Feluda listened to our report attentively. Then he said, ‘I can see that you’ve managed pretty well without me.’ ‘Well, asking questions is simple enough,’ said Lalmohan Babu. ‘But I cannot figure out what the answers add up to. Frankly, I am very much in the dark. If Lahiri was killed by an armed robber, the police will certainly catch him. Where is the mystery in all that?’ ‘No ordinary robber would send anonymous notes before killing a man in an alley.’ ‘Ye-es, I guess that’s true. Do you think the same person killed both Mahitosh Roy and Lahiri?’ ‘Yes, either the same person, or two different people from the same gang.’ ‘Yes, but the motive—?’ ‘It could be that one of the other theatre companies had these two men killed. It will take Apsara a long time to replace two of their main actors, and re-establish themselves. A rival company could easily gain from their loss.’ Feluda’s foot was still painful. Perhaps he’d have to have an x-ray. He placed his injured foot on a coffee table, leant back on the sofa and said, ‘You’ve done a lot today. Let me now do my share of the work.’ ‘What are you going to do?’ ‘Think. There is a faint glimmer, but that needs to get brighter . . . and so I need to think.’ ‘Very well, Felu Babu. You think as much as you need to. I am going to sit here very quietly and have a cup of tea. Tapesh, could you please go and tell Srinath?’ When I returned after telling Srinath to make us a fresh pot of tea, I saw Feluda frowning, his eyes closed. Was he going to solve the mystery without stepping out of the house? A little later, he suddenly asked, ‘Did any of these actors appear to have an addiction of any kind? For instance, did any of them smoke?’ ‘Yes, Dipen Bose did. Bhujanga Ray, I think, takes snuff; and Sudhendu Chakravarty was chewing supari.’ ‘I see.’ Silence fell again. Lalmohan Babu poured himself a cup of tea when Srinath brought it, and began drinking it with great relish. I picked up a magazine and leafed through it. Feluda received a great number of magazines every month, some of which went straight into the wastepaper basket. The silence continued for five minutes. Then Feluda opened his eyes. They were shining with excitement. ‘Lalmohan Babu!’ he called, his voice low. ‘Yes, sir?’ ‘This Sudhendu Chakravarty, the newcomer . . . was he of medium height?’

‘Yes.’ ‘And he had a clear complexion?’ ‘Yes.’ ‘Age between forty and forty-five?’ ‘Why, yes! What is this, Felu Babu? Do you know the man?’ ‘Not just I. You know him, too.’ ‘What do you mean?’ ‘I think I’ve got it. . . but first let me ring Inspector Bhowmik.’ I dialled the number, and passed him the receiver. ‘Inspector Bhowmik?’ I heard him say. ‘This is Pradosh Mitter. Look, it’s about those actors from Apsara Theatre. I have just worked out who killed Nepal Lahiri. No, it wasn’t one of your ex-convicts. I will tell you everything, but I’m afraid you are going to have to come to me. I am still quite immobile. Yes, you can come in an hour, that’ll be fine. See you then.’ He put the receiver down and found Lalmohan Babu and me gaping at him. ‘All right, I won’t keep you in suspense any longer,’ he said with a smile. ‘You are dying to know who it was, aren’t you? This whole business was laughably simple on one hand, extremely complex on the other. Hats off to the murderer . . . he had even Felu Mitter completely stumped for a while. His motive was envy, pure envy . . . and nothing else. Nepal Lahiri had to be removed, so that someone else could take his place.’ ‘What about Mahitosh Roy? He wasn’t a great star or anything.’ ‘That is why he was not killed.’ ‘What!’ ‘Yes, Mahitosh Roy did not die. He just disappeared, simply so that he could orchestrate the whole thing from behind the scene. What he told me here—about receiving threats and then his own sudden disappearance—was all part of a plan. It was done just to create the impression that he had been murdered. He is actually still alive, living at a new address, and he’s given himself a new name. That brass container was dropped in the grass to make sure it was found, and we assumed that he had been attacked, killed and his body thrown into the lake.’ ‘What a brain that fellow has!’ ‘It took him three months to grow a beard. Then he returned to Apsara, taking care to change his voice whenever he spoke. Actually, a beard can alter one’s appearance completely. He knew he wouldn’t have any difficulty in filling the gap left by Mahitosh Roy. Apsara was looking for a new face.’ ‘Sudhendu Chakravarty!’ ‘Exactly. The only thing he couldn’t give up was his habit of chewing supari, but he should have known better than to have it in your presence. But there’s no doubt that his evil plans would have succeeded, if you two hadn’t helped me out. That man’s ambition has turned him into a ruthless killer. He took Nepal Lahiri’s watch just to pull the wool over our eyes. But then, he didn’t know he’d be up against Felu Mitter and his team, did he? Now he’s going to regret ever having come to me!’ Feluda was absolutely right. Inspector Bhowmik rang us the next morning to confirm everything that Feluda had told us.

Lalmohan Babu took me aside and whispered into my ear: ‘Now I know where the difference lies between your cousin and myself.’ ‘Where?’ He tapped his head with a finger, and said sadly, ‘In here!’