Feluda got up early to meet Aniruddha before he left for school. The little boy told us in great detail how he had chased the thief away. He certainly had a lively imagination. Had he perhaps imagined the whole thing, I wondered. ‘You haven’t shown me the gun you were going to attack the thief with,’ Feluda said to him. ‘I mean the one you showed your uncle Achintya.’ Aniruddha found his machine-gun and gave it to Feluda. ‘It breathes fire,’ he said solemnly. The gun was made of red plastic. It made a noise like a real machine-gun when the trigger was pulled, and bright sparks came out of the barrel. Feluda examined it carefully, then returned it to Anu. ‘A beautiful weapon,’ he said. ‘Now let’s see if something can be done, so your sleep doesn’t get disturbed.’ ‘You mean you’ll catch the thief?’ ‘Catching thieves is a detective’s business, isn’t it?’ ‘I guess. What about my chandana? Will you catch whoever took it?’ ‘I’m trying very hard to catch him, but it’s not easy.’ ‘Is it most terribly difficult?’ ‘Yes, most terribly difficult.’ ‘A huge, big mystery?’ ‘You’re right. It is a huge, big mystery.’ ‘But you found blood on its cage!’ ‘Yes, that is my only clue.’ ‘What is a clue?’ ‘It’s something that helps a detective to catch thieves.’ Lalmohan Babu suddenly interrupted this conversation. ‘Tell me, Anu,’ he said, ‘did you hear this bird talk?’ ‘Yes, I did. I was in my room, and the bird was in its cage. I heard it say something.’ ‘What did it say?’ ‘It said, “deck chair, dadu”, “deck chair, dadu”. It said it twice. I ran out of my room, but it didn’t speak at all after that.’ Lalmohan Babu grinned. I had to admit ‘deck chair, dadu’ didn’t sound very different from ‘fake hair, babu’, especially if it was said quickly. ‘Is there anyone in your house who might be able to catch a bird?’ Feluda asked Amitabh Haldar. ‘Yes, our mali’s son Shankar has caught a couple of birds in the past. He’s very quick on his feet.’ ‘Tell him to watch out for your chandana. I’m now pretty sure it’s still somewhere in your garden at the back.’

We left for home soon after this. I had already seen in the local daily that Feluda’s advertisement had come out. But none of us could anticipate how quickly we’d get a result. Around twelve the same day, a young man of about twenty-five turned up at our house. Judging by his hairstyle and the jeans he was wearing, he was a man keen on following the current fashion. Feluda asked him to sit down, but he shook his head. ‘No, I haven’t got time to sit down. I am on my way to an interview,’ he said. ‘I came only because I saw your advertisement about a bird.’ ‘I see, was it yours?’ ‘No. It used to belong to my grandfather. He died last month.