T he manager of Nirupama Hotel, Harishchandra Hore, looked at his watch — six thirty! He quickly sat up in bed. It was very late today. He called, "Gunadhar!"

The uniformed bearer appeared at his door. He was a thin man, very alert and efficient. Harish asked him, "Have you given the guests their bed-tea?"

Gunadhar said, "Yes. Everyone in the second floor has taken bed-tea, but Room Number Two of the first floor did not respond even when I knocked."

Harishchandra said, "Room number two of the first floor? ... Rajkumarbabu. Knock again after fifteen minutes.... Who has gone to the market?"

"Sarkar, Sir, has gone with General."

"All right, please bring me my tea." Harishchandra went into the adjoining bathroom.

Nirupama Hotel was situated on Rashbehari Avenue, a little further away from the Gariahat Square. The hotel was a little westernised. The servants wore smart uniforms. A doorman, also smartly dressed like a General, would stand at the gateway, and salute the right people.

It was a three storeyed house, and each storey had eight rooms. The manager occupied two rooms in the ground floor — one was his bedroom, the other, his office. On the ground floor was a large dining hall, furnished with tables and chairs, together with kitchen, servants' quarters, storeroom etc. Both Indian and western dishes were available there. The charges were quite high. No wonder the hotel was frequented by upper-middle class guests.

Half an hour later, Harishchandra came out of his room, smartly dressed in a suit. He was a good-looking man of about forty-six, very alert and intelligent.

He had his breakfast in the dining room. His breakfast over, Harishchandra asked Gunadhar, "Did you go to Rajkumarbabu's room again?"

Gunadhar said, "Yes, ... but this time too, he did not respond."

Harishchandra frowned. Then he went to his office. He took out his bunch of keys from the cupboard, came back, and said, "Let's go."

It was about seven in the morning. There was a great deal of hustle and bustle in the kitchen and the dining room. At eight, breakfast would have to be served to the guests.

While climbing the steps, Harishchandra asked Gunadhar, "Was Rajkumarbabu in his room last night?"

Gunadhar said, "Yes Sir, he was. I myself served him dinner in his room last night."

"When was the main door closed?"

"You came back at eleven last night, and then I shut the door."

By that time they had reached the first floor. There were eight rooms in a row on the first floor, and in front of these was a long verandah. All the doors were closed. Harishchandra stood in front of Room Number 2 and knocked peremptorily.

No one responded. He called out. "Rajkumarbabu!"

Still there was no response. Harishchandra tried the door, but the door did not open. This time Harishchandra raised his voice and called out loudly, "Rajkumarbabu!" The echo of his voice slowly gave way to an empty silence.

Harishchandra took out the duplicate key from his bunch. By now the doors on either side of Room Number Two had opened. Two heads were sticking out of them. An elderly lady from Room Number One asked, "What's the matter?" A middle-aged man from Room Number Three said, "Manager, please call a doctor.... I am running a temperature."

The lady came out of her room. "I am a doctor." She walked past Harishchandra and went to Room Number Three. The boarder, Shachitosh Sanyal, looked at her with bloodshot eyes, stood aside and said, "Please come in."

In the meantime, Harishchandra had opened the lock with his keys, pushed open the door a little. ... and stood stock still; then he quickly pulled the door shut.

There was no one on the verandah. He looked this side and that, lowered his voice and said, "Gunadhar, stay here, don't move ... I'll come back right now." His voice was full of fear and excitement.

He tiptoed downstairs ... In Room Number Three, the lady doctor asked Mr. Sanyal to lie down, took his temperature, felt his pulse, then said, "Nothing much, you must have caught a cold. Have two aspirins and go to bed.'

Shachitosh said, 'Is the fever very high?"

"No, only ninety-nine degrees."

"But my whole body is aching."

"That's nothing. This often happens during the change of season. I am sending you the aspirin tablets."

"What are your fees?"

"You don't have to pay me."

She came out of Room Number Three, and found Gunadhar waiting in front of Room Number Two. She asked, "What has happened in this room?"

Gunadhar shook his head, indicating that he did not know. Dr. Shobhona Roy did not ask any more questions, but entered her own room.

Harishchandra in the meantime was ringing up the police from the office room, "Please come fast, ... there has been a murder in my hotel!"

Byomkesh Bakshi, the Truth Seeker, had been invited the previous night to dinner in the house of the police inspector, Rakhal Sarkar. The latter was in charge of a police station in the southern part of Calcutta. Byomkesh had met Sarkar in connection with various cases. Sarkar was an amiable and friendly man. Although he was much younger than Byomkesh, they had become good friends. Sarkar, in fact, was very respectful towards him too.

It was quite late by the time dinner was over. Rakhal began repeatedly to request Byomkesh to spend the night with him. Finally, Byomkesh agreed. The two chatted late into the night.

The next day Byomkesh was getting ready to return home at quarter to eight, after breakfast, when the telephone rang. Rakhal picked up the phone and listened attentively for some time, then spoke a few words and kept the phone down. He turned to Byomkesh and said, "It was a phone from my police station. There has been a murder in a hotel in my area. It seems a mysterious affair — do you want to come