We found Lalmohan Babu waiting for us outside Apsara Theatre. ‘What’s up?’ he asked. ‘Haven’t you seen the papers today?’ ‘Yes, of course. Mahitosh Roy has vanished, hasn’t he?’ ‘Not just vanished from his house, Lalmohan Babu. He may well have vanished from this earth.’ ‘What!’ Feluda quickly filled him in. ‘So what are we going to do now?’ Lalmohan Babu demanded. ‘Let’s start by speaking to the manager here.’ We had been standing outside on the pavement. Now we entered the building. The chowkidar at the gate told us that the manager, Kailash Banerjee, was in his office. There was an antechamber before one could get to Mr Banerjee’s room. We were asked to wait there while one of the staff took Feluda’s card in to inform the manager. He returned a minute later and said, ‘You may go in now.’ We stepped into the manager’s room. Kailash Banerjee was short, dark and stout. A thin moustache graced his upper lip. He appeared to be about fifty. ‘I have heard of you, Mr Mitter, but I cannot quite understand why you wish to see me,’ he said when we were all seated. ‘I need some information about one of your actors. The one who is missing,’ Feluda told him. ‘Who, Mahitosh? But the police have been here already. They asked a lot of questions.’ ‘Yes, I know. I am interested because Mahitosh Roy had come to me shortly before he disappeared. He was worried about the threats he had received.’ ‘Written threats? My God, does that mean he’s been killed? I thought he was simply hiding from his creditors.’ ‘No, it is not as simple as that.’ ‘I see. Mind you, his absence has not caused us too many problems. I’ve found a temporary replacement already. The police came yesterday, but we couldn’t really help. Mahitosh did not have a single close friend here. He was rather aloof and reserved. A reasonably good actor, I’d say, but not good enough to play the lead. It was his ambition to play the hero in the same play we are staging now.’ ‘Are you telling me he had no enemies?’ ‘I just told you, sir, that he had neither friends nor enemies.’ ‘Didn’t you once have an actor called Jaganmoy Bhattacharya?’ ‘Yes, but he was asked to leave a long time ago.’

‘Mahitosh Roy replaced Bhattacharya, didn’t he?’ ‘Yes, yes, that’s right. I had totally forgotten about it.’ ‘Do you have Bhattacharya’s address?’ ‘I do, but it’s his old address. He may well have moved from there.’ ‘Never mind. That’s a chance we’ll have to take.’ ‘Very well.’ Mr Banerjee rang a bell. A young man of about twenty-five appeared. ‘Get Jaganmoy Bhattacharya’s address and give it to Mr Mitter,’ Mr Banerjee said to him. The young man returned in a couple of minutes with the address: 27 Nirmal Bose Street. Lalmohan Babu said he knew where it was. Apparently, it wasn’t far from Apsara. We thanked Mr Banerjee and left. Luckily, it turned out that Jaganmoy Bhattacharya had not moved from his old address. His servant took Feluda’s card in, and then returned to take us to his master. We found Jaganmoy Bhattacharya sitting on a divan. He looked ill. He made no attempt to rise even when he saw us trooping in. ‘What does a detective want from me?’ was his first question. ‘Information. Did you once know an actor called Mahitosh Roy?’ ‘Know him? Not really. All I know is that he arrived, and my own career was destroyed. But I hear he’s disappeared.’ ‘Not just disappeared. He’s probably been killed.’ ‘Killed? Oh. Well, frankly, I can’t say I am greatly distressed to hear this. He put an end to my livelihood. That’s the only thing I remember about him.’ ‘Mr Roy had received anonymous notes threatening him. Do you think you might be able to tell us who—?’ ‘You mean you want to know if I had sent them to him? ‘Well, you still appear to bear him a grudge.’ ‘No, sir. You mentioned Mahitosh Roy, and so I was reminded of what his arrival had done to me. All that is now in the past, Mr Mitter. I don’t spend my days planning revenge, I assure you. I am now working somewhere else, and I’ve given up drinking. What I earn isn’t much, but I manage. My only problem now is asthma. Apart from that, I am fine. If you hadn’t reminded me of Mahitosh, I would not have thought of him at all. Honestly.’ ‘Did you ever see him after you left Apsara?’ ‘No, not even on the stage. I never went back to Apsara after they got rid of me.’