Pulak Ghoshal and his team left. We had finished our coffee, so Feluda rose to his feet. ‘We ought to leave now, I think,’ he said. ‘I hope we shall soon meet again.’ ‘Pardon?’ said Mr Majumdar, sounding as though he was miles away. But then he pulled himself together, and said quite naturally, ‘Oh, all right. Yes, I hope so, too.’ We came out of Nayanpur Villa and began walking back to our hotel. Feluda didn’t say a word on the way back. For some reason, he also seemed rather preoccupied. But, over lunch, he turned to Lalmohan Babu and said, ‘Why, Mr Ganguli, you are a dark horse! We’ve known you for years, and yet you didn’t tell us about your acting career! You played a difficult role in a play, did you?’ Lalmohan Babu transferred a piece of a fish-fry into his mouth, and said, ‘Well, to be honest, Felu Babu, there are loads of things about myself that I have never mentioned. I was the North Calcutta Carrom Champion in 1959, did you know this? I have many records in endurance cycling. Then I won a medal in a recitation competition—not once, mind you, but three times. This is not the first time I’ve had an offer to act in a film. Even twenty years ago, I had received such an offer. This bald dome that you now see was then covered by thick, curly hair. Can you imagine that? but I didn’t accept that offer. No, sir. My mind was already made up. I wanted to become a professional writer, just to see if it was possible to earn enough simply by writing. An astrologer had told me it would work. “There’s magic in your pen, you must write,” he had said. He was right. But I never thought so much success would come my way.’ ‘I see. There is one little thing I must point out, Lalmohan Babu.’ ‘What?’ ‘You said you gave up smoking ten years ago. Now if you are made to smoke a cigar, the result may well be disastrous.’ ‘Hey, you’re quite right. What do you think I should do?’ ‘I suggest you buy some cigars and start practising. Don’t inhale the smoke. If you do, you’re bound to start coughing and that will mean the end of every shot.’ ‘Yes, thank you for the advice, sir.’ We had a little rest in the afternoon, then we left for a walk at four o’clock. We wanted to walk to the Observatory Hill. There was a wonderful view of Kanchenjunga one could get from the northern side of the hill. Lalmohan Babu bought a packet of “cigars from the first tobacconist he could find. The first drag very nearly resulted in disaster, but he managed to avoid it somehow. I noticed a cigar in his hand had brought about a change in his whole personality. He seemed a lot more sure of himself, striding

ahead with great confidence, looking around with