he commanded her.

She ignored her pain and jumped back on her feet.

‘This is no game for a girl!’, she heard one of her peers shout out.

This time she decided to attack first. She raised her left leg and aimed an attack on his arm.

He dodged it.

Before she could make her next move, she felt his leg rush into her face and the next second she was on ground.

A sharp pain of originated from her face and resonated in her body. She had a feeling that she could never move again.

‘You won’t win until you focus. You won’t be able to focus if you have no purpose’, her master announced.

‘Purpose and perseverance’, they win battles, not anger.

‘Until you find a purpose, you will never be me’

Elizabeth took the support of the railing to stand on her feet, even as her master started to leave.

She was shivering. Her eyes were moist as if she was about to cry. But she didn’t. Her otherwise pretty face was covered with blood.

‘I didn’t give up yet’, she shouted spitting out some blood even as she spoke.

Her master looked into her eyes. He saw pain in them, but he didn’t see fear.

‘She is still standing’, this girl with a pretty face had exceeded his expectations.

‘You have enough determination to stand up, but you have no strength to fight’, he said as he gave her a final blow.

Elizabeth fell on the ground unconscious.

***

One Confession

‘He is Mr. Walker, the manager of the Museum’, John said.

‘So Mr. Walker; walk me through what happened’, I asked.

‘He wore a mask…he had a gun’, Mr. Walker stammered.

‘He threatened me to switch off the security system. I was af…I was terrified’, he started sweating.

‘And then before I knew, he was gone..with the painting’

‘When did this happen?’

Mr. Walker looked at him, but didn’t answer.

‘What was the time?’, I rephrased his question.

‘Around 10:20 AM’

‘Thank you Mr. Walker’, I said. ‘We will get back to you in case we need any other information’

***

‘One gun, one painting, two men…’, I said even as we watched the CCTV footage of the heist.

‘One confession is all we need’, John completed the sentence for me.

‘Yes, that is all we need’, I said lost in thoughts. ‘One confession, is all that stands between me and my dream case’ 

‘Tell me one thing, how did the police get their hands around these two guys?’, I asked, dragging myself into the present.

‘They found them fleeing in the opposite direction from the crime scene’

‘How did they know it was them?’

‘They were carrying their masks with them’

‘That’s pretty stupid of them, don’t you think?’, I remarked.

‘The police made your case easy’, John said.

‘They made my case less interesting’, I sighed. ‘Where are these two guys?’

‘In two separate interrogation rooms; just like you suggested’, John said.

‘How are you planning to go about it’, he continued.

‘I am planning to deploy a game theory which has never been cracked before’

‘And what might that be?’

‘Prisoners’ dilemma’, I said and stormed out of the room.

Prisoners’ dilemma

‘This is awkward, how do we begin?’, I asked.

‘I think this is where you ask me where the painting is?’, Rob suggested.

‘And what would you say, if I did?’

‘I’d say I don’t know’, he smiled

‘See that is why I didn’t start with that question’, I smiled.

‘You guys have allegedly robbed a painting which is an integral part of England’s history’, I started.

‘People out there are mad at you guys. They’ll kill to get back the painting’

‘You talk as if you aren’t a part of them’, Rob smiled.

‘Nice observation. I actually don’t give a fuck about the painting. For me it’s just a case. A silly stupid first case which I need to solve as soon as possible’, I said.

‘Tell me one thing, why carry the masks with you? You guys had dumped the painting and the gun in some safe place, why didn’t you dump those stupid masks there as well’

‘A-silly-stupid-case you had said; let’s try and change that a little’, Rob started.

‘I may have, allegedly, carried it because either I am as stupid as you think; or maybe I just wanted to be caught’, Rob smiled.

‘Ohh thank god! You almost sound like a smart guy. I was starting to feel bored’, I said.

‘Why would you want to get caught? You think you can escape from this place?’

‘Maybe I will’

‘I would love to see you try’, I said.

‘Let’s cut to the chase. You seem like a smart man, I might have some trouble breaking you’, I started.

‘But your partner, in the other room; he doesn’t seem very shrewd’

‘What! He has my partner!’, Rob was shocked.

‘I am quite sure I can manage a confession out of him; don’t you think?’, I asked.

‘Try your luck’, Rob said.

***

‘How did it go?’ I asked John as he finished interrogating the other suspect.

‘It’s not going to be as easy as we thought it would be’, John said.

‘Get a background check on these two guys. I need to know everything about them’, I said.

‘The task force is on it even as we speak’

‘Great, then let’s take the interrogation to the next level’, I suggested.

‘Next level?’, John asked.

‘This is when we make them a deal they can’t refuse’, I smiled.

***

‘You have two kids, Stan’, John said.

‘You won’t touch them. They have nothing to do with this’, Stan replied.

