Although Dr Munshi’s writing was quite clear and legible, it took Feluda three days to finish reading his manuscript, which ran to 375 pages. But the delay was partly due to the fact that Feluda had to stop every now and then to make notes in his own notebook. On the fourth day, Lalmohan Babu turned up. ‘Have you finished?’ he asked as soon as he stepped in. ‘Yes.’ ‘So what is your view? Is it safe to publish that book as it stands?’ ‘Absolutely. But what I think is not going to make any difference to those men who are convinced they are going to be recognized. I don’t think they’ll stop at anything to prevent its publication.’ ‘What, even murder?’ ‘That’s right. Take A, for example. Arun Sengupta. His ancestors were wealthy zamindars. When he was a young man, Sengupta was a middle-ranking bank officer. But he had inherited his forefathers’ passion for spending money. So he ran up heavy debts, even borrowing from kabuliwallas.’ Kabuliwallas, Feluda had told me once, were men from Kabul, who made a living out of lending money at a very high rate of interest. They had left the country now, but once the sight of kabuliwallas standing at streetcorners, carrying heavy sticks, was pretty common. ‘A time came when the amount he owed became so enormous that Sengupta got absolutely desperate. He stole forty thousand rupees from his bank. However, he did it with great cunning, so that no suspicion could fall on him. A junior officer was blamed, who had to spend a few years in jail.’ ‘I see!’ Jatayu cried. ‘This was followed by great pangs of conscience, then that became a psychological problem, and so he had to see Dr Munshi. But now . . . now this Sengupta is an important man. That can only mean Dr Munshi’s treatment worked beautifully, and Sengupta recovered.’ ‘Correct. Dr Munshi has mentioned the success of his treatment, but nothing else. Nevertheless, it is not difficult to imagine how Sengupta must have changed his lifestyle, and gone from strength to strength to reach the position he is at today. So he is naturally anxious to remove any possibility— however remote—of being exposed and ridiculed.’ ‘I see. What about the other two?’ ‘I cannot tell you who R is because Dr Munshi has said nothing about his real identity. Apparently, he knocked a man down while driving. The man died, but R got away with it simply by bribing a few people. His own conscience did not spare him, however, and so he ended up at Dr Munshi’s clinic. Anyway, his case isn’t so important since he has raised no objections. What is interesting is the case of George Higgins.’ ‘What did Higgins do?’

‘You know he exports wild animals, don’t you? Well, in 1960 a Swedish film director came to Calcutta to make a film in India. He needed a leopard for his film. Someone told him about Higgins, so he met