Seven Swinhoe Street did not seem to be the house of a doctor at all. Close to the front door stood a Royal Bengal tiger, over which the head of a bison was fixed on the wall. Shankar Munshi met us downstairs, then took us to their living room on the first floor. The walls of this room also bore evidence of Dr Munshi’s years as a shikari. How did he get the time to kill so many animals if he was a busy doctor? He arrived in less than a minute. All his hair had turned white, I noted, but he was still quite strong and agile. He shook Feluda’s hand and said, ‘You appear very fit. You do physical exercises every day, don’t you? Good, good. I am so glad you decided not to neglect your body even if you have to use your brain so much more in your job.’ Then he glanced at us. Feluda made the introductions. ‘Are these people trustworthy?’ Dr Munshi asked. ‘Absolutely,’ Feluda replied. ‘Tapesh is my cousin and Mr Ganguli is a very close friend.’ ‘I see. I have to make sure, you see, because today I am going to tell you who the three men are, about whom I have written in my diary. I know you cannot help me unless you know the truth, but I don’t want another soul to hear of it.’ ‘Please don’t worry about it, sir,’ Lalmohan Babu reassured him. ‘No one will learn anything from us.’ ‘Very well.’ ‘We have already heard about the written threat,’ Feluda said. ‘Something else has happened, Mr Mitter. I received a verbal threat as well, on the telephone last night at around half past eleven. He was totally drunk, I think. It was Higgins. George Higgins.’ ‘The G in your diary?’ ‘Yes. He said, “I was a fool to accept what you told me. I am still running the same business that I used to when I went to you for treatment. In my field, I am virtually the only man who runs such a business. So loads of people are likely to recognize me simply from my initial. Leave me out of your book.” I could hardly reason with a drunkard. So I put the phone down. I can see that talking to these people on the phone won’t do. I really ought to visit them and have a face-to-face chat. But I am so busy with my patients every day that I don’t think I shall ever find the time. That’s why I’d like you to see them on my behalf. You’ll have to visit only A and G. I’ve spoken to R. He doesn’t think anyone will recognize him just from his initial.’ ‘I see. Who are these three people?’ ‘Have you got a pen and piece of paper?’ Feluda took out his notebook and his pen.

‘A stands for Arun Sengupta,’ Dr Munshi went on. ‘He is the general manager of McNeil Company, and