Eleven

The next morning, upon waking, we learned that it had rained during the night. The sky was shrouded in mist; the sun, it seemed, lay curled up beneath a blanket. There was, therefore, no reason for us to rise from bed either. At half past eight, Satyabati brought us tea and said, “Today is Amavasya again. No one is to step outside the house today.” Who would want to go out on such a day? But Pandeyji paid no heed. At precisely nine o’clock, he arrived, dressed in police attire. Shivering, we emerged from beneath our quilts. Pandeyji, seeing our condition, laughed. He said, “Something happened last night.” Byomkesh wanted to know what had happened. Pandeyji recounted the incident succinctly— From midnight, mist had begun to gather in the sky, and soon after, a light drizzle set in. Pandeyji, being a late sleeper, was preparing for bed around half past one when the telephone rang. The call was from Dipnarayan’s house—the jamadar whom Ratikanta had stationed there with four constables was calling. The jamadar reported that a short while ago, two men had tried to enter through the back door, but the sepoys were alert, and upon being spotted, the intruders fled. One sepoy had shone his torch at them from a distance—both were gentlemen in coat and trousers, but could not be identified. It seemed they had come on a motorbike, for a little later, the distant puttering of a bike was heard. Pandeyji had done nothing further that night, merely instructing the jamadar to keep a vigilant watch before hanging up. This morning, he had made inquiries and learned that there had been no further disturbances during the night. Byomkesh raised his brows and gazed at Pandeyji for a while. I said, “Narmada Shankar.” Byomkesh turned his head toward me and said, “I’m wondering who the other man was. If Narmada Shankar is indeed Dushyanta, would he venture into Shakuntala’s grove with a companion?—Pandeyji, what do you think?”

PANDITJI said, “I can’t make head or tail of this. I’ve brought two warrants with me—no names on them, but we can fill those in if necessary.”

Byomkesh replied, “Then let’s go. Let’s raid Narmadashankar’s house. If we catch him off guard, he might blurt out the truth.”

Within five minutes, we were ready and stepped outside. Satyabati said nothing, only stared at us with wide, unblinking eyes.

As we climbed into the car, I saw a burly sub-inspector already seated inside. Panditji introduced him—Sub-Inspector Tiwari.

Tiwari’s appearance was straight out of the old days—a true daroga. He bared his worm-eaten teeth in a salute. I gathered that Ratikanta had left him in charge of the station.

Meanwhile, the sky’s tears were slowly receding. The newly awakened sun was slicing through the clouds with a sharpened blade, scattering them into fragments. What had lain heavy and oppressive overhead now began to dissolve like rings of smoke. By the time we reached Narmadashankar’s house, the world was ablaze in raw,