I had no idea Saldanha & Co. in Hazratganj was such an old shop. Its threadbare look startled me. Mr Saldanha was sitting behind a desk. The shop was going to close in fifteen minutes. There was no one except an assistant. Mr Saldanha smiled as he saw us arrive. ‘Welcome, Mr Mitter. Do sit down.’ We were offered three chairs. ‘I hope we haven’t caused you any inconvenience by coming here?’ Feluda asked. ‘Oh no, not at all. We’re about to close, anyway. You may ask me what you like; then when we’re finished here. I’ll take you to my house. You could have a cup of coffee and meet my wife.’ ‘That would be very nice, thank you. I would like to ask your wife a few questions as well. You see, I have to speak to everyone who was present at the party.’ ‘That’s all right. I don’t think she’ll mind.’ ‘Very well. Let me begin with you. How old is this shop?’ ‘Nearly seventy years. My grandfather started it. It was Lucknow’s first music shop.’ ‘There must be other music shops now?’ ‘Yes, there are two more, both owned by Goans. One belongs to de Mello, the other to Noronha. One of them is not far from here. Sadly, we have not been able to keep up with the times. You can tell that, can’t you, from the appearance of this shop?’ ‘Are you saying that your business isn’t doing all that well?’ ‘What can I say, Mr Mitter? It’s the age of competition, isn’t it? If I could get my son to join me, perhaps his young ideas would help. But he studied medicine, then went off to America. He’s earning a lot of money there, but his old Dad has to look after this old shop. I have a few faithful customers, so I do get by, but things have changed. No one respects simplicity and honesty any more. Everyone wants glamour.’ Feluda made sympathetic noises, then moved to his next question. ‘Do you have anything to say about the tragedy that occurred last night?’ ‘I hardly know what to say. When that necklace went to my sister-in-law, Margaret—my wife— broke down completely. She loved that necklace and was bitterly disappointed it wasn’t given to her. And who could blame her? It was so extraordinarily beautiful . . absolutely priceless.’ ‘You mean you agree that it was unfair of Shakuntala Devi to have given it to her younger daughter, even in the eyes of God?’ ‘Yes. Why else would Pamela suffer such a tragedy?’ ‘But who could have taken it? Do you have any idea?’ ‘No, Mr Mitter, I cannot help you at all in this matter.’ ‘Are you aware that your sister-in-law’s son has fallen into bad company?’

‘I had guessed as much, yes.’ ‘He is probably into drugs. He needs a great deal of money regularly.’ Mr Saldanha clicked his tongue regretfully. Then he said, ‘That may be so, Mr Mitter, but I cannot believe he’d steal and sell such a prized possession. No, that seems quite far-fetched.’ ‘Did you see anyone go out of the room during the film show?’ ‘No, but I saw Sukius come in.’ ‘Thank you.’ It was time to close the shop. We got to our feet. When we reached Mr Saldanha’s house in his car, it was a quarter past six and quite dark. Like Mr Biswas’s house, it was a bungalow, but smaller in size. The drawing room appeared rather bare. Mr Saldanha obviously wasn’t as wealthy as his brother-in-law, and his wife not that keen on interior decoration. ‘Margaret, you have visitors!’ called Mr Saldanha. Margaret Susheela arrived a moment later. ‘Oh, it’s you!’ she said, smiling a little. But the smile did nothing to hide the look of exhaustion on her face. ‘Please sit down, Mrs Saldanha,’ Feluda said. ‘Perhaps you don’t know that Mr Biswas asked me to investigate this business of the stolen necklace.’ ‘I had guessed.’ ‘May I ask you a few questions in this regard?’ ‘Yes, certainly.’ Mr Saldanha got up, ‘Let me go and get changed, Mr Mitter; and I’ll get us some coffee.’ He went inside. Margaret Susheela took a chair and looked at Feluda. ‘How long have you been married?’ Feluda began after a short pause. ‘Thirty-five years.’ ‘Your son is in America, I believe. Do you have any other children?’ ‘A daughter. She’s married. Her husband owns an apple orchard in Kulu. That’s where they live.’ ‘What’s the difference in age between you and your sister?’ ‘Just two years.’ ‘Have you always been close?’ ‘We were very close when we were little. We played together, wore similar clothes, went to the same nursery school.’ ‘What happened when you grew older?’ ‘When I was about fifteen, I realized our mother was much more fond of Pam than she was of me. There was a reason for this. Pamela was better looking and far more talented. She was good at acting, elocution and music. She even fared better in studies. I could feel my mother’s affection moving away from me. She gave Pam all her attention. Our father loved me a lot, but that didn’t seem to make up for the loss of mother’s affection. I felt quite jealous of Pam. And then . . . then that necklace was given to her. I have never felt so let down in my life. I was the elder daughter. It should have come to me. It took me a long time to get over my disappointment.’ ‘What about now? Are you still jealous of her?’ ‘No. All that’s history now. We are very fond of each other. You saw us yesterday. Did we appear distant?’

‘Not at all.’ ‘It’s not just love that I feel for my sister. Sometimes I even feel pity.’ ‘Pity? Why is that?’ ‘My brother-in-law’s business is not doing well. They are in trouble. Money has become a serious problem.’ ‘Really?’ ‘Yes. I am