Judging Dead Gustav
PROLOGUE
Journal Entry 1955, Aug 02. TUE 11:53 PMEarlier today I came into the house of my best friend who has been murdered. The police were everywhere. I was allowed to enter only because he doesn’t have any living family and I am the closest friend he has. Police says there are no witnesses and at the moment, no suspects.
Gustav’s been my friend forever, but now he’s dead. There’s no clue about the killers. But hell I think I know why he was killed.
5 YEARS LATER
Journal Entry December 12, 1960The killer was never found so the case has been closed. The police had given up on it, saying it’s impossible. His death led to various speculations that he may be part of some criminal organizations or had dealt with dangerous people. His reputation will remain tarnished and people will keep assuming what happened and judge Gustav wrongly. I will write his story to let people know the very truth that he himself once told me.
As far as I can remember, Gustav has been my friend since I was seven years old. He was the same age as I do, if only older by a few months. He was born February 23, 1917. His family, the Morgans came to live in England in 1924. They were from Ohio and lived there for seven years. They were not a rich family just like most of us in the neighborhood, but they were surely better-off than we did. The house they were living in belonged to his father’s parents.
The Morgans were highly respected in this town for their kindness. They had been good friends with my family throughout the years. I will not forget Gus’ kindness back when my father had lost his job and we had nothing to eat for days. Gus would slip some food from their kitchen to give to us, though father would always return it, but the kindness of the Morgans was our saving grace and they will always invite us to every meal just so we could get by until father finds a new job and repay them, although they didn’t ask for anything in return. I can never forget about it and I’m grateful to be his friend.
He and I used to prank people in town. We used to hide in our secret place inside an abandoned factory to smoke and drink beer we’ve ingeniously stolen from stores. We take part in many fights with other students from our school. We also had another passion, teasing and flirting with the girls. Honestly, we are one of the cool boys back then and girls really come easy and there was so much fun.
But when I was 21 and it was time for college, I had a change of perspective. I decided to change the way I live my life and took a business program. On the other hand, Gus didn’t have the same outlook. He told me then we could just try and start a business and that I wouldn’t need to study it in school. Gus was a very smart kid back in high school even if he was a little impish. He’s very smart but was so lazy and under-motivated.
One time, he took part in selling different kinds of smuggled goods like whiskeys and other spirits. He became a consistent face in the underground world. Luckily, he got away with it with a clear name and one day decided to join the British Army in 1934. The reason why, was probably because of the death of his beloved sister Anna, who was found dead on a street, she was shot four times and stabbed twice.
That was a major turn in his life. He discovered that he liked being a soldier and highly excelled in it. Soldiering was in his genes. His father and his father’s father were army men. His father was a veteran of the first world war and a retired colonel. After years in training, Gustav became a paratrooper, and those were respected in the army for their courage and skills. In 1942, near the end of the war, he became part of some secret operations done by the army and I only knew about that from his letters back home to his family. After that, I heard nothing about him anymore.
On April 1942, something unfortunate happened. His father, Mr. Morgan died. He drowned on the ocean inside a military vessel bombed by the Germans. Mrs. Morgan died two months later of a virus that spread on our town, which also killed my sister Lisa. We went to live in America then, for the fear of the Germans invading England. I never heard from Gustav again and I don’t know if he knew what has happened on our town, and to his parents. I don’t know if he’s even still alive.
In 1954, I had an unexpected visitor. It was Gus and he looks healthy and very much alive. He looked young and wore a robe. I told him everything and he told me that he got news about what happened back home. He asked me if I could assist him and find a house for sale. I told him there was one near where I live. He bought it with cash! It was a huge house and I am surprised how he could pay for it in cash.
Once again, we were neighbors. Whenever I have free time from work, we will talk for hours. He, on the other hand, doesn’t seem to need to work at all. My curiosity got the best of me one day and I asked him about his adventures and how he got that rich, and most especially, why he looks so calm and free-spirited.
This time, Gus looked serious. He told me he would if I promise not to judge him until he’s finish telling his story. I agreed and he knew he can always trust me.
I told you earlier that he was my best friend ever since, but I realize I don’t really know much about him. He was mysterious and smart and his personal life will almost be a secret if I didn’t know him since childhood. Today, he told me all about his secrets. And the following are parts of it.
