We had been in Lucknow for the last three days. My mind kept going back to our first visit—Emperor Aurangzeb’s diamond ring, Dr Srivastava, Bonobihari Babu’s amazing zoo, Haridwar and, finally, our spine-chilling adventure on the way to Laxmanjhoola. On that occasion we had stayed with a friend, not in a hotel. Clarks Avadh had probably not even been built at that time. It was a really good hotel. We had been given a double and a single room. Both overlooked the river. When the sun set every evening on the other side of the Gomti, it was a sight worth seeing. The food, too, was excellent. We had stayed in many hotels in various parts of the country, but I couldn’t recall a single place where the food had been quite so delicious. Lalmohan Babu had seen most of the important sights in these three days. We had begun with the Bara Imambara. Its huge hall—unsupported by pillars—made my head reel once more. Lalmohan Babu was speechless. All he said, as we left, was: ‘Bravo, nawabs of Lucknow!’ The Bhulbhulaiya nearly made him faint. When Feluda told him the nawabs used to play hide-and- seek with their begums in this maze, he grew totally round-eyed. The Residency was another surprise. ‘This . . . this is like going back in time, Felu Babu! I can almost hear the cannons and smell the gunpowder. My word, did the sepoys really cause such a lot of damage to this strong and sturdy building?’ Lalmohan Babu exclaimed. On the fourth day, we went out to the local market to buy bhoona peda, a sweetmeat Lucknow is famous for. On our return to the hotel, we found an invitation to dinner. It had been sent by Hector Jayant Biswas, inviting us to attend his silver wedding anniversary in two days time. There was a map enclosed with the invitation, which showed clearly where his house was located. We already knew it was on the other side of the river. With a map like that, we should have no difficulty in finding it. Mr Biswas rang us in the evening. ‘All of you must come,’ he said. ‘You’ll get to meet some other people, and of course I’ll show you Shakuntala’s necklace.’ We spent the next two days looking at the Chhota Imambara, Chattar Manzil and the zoo. Lalmohan Babu was most impressed to find animals in the open and not locked in cages. ‘The Calcutta zoo should also be like this!’ he proclaimed. In the evening, we took a taxi to Mr Biswas’s house. The map we had been sent was a very good one. Our driver found his house quite easily. It was a bungalow, large and sprawling. Flowers bloomed in the big front garden. A cobbled driveway led to the front door. When we rang the bell, a bearer in uniform opened the door. We could hear voices from the living room. Mr Biswas came out quickly. ‘I am so glad