I could not tell when Feluda had returned at night. When I woke, shortly before half past four in the morning, he was already dressed and ready to go. Lalmohan Babu and I took ten minutes, and then we set off. Dawn had only just started to break. The streetlights were still on, looking more apologetic than ever. We passed the temple and reached the open area behind it. Feluda suddenly turned to me and said, ‘You used to be able to whistle pretty loudly. Can you still do it?’ Somewhat taken aback, I said, ‘Yes, of course. Why?’ ‘You must whistle when I tell you to.’ I looked at him curiously, but knew better than to press for an explanation. We kept walking, using our walking sticks. Without those, it would have been extremely difficult to walk on the slippery, rocky surface, most of which was still covered with snow. A little while ago, we had had to cross the river, stepping rather gingerly across a makeshift bridge of wooden planks. Mandakini was little more than a stream here. Everywhere I looked, I could see high mountain peaks, but I had no idea what they were called. The tallest of these had started to acquire a pinkish glow in the early light of dawn. My hands and face felt absolutely frozen. Lalmohan Babu spoke, through chattering teeth, ‘T-t-t- opshe will wh-whistle, but wh-what am I going t-to do?’ ‘You? You need do nothing but hold that stick of yours over your head, and whirl it in the air. This will prove both your bravery and your insanity.’ ‘V-very w-well.’ Half and hour later, a flat, grey area came into view. It was surrounded by endless rocks and stones. That had to be the Sarovar. Even so, I looked at Feluda and asked, ‘Is that the—?’ Feluda nodded in silence. To the west of the lake was a large rocky mound. It could well contain a small cave. The whole thing was at least two hundred and fifty yards away. For sometime now, Feluda had been glancing around, as though he was looking for something specific. Now his eyes seemed to rest on an object. I followed his gaze quickly and saw one leg of a tripod, peeping out from behind a large boulder. Silently, Feluda made his way to it, closely followed by us. A few seconds later, we found Pavandeo Singh peering through his camera. He was using his telephoto lens like a telescope. ‘I can see the cave quite clearly,’ he said as we reached him, ‘but he hasn’t yet come out of it.’ Then he passed the camera to Feluda, who passed it to me after a brief look. The surface of the lake was still, reflecting the faint pink in the sky. I had to turn the camera a little to the left to locate the cave. A saffron flag was stuck between two stones right next to it.

As I looked, the sanyasi slowly stepped out of the cave. In those strangely beautiful surroundings, it seemed as though he had stepped onto a stage, to take part in some heavenly play. He was facing the east, waiting to welcome the rising sun. ‘Topshe, we have to get going,’ Feluda whispered. Rather reluctantly, I turned to go. ‘Don’t worry,’ Pavandeo said reassuringly. ‘I’ll stay here with my camera.’ We walked on, as quickly as we could, trying to hide whenever possible behind boulders and smaller hills. It was a shade brighter now, but there was no noise anywhere. It seemed almost as if nature was waiting with bated breath for something extraordinary to happen. Soon, we got much closer to the sanyasi. I could see him clearly, as well as the flag near his cave. He was wearing a brown wrapper over his saffron clothes. We were moving toward the north; the sanyasi was still facing the east. Then I noticed something strange. On the mound that had initially hidden the cave from sight, a small light was moving around. There was no doubt that it was being reflected from a piece of metal. Before any of us could say anything, a man suddenly slipped out from behind the mound. He was wearing an overcoat, with its collar turned up. It was impossible to see his face, but it was easy enough to recognize, even from a distance, the small object he was carrying in his hand. It was a revolver. The sanyasi, totally unaware of what was going on, continued to stare at the sun. Feluda spoke under his breath, ‘I am going to deal with this. I want you to wait behind the boulder and keep an eye on things. Whistle as loudly as you can when you hear a gunshot.’ Feluda began to walk towards the cave without making the slightest noise. He stopped a few seconds later and hid behind another boulder. Now he could see the man with the gun, but that man could not see Feluda. We were about twenty yards away, but even so, Lalmohan Babu and I could both see each character in this play. Now Feluda took out his own revolver. As he did so, the sanyasi turned his face in the direction of the man in the overcoat. A split second later, a shot rang out to destroy the uncanny silence that had enveloped us so far. I saw the gun being knocked out of the other man’s hand, and falling on the snow a few away. He swayed and sat down quickly, clutching his right hand with his left. Then I remembered Feluda’s instruction, and whistled with all my might. Several figures in police uniform emerged at once from behind various rocks and boulders. ‘Topshe! Lalmohan Babu! You can come out now,’ Feluda called. We ran as fast as we could and joined him in front of the sanyasi’s cave. The sanyasi had probably not yet grasped the full implications of what had just