‘Don’t worry; we are the good guys here. We won’t harm them’, John started. ‘But who will look after them after you are gone’

‘I am not going anywhere’

‘You and your partner will be sentenced for life long imprisonment…unless’, John paused to study the change in Stan’s reaction.

‘Unless… what?’

‘Unless, you give us the location of the painting and the gun’,

‘If you do, I will see it to it that your sentence will be reasonable’, John continued.

‘How much time am I looking at?’ Stan asked him.

‘3 years..5 maybe’, John started. ‘Only if we find the painting and the gun, that is’

‘3 or 5?’ Stan asked.

‘I don’t know Stan, I am not the one who gets to take the decisions here’

‘Then why should I trust you?’, Stan said.

‘I am your only chance to freedom, Stan’, John said.

Stan fell silent. He seemed to be doing some deep thinking.

‘Get the documents ready, and call my attorney. I will confess only if he approves of it’, he finally spoke.

***

‘Where’s their attorney’, I asked.

‘He is waiting at your desk’, John said.

‘Let’s get done with this’, I said and stormed into my cabin.

‘I was expecting a meeting with Ms. Patel’, the attorney said.

‘I am sorry you will have to settle with us’, John said.

‘So be it! I am here to represent my clients Rob and Stan. I need to see if they are fine’, Peter started.

‘Your clients have robbed one of the most prestigious antique paintings from the Royal Museum of London’

‘We want the painting and you want your client’s safety; let’s make a deal’

‘What deal?’, Peter narrowed his eyes.

***

‘It’s a lucky day for you, Stan. We’ve cracked the best deal for you’, John said putting a paper on the table.

‘You give us the location of the painting and the gun and you will be sentenced for 5 years imprisonment’

‘And it is signed by your attorney’

John looked as Stan examined the papers.

‘I dropped the gun and the painting in a trash can on St Louise Street’, he confessed.

***

 ‘We have recovered the painting’, John said. ‘I think we can close the case’

‘Great’, I replied and went back to speak with Rob.

‘As, I had promised we broke your partner; he confessed’, I said to Rob.

‘We recovered the painting’. Rob looked surprised.

‘We no longer need your services. Mr. Rob you are under arrest for stealing an antique painting from the Royal Museum of library’

Rob laughed.

‘Which part of you-are-under-arrest did you find funny?’ I asked

‘Did you find the gun?’, Rob asked.

‘No. We couldn’t trace it in the location mentioned by your partner’, he said.

‘If I may ask, who is this partner of mine you keep referring to?’

‘What do you mean?’

‘I robbed the museum…alone. I had no partners’, Rob laughed.

***

Case Solved

‘What! This can’t be possible’, Ms. Patel exclaimed.

‘Both of them confessed that they robbed the painting’, John said.

‘And they didn’t do it together?’

‘From what we have gathered from our interrogation: Stan robbed the museum with his gun and dropped the painting and the gun in a trash can. Rob says he picked up a gun from the same trash can and robbed the same painting from the museum’, he said.

‘One of them has to be lying’, Ms. Patel spoke slowly as if she was considering other possibilities.

‘Unless….’, she started.

‘Unless, someone else lied’, I suggested.

‘Yes’, she said even as a realization dawned upon her.

‘Mr. Walker’, I whispered

‘Ahh…we have been played with, gentlemen. Someone just pulled off a perfect heist and we can do nothing about it’, she deduced.

***

‘You guys still didn’t get it?’, she smiled.

‘Let me explain’, she pulled a paper and a pen.

I will just think aloud, correct me if get any facts wrong.

‘This is the Royal Museum of London’ she said drawing a big circle. ‘This is the painting of the melancholic girl’, she drew a small circle inside the big circle. ‘And this is Mr. Walker, the Manager of the Museum’, she drawing a stick-man.

‘One day Mr. Walker, decides to make some extra money by selling the painting. So he gets a duplicate painting and replace it with the original one’, she started.

‘Mr. Walker, he is behind it’, John deduced.

‘No, don’t be judgmental. Mr. Walker is a victim of a larger game’, she said.

‘Larger game?’ John said making no effort to hide his confusion.

‘This larger game starts when Stan pays a visit to the museum and robs the painting. Mr. Walker cleverly leads him to the duplicate painting. So Stan leaves the museum with a duplicate painting and drops his gun and the painting in a trash can at St. Louise Street’

‘Now that he has lost the duplicate painting, Mr. Walker decides that it’s not a good time to sell the original painting as he had no replacement for it which could be displayed in the museum. He places the original painting back in the museum and decides to wait for the right time’

‘Much to the dismay of Mr. Walker, the universe had decided to pee on his parade in the form of Rob. He comes into the museum with the gun that he picked up from the trash can.  He moves out with the original painting. Now that the original painting has also been robbed, Mr. Walker has no option but to call the police. Of course he doesn’t divulge any information on the robbery of the fake painting’, she paused.

