Feluda left at eight o’clock the following day and returned at half past two. I didn’t dare ask him whether his mission had been successful, but I did notice a suppressed excitement in his movements. Was it a sign of success, or failure? ‘Yes, I’ve had my lunch,’ he said in reply to my question, ‘and now I must make a couple of phone calls.’ He rang Shankar Munshi first, and then Inspector Shome. Both were given the same message: everyone concerned in this case should gather in the living room of Dr Munshi’s house at ten o’clock tomorrow morning. Feluda rang off, lit a Charminar and stretched his legs. ‘Like Munshi, I feel like saying: how utterly mistaken I had been! Every key to the mystery was staring me in the face, and yet I couldn’t see anything.’ ‘Is . . . is the culprit someone we know?’ I asked a little hesitantly. ‘Sure,’ Feluda replied. ‘Since you are clearly feeling very curious, let me ask you a few questions. If you can answer them correctly, maybe you can solve the mystery yourself. ‘Question one: what did you think of the entries I read out to you? Was there anything special?’ ‘Well, I found it a little odd that he wrote in his diary until the night before he died, but there was no mention of R’s phone call, or his arrival.’ ‘Excellent. Question two: what does the word “immersion” suggest to you?’ ‘Water. Something thrown into water?’ ‘Good. Three: what is nemesis?’ ‘Nemesis?’ ‘Yes. It’s a Greek word.’ ‘How should I know Greek?’ ‘You’ll find it in any English dictionary. Nemesis is retribution. One may commit a crime and avoid punishment somehow, for the time being, or even a few years . . . but one day, the criminal gets what he deserves. That is called nemesis. It was this nemesis that A, G and R were afraid of.’ I found the idea very interesting, so when Feluda asked nothing further, I prompted him: ‘Is there anything else?’ ‘I will tell you only one more thing. If I say any more, you won’t enjoy the drama I’ve planned for tomorrow.’ ‘All right.’ ‘Have you heard the saying, “physician, heal thyself”?’ ‘Yes.’ ‘Then that’s all you need to know.’ This made no sense, but before I could ask anything, Jatayu turned up.

‘What stage have we reached, Felu Babu?’ he asked. ‘The penultimate.’ ‘Penalty—what?’ ‘Oh, is that word too big for you? Penultimate means last but one.’ ‘I see. When are we going to reach the final stage?’ ‘Tomorrow morning. The curtain rises at ten o’clock at Munshi Palace.’ ‘And when does it come down?’ ‘Say, half an hour later.’ ‘We’ve got four suspects, right?’ ‘Yes—eeni, meeni, meini, mo.’ ‘Be serious, Felu Babu. There’s Shankar, Sukhamoy, Radha—’ Feluda raised a hand. ‘Stop, Lalmohan Babu. Say no more. All further discussion on this subject is closed.’ ‘Really? Well, let me just say this, Felu Babu. I am going to provide