By the time we reached Rudraprayag, after a brief stop in Srinagar to have a cup of tea, it was nearly five o’clock. Rudraprayag was a fairly large town, with its own school, college, hospital and post office. A signboard used to hang over the spot where Corbett had killed that famous leopard. ‘But it broke a few years ago, and nobody replaced it,’ Joginder informed us. We went straight to the rest house. It was just outside the main town, in a quiet and peaceful spot. The first thing we heard on our arrival was that the road to Kedar had reopened and buses were running again. Apparently, it had been blocked for many days due to a landslide. As things turned out, this was a stroke of luck, but we did not realize it until much later. The manager of the rest house, Mr Giridhari, had not heard of Feluda, but that did not stop him from being most kind and hospitable. He said he had read many Bengali authors in translation, Bimal Mitra and Shankar among them. ‘They are my favourite authors,’ he beamed. A few minutes later, we met another guest, who had got stuck in Rudraprayag because of the landslide. Unlike Mr Giridhari, he recognized Feluda instantly. ‘I am a journalist, I have heard of many of your cases,’ he said. ‘Your photograph was published in the newspapers in northern India after the Sukhtankar murder case in Allahabad. That’s how I could recognize you. My name is Krishnakant Bhargav. I am very proud to meet you, sir.’ The man was about forty years old, of medium height and had a thick beard. Mr Giridhari naturally became curious on learning that Feluda was an investigator. ‘There is no trouble here, I hope?’ he asked anxiously. ‘There can be trouble anywhere, Mr Giridhari, but we haven’t come here to look for trouble. Actually, all we’re looking for is a man called Bhavani Upadhyaya.’ ‘Upadhyaya? But he’s no longer here!’ exclaimed Mr Bhargav. ‘I came here simply to write a story on him. When I reached Haridwar, I heard he had come here. So I came here, and discovered he had gone to Kedarnath. That’s why I decided to follow him there. Now that the road is open again, I intend leaving tomorrow morning. He’s a very interesting character.’ ‘Is he? I’m looking for him because I believe he treats the sick, and can work wonders. You see,’ Feluda lowered his voice, glancing rather pointedly at Lalmohan Babu, ‘this friend of mine is mentally disturbed. He behaves quite normally most of the time, but just occasionally, his problem flares up. He starts talking absolute gibberish, and can even get violent at times. A lot of doctors have seen him in Calcutta, but nothing has worked. So when I heard of Upadhyaya, I thought he might be able to help. At least it’s worth a try, don’t you think?’ After the first few seconds of stunned disbelief, Lalmohan Babu