The sadhubaba surely knows something. But what does he know? Did he see Ishaanbabu’s murderer entering the fort that night? The staircase leading up from the grove to the fort isn’t visible; especially not on a dark night. Then does the sadhubaba wander near the stairs in the dead of night?... His tongs, after all, are not a trivial weapon—if the tip of those tongs were smeared with poison—

I asked Byomkesh; he only made a sound in his throat, like a suppressed cough.

By ten o’clock, we finished our meal and went out to sit again. We would have to stay awake for another two hours. Sitaram, having eaten, slipped away into the shadows; probably to smoke a bidi or two. The lantern was turned down low in the corner of the room.

The clock’s hands were edging toward eleven. Despite the tension in my mind, I kept yawning—

“Byomkeshbabu!”

A muffled voice startled me out of my stupor. I saw, not far off, a figure standing like a shadow. Byomkesh rose and said, “Ramapati! Come in.”

Taking Ramapati with us, we went inside. Byomkesh turned up the light and examined him from head to toe. “I see you haven’t eaten tonight. —Sitaram!”

Within five minutes, Sitaram brought in a few fried eggs and set them before Ramapati. Without a word, Ramapati began to eat. His face was drawn, his eyes sunken; his half-shirt was torn in several places, and he wore no shoes. As he ate, he said, “So you’ve heard everything? Who told you?”

“Tulsi. Where have you been all this while?”

“In the jungle. Then behind the fort.”

“Did they beat you badly?”

Ramapati lifted his shirt to show his back—red welts stood out in stripes.

Byomkesh’s face hardened.

“Banshidhar?”

Ramapati nodded.

“Why didn’t you go to the city?”

Ramapati didn’t answer, but silently continued eating.

“What’s the point of you staying here any longer?”

In a barely audible voice, Ramapati said, “Tulsi—”

“You love Tulsi?”

Ramapati was silent for a moment, then slowly said, “Everyone torments her, keeps her locked up, no one loves her. If I’m not here, she’ll die.”

When he finished eating, Byomkesh showed him his own bed and said, “Sleep.”

With a weary sigh, Ramapati lay down. Byomkesh gazed at him for a long time, then suddenly began to ask questions.

“Ramapati, do you know who killed Ishaanbabu?”

“No, I don’t know who killed him. But he was murdered.”

“Do you know who killed Haripriya?”

“No, Didi tried to tell me—but she couldn’t.”

“Do you know why Banshidhar’s wife jumped from the mountain?”

After a brief pause, Ramapati said, “I don’t know, but I suspected. Didi couldn’t stand her, Didi’s heart was very spiteful. I think she put on a mask and frightened her with ghosts—”

Durgar Hasya

“A mask?” “Didi had a Japanese mask. The day after that incident, I found the mask at the edge of the jungle; perhaps it had blown there in the wind. I brought it