MAN FROM TOMORROW (EPISODE 26)

Anita walked off into the busy street, leaving Martin alone in the crowd with his briefcase. Though Martin didn't know it at the time, there was someone nearby that was equally interested in finding Joseph as Anita and Martin were.

         Martin had indeed kept something important from Anita- something other than the fact that the man they were after was a terrorist. The entire time he’d been on the street examining where Anita was saved, he was searching for clues as to where Joseph may have gone. Finally, just before the woman left, he was sure he was on to something. Martin's mind was racing at the speed of thought, and he liked it.

After Anita was gone, Martin turned to examine the mystery of where Joseph had come from. Martin went back to his office. He sat down on his swivelling chair and thought hard about his target.

One trait that made Martin stand out among other officers was his extensive knowledge base. He was a voracious reader. He read fiction, non-fiction, comic books, scientific journals as also film magazines and tabloids. He was game for all things knowledge. He followed the principle that human knowledge needs to be ocean wide even if ankle deep. This trait of his was responsible for his high success rate in solving cases. He could connect fields as diverse as Jet engines to a recipe of Alambre- a Mexican dish. He had done this once when he was a new agent, at a dinner hosted by his superior. He had gone on to explain how barbecue grills based on simple Jet engine principles could cook the Alambre faster and better. Obviously, his boss was highly impressed.

Martin even had a volume of the latest Organic chemistry Journal beside an archaeology Book discussing the excavation of the Indus valley ruins.

He took out the tag Anita had given him. The Avanu Logo was prominent though it was jagged and roughed out at the edges. Avanu was a local brand of leather clothing. The company had opened a few months ago and had just had a few outlets limited to the city. He googled ‘Avanu outlets. It threw open a map with the outlet locations highlighted all over the city.

Martin marvelled at the power of modern technology. In the earlier days, an agent had to meet the head of the Avanu brand and take from him all the outlet addresses in the city. Even though they would part with the information, as it was a Federal investigation, they would do so with reluctance. Who would one want to be caught up in a crime investigation in their early days of business? But there was a catch in this investigation.

Avanu could also be sold by non-branded outlets. i.e those that sell other brands also. Martin thought of how he could narrow down the location of Joseph Cooper, his target. Anita's description hinted that it was a brand-new coat. And so did the tag appear; brand new. There were abrasions all over the logo, but it still had that fresh gleam that only a new product can have. If Joseph had bought the jacket recently, it must have been near the site of the incident.

(To Be Continued Tomorrow…..)

The Book ‘MAN FROM TOMORROW’ can be downloaded at https://amzn.to/2MSf1ng