Feluda took a taxi to Srinagar the next day, soon after breakfast. ‘I think I’ll be back the day after tomorrow, but I may be delayed by a couple of days. So don’t worry,’ he said. Inspector Singh arrived at nine o’clock in his jeep and went to have a word with the others. Then he walked into our tent. ‘Where is Mr Holmes?’ he asked with a smile. ‘He just left for Srinagar,’ I told him. ‘To work on this case?’ ‘Yes.’ ‘But why? This case is easy, clear as crystal.’ ‘How?’ ‘It’s that bearer who did it. He had the opportunity. He was sleeping in the same tent, wasn’t he? That diamond ring must have tempted him. After all, how much does a bearer earn?’ ‘Are you going to arrest him?’ Lalmohan Babu asked. ‘Right now, I am simply taking him to the police station for further questions. I know now that he’s left-handed. I asked him to write his name. He used his left hand. Even so, he’s still denying having killed his master. So I am taking him away.’ ‘That ring has to be recovered as well,’ Lalmohan Babu commented. ‘Yes, I am sure he’ll tell us where he’s hidden it once we’ve had the chance to speak to him properly.’ Was Feluda’s visit to Srinagar purely unnecessary? A complete waste of time? I couldn’t bring myself to believe the case was as simple as Inspector Singh had made it out to be. If it was, Feluda would not have gone to so much trouble. I knew he had gone to Srinagar simply to call Calcutta from there. He knew lots of people in Calcutta who’d get him any information he wanted. At the same time, didn’t the inspector say Prayag was left-handed? But could he really have been stupid enough to think he could get away with it? Didn’t he know he’d fall under suspicion immediately? Inspector Singh left in a few minutes, taking Prayag with him. I felt quite sorry for the man for he was looking frightened and had tears in his eyes. I knew only too well what the police could do to get a confession from a suspect. I had heard Feluda express regret on this matter more than once. ‘The police are often very good in their work, very committed,’ he had said to me, ‘but they are devoid of mercy.’ But then, sometimes they have no choice. If stern action was necessary to get a vital piece of information, how could anyone blame them for being ruthless? Certainly, under specific circumstances, the police could act far more effectively than a private detective. Mr Som paid us another visit. ‘Mr Mitter has gone to Srinagar, I believe,’ he said.

‘Yes,’ I replied. ‘I must say I am surprised to see how much he’s prepared to do for us, even without being asked.’ ‘He wouldn’t wait to be asked. He’s taken the whole thing as a challenge, you see. He cannot stand being confronted by an unsolved mystery and will do anything to get to the bottom of it.’ Mr Som nodded. After a while, Lalmohan Babu asked, ‘Had you started writing Mr Mallik’s biography?’ ‘Yes. Mr Mallik was checking and correcting what I was writing, and we were making very good progress. It would have been a most interesting book.’ ‘Now the whole project is going to be shelved?’ ‘Yes, I can’t see what else can be done.’ ‘Tell me, do you think Prayag did it?’ ‘No, I would never have thought he’d have the nerve. But the police . . .’ ‘Did you know about the attack on Mr Mitter?’ ‘What! No, I had no idea. What happened?’ ‘Someone hit him with a heavy object, perhaps a stone. Luckily, he wasn’t badly hurt. But it’s clear that someone has objections to his presence here, and would like him out of the way.’ ‘Why doesn’t he ask for police protection?’ ‘No, he’d rather die than do that, although he’d always be prepared to help the police.’ ‘Are you still playing poker?’ Lalmohan Babu asked. ‘Oh no. None of us can think of anything but Mr Mallik’s death. Cards have been forgotten.’ Feluda did not return the next day. Lalmohan Babu and I took ourselves off to see Shikargah Lake and an old Shiv temple. Both of us felt it was better to stay away from our tent. Mr Mallik’s death was still casting a shadow over everyone’s thoughts. We felt suffocated in such a sombre atmosphere. On the third day, just as I was wondering what we should do to keep ourselves occupied, Feluda arrived in a taxi at about ten o’clock. Lalmohan Babu and I went out eagerly to greet him, both of us asking questions. He raised a hand and said, ‘Patience, patience. You will be duly rewarded, I assure you.’ ‘Just tell me if your head feels clear,’ Lalmohan Babu implored. ‘It does, but it wasn’t easy to unravel the tangled mess. It’s a very complex case.’ ‘When will you tell us everything?’ ‘I have to speak to the inspector first.’ ‘He has already caught the murderer.’ ‘What! Who’s been arrested?’ ‘Prayag.’ ‘Oh God! I mustn’t waste another second. I’m off to the police station now.’ Feluda left at once. By the time he got back, it was almost time for lunch. ‘We’re having a meeting at three o’clock, in the other tent,’ he announced. My heart skipped a beat. Feluda’s revelations at the end of a case were always incredibly dramatic. Only those who had seen him do it before would understand why I reacted like that. A police jeep arrived soon after three. Inspector Singh got out of it and found Feluda.

‘Can you believe that a police inspector might be interested in crime stories?’ ‘You mean you read them?’ Feluda laughed. ‘Yes, I am passionately fond of detective novels. I am now reminded of quite a few famous stories, Mr Mitter, though I have