When Lalmohan Babu heard about the thief the next day, he said, ‘I told you to keep your door locked, didn’t I? There have always been petty thieves in these areas!’ ‘You keep your door locked for fear of the tiger, Lalmohan Babu, not because of possible theft. Come on, admit it.’ ‘All right, but it’s better to be safe than sorry, isn’t it? A locked door would protect you from both a thief and a ferocious animal . . . Bulakiprasad, where’s our breakfast?’ ‘Why are you in such a hurry this morning?’ ‘Why, aren’t we going to watch the capture of Sultan?’ ‘Who’s going to catch him? Karandikar has vanished, hasn’t he?’ ‘Yes, but he’s still bound to be around somewhere, and I bet he’s heard of plans to kill his tiger. He won’t be able to stay away, Felu Babu, mark my words. Just think what a thrilling event we might get to watch! Oh, we mustn’t miss this chance. I don’t understand how you can take this so calmly.’ We finished breakfast by eight o’clock and got ready to go to Kailash to return the diaries and the letters. Akhil Chakravarty turned up unexpectedly. ‘One of your neighbours is a homoeopath, and a friend of mine,’ he explained. ‘I was going to see him, but I thought I’d just drop in to say hello, since your house was on the way.’ ‘Good. Please have a seat. Tell me,’ Feluda said, ‘did the herbal oil help in controlling your friend’s temper?’ ‘Good heavens, did Mahesh mention that in his diary?’ ‘Yes, amongst other things.’ ‘I see. To tell you the truth, what really helped Mahesh was his own will power. I saw how difficult it was for him to give up drinking, but he did it. It wasn’t simply because of a herbal oil or anything like that.’ ‘Since you mention the word “will”, can you tell us if he made one?’ ‘I don’t know the details, but I do know that Mahesh changed his first will.’ ‘I think his second son, Biren, was dropped from the second will.’ ‘What makes you say that? Did he mention this in his diary?’ ‘No. He told me just before he died. Do you remember his gestures? He raised two fingers, then he said “we . . . we . . . ” and then he shook his thumb. He couldn’t quite manage to say “will”. If the two fingers indicated “Deuce”, then the rest of the message could only mean that Deuce had not been left anything in his will.’ ‘Brilliant! And you’re quite right. Biren had a share in the first will Mahesh made. But when he stopped writing, Mahesh waited for five years before changing it, cutting him out altogether. He was deeply hurt by Biren’s silence.’

‘If Biren came back, do you think Mahesh Chowdhury would have changed his will a second time?’ ‘Undoubtedly. I am sure of it.’ Feluda paused for a second before asking his next question. ‘Did you ever think Biren might have become a sadhu?’ ‘Look, it was I who drew up Biren’s horoscope. I knew he would leave home quite early in life. So the possibility of his renouncing the whole world and becoming a sadhu cannot be ruled out.’ ‘One last question. That day, in Rajrappa, you said you were going to look for your friend. But you arrived on the scene long after we had found Mr Chowdhury. Did you get lost? It’s not a very large or complex area, is it?’ ‘I knew you’d ask me that,’ Akhil Chakravarty smiled. ‘You’re right, of course. It’s not a complex area, but you must have noticed how the main path parts in two directions. I would have found Mahesh easily enough if I had turned left. But I turned right instead. Do you know why? It was only because my childhood memories suddenly came back. Fifty-five years ago, I had visited the same spot and carved my initials and the date on a rock. I remembered that and felt an irresistible urge to go and see if it was still there. And it was, as were the figures I had carved: ABC, 15.5.23. If you don’t believe me, you can go and see it for yourself.’ We reached Kailash to discover that Arun Babu had already left. Old Noor Muhammad told us Pritin Babu was at home, and went off to inform him. He came down to see us in a few moments. We handed him the packets of diaries and the letters and were about to leave, when someone else entered the drawing room, it was Neelima Devi. I noticed her husband going pale as she came in. ‘There is something you ought to know, Mr Mitter,’ she said. ‘My husband should tell you himself, but he doesn’t want to.’ Pritin Babu looked at her appealingly, but Neelima Devi didn’t even glance at him. ‘When he found my father-in-law that day,’ she went on, ‘my husband dropped his tape recorder. I found it and put it in my bag. I think you’ll find it useful. Here it is.’ Pritin Babu tried once more to stop his wife, but failed. ‘Thank you,’ Feluda said and took the small, flat recorder from Neelima Devi. Then he put it in his pocket. Pritin Babu looked as if he was about to break down. I had a feeling Feluda was as interested in watching the capture of the tiger as Lalmohan Babu and myself. The instructions he gave our driver upon leaving Kailash proved that I was right. Lalmohan Babu’s enthusiasm, however, now seemed to be mixed with a degree of anxiety. ‘Arun Chowdhury has a number of guns. Why didn’t you ask for one, Felu Babu?’ he said after a while. ‘What good will your Colt .32 do if we see the tiger?’ ‘Well, if a fly came and sat on the tiger, my revolver would be quite adequate to destroy it,