After leaving the room, Byomkesh carefully shut the door behind him. He stood with a frown on his face for some time; then suddenly he looked up and said, ‘Now? Oh yes, Phonibabu. Come, I think that’s his room over there.’

After passing Karalibabu’s room along the corridor and turning the corner, we came to a room on the left. Byomkesh knocked on the door. A young man of twenty- one or twenty-two opened the door. Byomkesh asked, ‘Are you Phonibabu?’

He nodded and said, ‘Yes. Please come in.’

His very posture made one feel there was a deformity somewhere in his body, but its exact nature could not be spotted immediately. He was quite well-built but his face was a trifle haggard, as if a protracted but suppressed suffering had lent his face some extra wrinkles. As we entered the room he hobbled ahead and indicated a chair, saying, ‘Please sit down. ‘ His gait revealed exactly where the deformity lay. His left leg was abnormally thin, almost like a dead limb. Hence he limped quite a bit when he walked.

I sat on one end of the bed and Phoni sat down beside me. Byomkesh seemed to be lost for words at first, then said, rather uncertainly, ‘I suppose you are aware that the police is suspecting your brother Motilal on this matter?’

‘I know, ‘ said Phoni. ‘But from my side I can vouch for it that Motida is innocent. He is very belligerent and combative—but I cannot believe that he is capable of murdering Uncle.’

‘Not even his hostility at being deprived of the legacy can make him do the deed?’

‘That motivation applies not to Motida alone but to all of us—all three brothers. Then why should only Motida be suspected?’

Byomkesh avoided the question and said, ‘I presume you have already told the police all that you know; still, I would like to ask a few—’

Phoni was slightly taken aback, ‘You are not a policeman then. I thought perhaps you were from the CID.’

Byomkesh laughed and shook his head, ‘No, I am just an Inquisitor, a Seeker of Truth.’

In wide-eyed wonder Phoni said, ‘Seeker of Truth? Byomkeshbabu? You are Byomkesh Bakshi, the Inquisitor?’

Byomkesh nodded and said, ‘Now please tell me, how were Karalibabu’s relations with the other members of the household? In other words, who he liked, who he disliked— all these details.’

Phoni sat with his face held between his palms for a while, then he smiled wanly and said, ‘You see, I am lame—God’s curse is on me—so I have never been able to mix very well with other people. This room and these books have been my sole companions all my life. It will be quite impossible for me to say accurately whom Uncle loved the most amongst all of us. He was of a very testy disposition and he certainly didn’t wear his heart on his sleeve. But from what I could gather through tacit gestures I would say he cared for Satyaboti the most.’

‘And you?’

‘Me... perhaps because I am lame he pitied me somewhere deep down—but more than that... I do not wish to disrespect the deceased, especially when he has been our benefactor—if he hadn’t taken us in we would have starved to death—but Uncle did not know what love really is.’

Byomkesh said, ‘I presume you are aware that he has bequeathed all his wealth to Sukumarbabu.’

Phoni smiled a little, ‘I’ve heard about it. Well, there’s no doubt that Sukumarda is the best person to inherit the property, but that doesn’t really tell you anything about Uncle’s real wishes. He was an astonishingly whimsical person; the moment he was displeased with someone, he would go tap- tap on the typewriter and change his will. There is perhaps no one left in this house whom Uncle hasn’t made his will out to at some time or the other.’

Byomkesh said, ‘Since the final will is in Sukumar’s name it is he who will inherit all.’

Phoni asked, ‘Is that what the law says? I am not very knowledgeable about these things.’

‘That is how the law goes. ‘ Byomkesh seemed to hesitate a bit, then asked, ‘Under the circumstances what are you going to do? Have you decided anything yet?’

Phoni ran his fingers through his hair and stared out of the window, ‘I don’t know what I shall do or where I shall go. I have no qualifications, so I am incapable of earning my own bread. If Sukumarda gives me shelter I shall stay under his roof—or else I’ll end up on the streets. ‘ His eyes filled with tears. I quickly turned my face the other way.

Byomkesh said, somewhat absently, ‘Sukumarbabu returned home at midnight last night.’

Phoni was a little startled, ‘Midnight! Oh yes, he had gone to see a film last night.’

Byomkesh asked, ‘Can you take a guess as to exactly when Karalibabu was murdered? Did you hear any sound, of any sort?’

‘Nothing. Perhaps early in the morning...’ ‘No. He was murdered at midnight.’ Byomkesh got up, glanced at his watch and exclaimed, ‘Oh, it’s two-thirty—that’s enough, come on Ajit. I am quite hungry, we have hardly eaten anything... goodbye.’

At this point there was a commotion downstairs; the next moment an excited young man shoved the door of our room open and burst in saying, ‘Phoni, they’ve arrested Motida and brought him—’ He stopped short when he saw us. Byomkesh said, ‘Are you Makhanbabu?’ Makhan went pale with fear and blurted out, ‘I... I don’t know anything. ‘ He scrambled out of the room.

We came down the stairs and found utter pandemonium in the sitting room. Bidhubabu wasn’t there; the inspector from the local police station had taken his place. Two constables were holding on to a man who looked half-crazed and was bawling away, ‘Uncle has been murdered? Please sirs, I don’t know anything... I can swear by anything... I’m