Six

At Byomkesh’s invitation, Ushapati Babu came in and sat down on a chair. His figure was weary, exhausted; his eyes were tinged with red, his body seemed on the verge of collapse.

Byomkesh offered him the cigarette case. For a while, the two of them gazed at each other with searching eyes, then Ushapati Babu spoke, “No, I won’t stay long. After your phone call, I went to the thana, but they had no news at all. So I thought I’d see if you had heard anything.”

Byomkesh did not answer the unspoken question in Ushapati Babu’s words directly. He said, “This isn’t the work of a single day, it will take time. You’re going through a great deal, you needn’t have left the house today. Your wife needs to be looked after as well.”

I watched Ushapati Babu’s face; at the mention of his wife, there was no change in his expression—no sign of the long estrangement between them. He said, “It’s my wife I’m worried about. She’s completely broken down.” Pausing a moment, he added, “I’m thinking of taking her away for a few days. If we leave Calcutta, perhaps her mind—”

“That’s a good idea! Have you decided where you’ll go?”

“No. Anywhere away from Calcutta should do. Kashi, Vrindavan, Agra, Delhi— But will the police object?”

“Let them know before you go. I don’t think they’ll object.”

“If they don’t, I’ll leave within a day or two. Calcutta feels poisonous to me now. Well then, namaskar.” With that, Ushapati Babu stood up.

Byomkesh asked, “Will you keep your shop closed?”

“The shop—Suchitra? No, why should I close it? The old cashier, Dhananjoy Babu, is there. A trustworthy man; he’ll manage. I’m thinking of bringing my nephew Shite into the shop as well—what’s the point of studying further, let him look after the shop! I have no one else.” With a sigh, he made his way to the door.

“Are you going to the shop now?”

“No, not now. I’ve already called Dhananjoy Babu and informed him.”

“Very well then—namaskar.”

Ushapati Babu departed. Byomkesh, after reducing three cigarettes to ashes in quick succession, stood up. “I’m stepping out for a bit. You stay home.”

“Where are you going?”

“To Suchitra Emporium. I need to speak with the cashier, Dhananjoy Babu.”

When Byomkesh returned, it was already half past one. I had finished my bath and was waiting; Satyabati was pacing restlessly in and out. Byomkesh took off his panjabi, turned on the fan, and stretched out on the takhtposh. Though it was spring, the midday sun was fierce.

I said, “It seems your conversation with the cashier went on for quite a while.”

Byomkesh replied, “Hmm. Do you know who that man is? The day before yesterday, on the second floor of Suchitra, the cashier who—”

Rokter Daag 581

'It was he who cut the cal-memo.'

'Really? And what did you get from him?'

'What did I get—' Byomkesh glanced at the whirring fan and smiled,