‘The painting which we have recovered from Stan, get it checked with experts. I will bet good money it’s a fake one’

‘We can still win this’, I said.

‘No we can’t’, Ms. Patel snapped back at me.

‘There are good reasons I called this: a perfect heist….well, an almost perfect heist’, she said.

‘We are all ears’

‘Mr. Walker, the victim, would never confess that there had been 2 robberies that day in the museum. And, we cannot arrest two people when, according to the victim, only one man robbed the bank’

‘You said the painting which we have recovered is a fake one. We can use that against Mr. Walker. 

To prove that he had a duplicate painting’, John said.

‘He’ll say he had lost an original one, but we are giving back a duplicate one. The blame comes back to us’

‘We still have the CCTV footage. We can use that against Mr. Walker’, I suggested.

‘The Royale museum is not liable to give us their CCTV footage. And if I am not wrong, they might have already destroyed all possible evidence proving the second robbery’

‘We are screwed, aren’t we?’, I started. ‘Rob and Stan are not as stupid as we thought they were’

‘Rob and Stan are not smart enough to pull this on their own. Trust me, I know a smart man when I see one’ she started. ‘I think they are just pawns who were used to pull this heist’

‘Used by whom?’, John asked.

‘Who is this mastermind who could outsmart the prisoner’s dilemma?’, I wondered.

‘There is no way we will know’, John sighed.

‘There is always a way’, Ms. Patel smiled.

We both looked at her in awe.

‘Rob and Stan, they said they didn’t know each other?’, she asked.

‘Yes’, John said.

‘During the interrogation, did you guys notice anything which was common between these two guys?’

Both John and I were confused.

‘Did they mention any common place they used to visit, any common friends, any common interests?’

Me and John tried hard and replayed the entire interrogation and then suddenly it hit us right in our face.

‘Their Attorney’, we shouted at the same time.

‘They had the same Attorney’

‘And you are telling this to me, now!’, Ms Patel shouted in anger. ‘What was his name?’

‘Peter..Peter Cooper’, John recollected.

‘Run his name in our database. I need to know everything about this…’, she paused.

‘I am on it’, John said even as he typed his name in the online database and waited for the results.

‘This guy is no lawyer…’, John exclaimed.

‘He is a former student of the National Detective Academy’, Ms. Patel completed the sentence for him.

‘How did you know’, John looked up from the screen.

Ms. Patel fell back in her chair as if she was electrocuted. ‘Cooper; that bastard is behind all this!’

***

‘I had made an offer to him to join the EDA one year back and he refused’

‘I will solve the case on my own’, his last words resonated in her mind as if it had just happened yesterday’

‘Which case did he want to solve’, I asked.

Ms. Patel dragged herself into the present, ‘13…’, she started her answer. ‘Oh my god, where is the 13 case file?’, she asked.

‘I had left it on my desk in the morning’, I said.

‘He came here to steal the case files’, she said as we rushed into my cabin.

‘The file is still here’, John said even as he started examining for any missing pages.

‘That’s strange! If it’s not for the file, what did he come here for’, Ms. Patel wondered.

‘You might want to have a look at this’, John said as he handed over the file to Ms. Patel.

He pointed towards the last line of the report.

It had read ‘The killer stopped after the 17^th murder. Ashley Parker was his last victim’

Someone had struck the work “his” with a red pen and wrote: ‘It’s not a he; it’s a she!’

Ms. Patel then noticed another sentence at the end of the last page

“13; A perfect murder - Case Solved”

‘He solved it without the case files’, Ms. Patel exclaimed.

‘Cooper, you genius! You have outsmarted all of us’

***

A worthy opponent

Elizabeth sat in the dark corner of a room. She tried to focus, but chaos prevailed inside her head.

‘I can never beat him’, she gave up.

She felt her phone vibrate in her back pack. It was text message from an unknown number.

The message read: ‘13 – 14 – 15- 16 – 17…’

Her eyes widened in disbelief.

‘Who is this?’, she replied.

‘I am your knight in the shining armor, sweetheart. I am the worthy opponent you have been waiting for’

John Paris’s last words resonated inside her: ‘there is always someone who is smarter than smartest. I found my match in you. You too will find your match sometime’

Elizabeth looked at the message and smiled; she had finally rediscovered her purpose.

***

Five minutes into her next duel with her master, Elizabeth had him on the ground; his neck under her feet.

Her peers couldn’t believe what they had just witnessed.

‘This girl is devil. She will kill our master’, she heard them shout.

She smiled.

‘Elizabeth, I yield’, her master declared his defeat.

‘It’s Ashley…Ashley Parker, she said as she spared his life and started walking away.

‘I no longer require your services, master’, she shouted as she left the shaolin temple.

‘And you, my worthy opponent; I can’t wait to meet you. I think we will have fun’, she smiled.

***

An, art by
Shashank