He has killed people since he was young. One day when they were smuggling whiskey from Ireland, they almost got caught by two officers and he had to shoot both officers and throw their bodies into the sea. He said money and fame has ruled over him. He only wanted to get rich so he may help his family and at the same time earn a fortune.
Another was when her sister died, his acquaintances had found out who did it. He learned that she was raped by some gangsters and they have stalked her for days and learned about her routine and one day did it. She tried to fight and run but she was stabbed and after they committed such monstrosity, shot her four times. So in turn he rallied his friends and asked them to ambush the gangsters on their trip to the riverside for an occasion. There they killed them all and went home with three dead comrades.
He said he has done a lot of terrible things but that last one was not even the worst of it. When he was in Germany and working as a special operative, during a mission they have found a treasure worth millions of pounds in a German mansion believed to belong to a top Nazi officer. Gustav, together with his eight comrades plotted how they would hide it for the meantime and divide it to themselves after the war. The plan was four of them will look for a ship that they’d use to transport it in the mountains and the other four will handle the communications with other soldiers to keep them off the cargo.
The plan was smooth and seems there will be no trouble. Not until they learn that the value of it is approximately thirty million pounds. The demon inside Gus wanted to have it all and retire a millionaire and have plotted alone how to pull it off. When the four were on their way to the nearest barracks, Gus shot his three companions and left them for dead on a German forest. He proceeded by driving the truck full of gold bullions to a province and buried it all on a secured spot.
That explains why he lost contact with his family. He went into hiding until the war ended and little by little, became a millionaire living in India, where he thought he wouldn’t be followed. And he was right about it, only for one thing, his couldn’t find peace. For years he’d been paranoid and vigilant. He kept on looking out the window and rarely got out of his house. He can do nothing with all his wealth.
Now he’s afraid of being hunted by those soldiers he betrayed. He never stayed on a single place for a long time. He had a lot of houses from different countries and his money was not kept in a bank. Most of it are still in gold which was hidden in his several safehouses.
One day he finally got found. He was out buying stocks and when he got home found his stuffs turned around and he was ambushed. He managed to kill them but got wounded in the process. This time he killed four of the remaining people who knew about his dark past. After this incident Gus has never been able to sleep enough and has been consumed by guilt. He returned to India and went to the mountains in hope of peace of mind, leaving his vast wealth behind.
Now here is something I couldn’t fully believe myself, Gustav has told me a story. He claims that he met a monk who has lived for hundreds of years. The man was nameless or rather he chose not to have a name. He said the monk was living alone in the mountain hidden from the civilization. There the monk helped him understand the world more and taught him lessons about enlightenment, how to move on from his life and how to forgive himself. He lived in that mountain for years only with the goal of finding peace.
When he has finally forgiven himself, he returned to the city and started donating money to the poor. He bought them houses and built small businesses then employed the less fortunate people. He helped them send their children to school to have brighter future. Gus has not lost much of his wealth because he has succeeded in many of his businesses and kept on helping the poor. He then tried to find the monk again in the mountains for several months but ultimately failed. Wishing to start more businesses to help more people, he went to America, his birthplace and where he found me. But before he met me, he lived on many different places and built his business empire.
He had his name changed thrice so his name was very different now, but I’d rather call him Gus still. He continued to live in front of my house where he doesn’t have to work at all. His managers and employees do the work for him. We talked a lot and he told me how happy he was with his life after he understood his purpose in this world but still it cannot be denied he had sinned too much in his lifetime. He said when you do sin a lot, you don’t literally sell your soul to the devil. The truth is, what really happens is you become a devil who asks for more and more until your soul is corrupted and there’s no place for the real happiness. Not everyone encounters a monk who will help erase the guilt in us. What will really matter is you believe in God and you give your life to serve Him and that is how you will be forgiven and be freed from your misdeeds.
We’ve been neighbors just for a short time, when he was found dead on his house poisoned and shot once in the heart. Until now the death of Gustav is a mystery. The police doesn’t have a clue. But what surprises everyone in town is that I am his best friend, and the proof of it is his last will and testament. Everything he owned is named after me. I am now a damn millionaire! But don’t you judge me too. I am not his killer.