We returned to the hotel. Feluda said after lunch that he wanted to take the framed photograph to a studio on the Mall. ‘Then I must go and see Inspector Saha at the police station,’ he added. ‘I need some information urgently, which I think the police could get far more easily. If you two want to go anywhere, do so. I am not going to go out when I return. All I want to do then is think. This case hasn’t yet formed a definite shape. A few things are still unclear . . . still hazy.’ Feluda left. Lalmohan Babu and I decided to go for another walk. A cool breeze was blowing outside, which made walking very pleasant. ‘There’s something you haven’t yet seen,’ I said to Jatayu. ‘It’s the pine wood behind Mr Majumdar’s house. I went there for only a couple of minutes, but I thought it was a beautiful place. Would you like to go there?’ ‘Do we have to go through his house to get there?’ ‘Oh no. The main road forks to the left, which goes straight to the wood. Haven’t you noticed it?’ ‘No, can’t say I have. But if that is the case, let’s go.’ We left. Feluda’s words kept ringing in my mind. He had definitely found a powerful clue, but of course he wasn’t going to talk about it unless he had thought it all out. We would have to put up with long periods of silence when he got back. ‘Tapesh,’ Lalmohan Babu said on the way to the wood, ‘tell me something. Where is the mystery in this case? Lokenath killed his employer and vanished with the statue. Surely that’s all there is to it? Why doesn’t your cousin simply leave it to the police? They’ll find Lokenath and deal with him. End of story.’ ‘How can you say that? You’ve known Feluda for years. Have you ever seen him get worked up about anything unless there was a good reason? You saw for yourself how he was attacked. Surely Lokenath wasn’t responsible for that? Besides, Mr Majumdar himself had killed someone, even if it was an accident. Then there was that case of someone in his bank stealing a lot of money. He was never caught. Above all, you yourself told us you heard Mr Majumdar shouting at somebody. We don’t know who he was shouting at. So many questions need to be answered. How can you say it’s a simple case?’ By this time we had reached the wood. It wasn’t just beautiful, but also remarkable in other ways. I realized there were many other trees and plants in addition to pine. I could recognize juniper, fir and rhododendron, all of which were in abundance; I did not know the names of the other plants. Some of the bushes had red, blue and yellow flowers. Since the sky was overcast, the whole place seemed darker today. We walked on, feeling as though we were passing through a huge church with endless tall pillars. Nayanpur Villa occasionally came into view through gaps in the trees, but the deeper we went into the wood, the farther the house seemed to recede. It felt just a little creepy to make our way

through the dark shadows in the wood. There was no noise, not even the chirping of birds, and certainly there was no question of running into other people. Perhaps that was why Lalmohan Babu was prompted to remark, ‘If anyone was murdered here, it would probably take a month to find his body.’ We walked on. The house had disappeared altogether. Suddenly, a bird called; but I couldn’t tell what bird it was. My eyes fell on another gap between the trees, and I realized the clouds had dispersed for the moment, so I could see a portion of Kanchenjunga. I turned towards Lalmohan Babu to tell him to have a quick look before it vanished again. To my surprise, I found him standing still, gaping at something with his mouth hanging open. What had he seen? I followed his gaze and realized with a shock what it was. Close to the fallen trunk of a tree was a large bush. Protruding from behind it were two feet. No, two shoes. That was really all we could see. ‘Should we take a closer look?’ Lalmohan Babu whispered. Without making a reply, I went forward to peer behind the bush. I had seen those shoes before. Where had I seen them? It all became clear a second later. A dead body was lying on the ground. We recognized him instantly. It was Mr Majumdar’s missing bearer, Lokenath. He, too, had been stabbed, but the weapon was nowhere in sight. Not far from the body, scattered on a rock were the broken remains of a glass bottle, and a lot of small white pills. At least, they must have been white once. Lying on the damp ground had made them turn brown. We didn’t waste another moment. We ran back to the hotel, to find that Feluda had just returned. ‘Felu Babu, what sensational—’ began Lalmohan Babu, but I stopped him before he could begin to get melodramatic. I told Feluda in a few words what we had seen. Feluda rang the police station immediately. Within five minutes, two police jeeps arrived at our hotel. Inspector Saha got out of one. The other had four constables in it. We returned to the pine wood. ‘Stabbed!’ the Inspector exclaimed. ‘We were looking for him in local villages. Of course we had assumed he was still alive. Your friend and your cousin get full credit for this discovery, Mr Mitter. We are very grateful to you both.’ The police took the body away. We came back to the hotel once more. ‘Now the whole thing’s taken a completely unexpected turn, hasn’t it?’ Lalmohan Babu asked, flopping down on a chair. ‘Yes, you’re right. But it’s turned not towards darkness,