Inspector Monilal Poddar rang us on Sunday. ‘Have you made any progress?’ he asked Feluda. ‘No. I’m trying to get to know the people in that house, without which I’m not going to get very far. It’s a rather complicated case.’ From what Inspector Poddar then told us, it appeared that there was even now a great risk of the Acharya household being burgled. Since it was known that there were loads of new and original plays and songs still in existence, it was highly likely that whoever had had Indranarayan killed would also try to steal his works. There was an area in Bosepukur where notorious miscreants lived. It was the inspector’s belief that the bearer, Santosh, was in league with these people and might actually help them break into the house. ‘Is that little lane behind the house being watched?’ asked Feluda. ‘You mean Jodu Naskar Lane? Oh yes.’ ‘Do you think you could ask your men to withdraw just for one night?’ ‘So that a potential burglar might feel tempted?’ ‘Exactly.’ ‘Very well. Just tell me when you’d like me to remove my men, and I’ll do it.’ Mr Poddar rang off. It was half past seven in the morning. Only a few minutes later, the phone rang again. This time, it was Pradyumna Mallik. ‘I have been trying your number for half an hour!’ he said breathlessly. ‘Something terrible has happened. Last night, at around midnight, a thief got into Indranarayan’s study. One of the servants must have helped him get in for the constable guarding the rear entrance didn’t see him at all. I heard a noise, and came out of my room to look. At this, the man tried running away. I ran after him and even managed to catch him, you see, but he gave me such a hard push that I fell down and hurt my knee. He escaped, and now I’m walking with a limp!’ Feluda put the phone down. ‘It does seem that the main motive behind the murder was to steal Indranarayan’s works,’ he said to me. ‘If a writer’s songs are so very popular and if it gets to be known that he left behind as many as five new plays and nearly twenty unused songs, obviously all jatra companies would wish to lay their hands on these. Strictly speaking everything should go to Bharat Opera. But, of course, their rivals would like to make sure they get nothing.’ ‘But,’ I ventured to say, ‘how could anyone have learnt about all these songs and plays unless Indranarayan himself had told them? Maybe he wasn’t as loyal to Bharat Opera as people seem to think. Maybe he had made up his mind about joining some other group.’ ‘In that case, who killed him? And why?’ ‘Perhaps he had given his word to Binapani, and so a third group decided to step in and remove him altogether.’

Feluda nodded silently. Clearly, he had already thought of this possibility, but was