Jeopardy

Jack Banerjee is a promising cricketer. He is chiefly a batsman though
he does bowl from time to time. He bats right-handed and bowls with
that hand too. In the National Cricket League he plays for Bengal. He
has started playing tests and one-day internationals quite recently. He
is seen as an effective batsman who will score runs whenever he is
required to. Though he has played just ten international matches some
people already see him as a future captain. Jack is himself a shy,
retiring person who takes all the success in his stride. He likes to
spend his evenings at home with friends, watching tv or reading sports
magazines. He also likes to play with his three-year-old niece in whose
life he is the ultimate hero. From time to time Jack is required to
attend parties thrown by important people. This enables him to get
introduced to people who can get him some work outside cricket.
Wherever he goes, he is expected to be accompanied by a lady. But Jack
has never had a girlfriend. He is too shy for that sort of thing. There
are girls who have tried to chat him up in parties. But he answers all
their questions in monosyllables. After a while the girls stop trying
but they spread the rumour that Jack Banerjee is too proud to have a
girlfriend. Somehow, all the talk about Jack never reaches him. Today
is a special day. The famous industrialist Jade Dalton is celebrating
his birthday on this day. He has a magnificent estate on a small hill
in South Calcutta. His mansion at the centre of the estate was designed
by the top architects in the world. Everything in the mansion is
modern. Only the latest building trends have been included here and the
result is that Jade Dalton's mansion is the most envied building in
Calcutta. The ballroom on the fifth floor is where all the grand
parties are held. Today's birthday bash is the biggest event in the
whole year for Jade. There is no cutting of cake because Jade has never
told anyone his real age. But he looks fairly young. Three hundred
people have been invited today. Among them are actresses like Tina, a
young starlet. She has worked in a few films but people consider her
too restless. When Jack was handed the invitation for the party he was
surprised. He was just a small-time cricketer. Agreed, he was famous
but not famous enough to be invited by Jade Dalton. Besides Jade's only
son Rocket was his arch rival. Rocket Dalton was a left-handed batsman.
He too played for Bengal like Jack. If he so wanted Jade could get
Rocket into the national cricket team by using his influence. But
Rocket was a self-respecting man. He always said that he wanted to
enter the cricket team on his own merit. He hardly ever spoke to Jack.
So Jack was in two minds as to whether he should attend the party. He
spoke to his mother and she said that if he had been invited he should
go. And so he went. The party started at seven pm. And that is exactly
when Jack reached Dalton estate. On producing his invitation card he
was accompanied to the ballroom by a bearer. Jack found it strange that
he should be singled out for this kind of preferential treatment. He
was, after all, just another guest. People started coming in large
numbers around eight pm. And only at nine pm was the ballroom full.
People were dancing to live music and Jack did not want to look like a
wallflower. As he was looking around, Tina, the actress waved to him.
He walked towards her and they started chatting. Tina knew who he was
and appeared to be interested in cricket. Suddenly, Jack looked at his
hands. They had become dirty and needed to be washed immediately. He
excused himself and asked for the bathroom. The bathroom seemed bigger
than his whole house. As Jack stepped into the ballroom again Tina ran
towards him. And even as he looked, Tina pointed to him and screamed,
"Help. This man is trying to molest me." Three hundred people turned
their eyes towards Jack Banerjee. Among them were Jade and Rocket
Dalton. Tina continued, "This man here took me to the bathroom and
tried to molest me. He even tore my clothes." People turned their
attention towards Tina's clothes. They were indeed torn. Jack did not
know what to do. He was too shocked to even utter a single word. A
bearer came forward to lead him to an adjacent room. Later that night,
Jack Banerjee, the aspiring cricketer was arrested. Jack was kept in
police custody for three days. On the third day, in the evening, he had
three visitors. They were Jade Dalton, his manager Roger John and a
lawyer, Barry Sen. They made him an offer. If Jack gave it in writing
that he would never play cricket again, all charges against him would
be immediately withdrawn. If he did not do as asked, only the worst
waited for him. Jack was still in shock. He asked for three days to
think things out. Jade Dalton was generous enough to give him his three
days. However Jack acted faster than Jade had expected. He committed
suicide that night by hanging from the ceiling. It was a sad end to an
extremely promising cricket career.