All of us returned to Kailash. With Arun Babu’s permission, Feluda rang someone, though I couldn’t tell who it was. Then he joined us in the drawing room. Neelima Devi sent us tea. Pritin Babu was taking her and Bibi back to Calcutta the very next day, we were told. On hearing about Sultan’s capture, Akhil Chakravarty said, ‘Oh, I wish I had gone with you!’ ‘I think tomorrow I’ll go back, too,’ said Arun Babu, ‘unless you need me here for your investigation.’ ‘No, that won’t be necessary. I’ve finished my investigation and even arranged to fulfil your father’s last wish.’ Arun Babu gave Feluda a startled look over the rim of his cup. ‘You mean you know where Biren is?’ he asked, very surprised. ‘Yes. Your father was right.’ ‘Meaning?’ ‘Biren is here.’ ‘In Hazaribagh?’ ‘In Hazaribagh.’ ‘I find that . . . amazing!’ Arun Babu said, his tone implying that he also found it impossible to believe. ‘Yes, that’s understandable,’ Feluda said. ‘But isn’t that something you yourself had started to believe?’ Arun Babu put his cup down on the table and stared directly at Feluda. ‘Not only that,’ Feluda went on calmly, ‘you were afraid that your father might make a new will and leave you out of it, giving your share to Biren.’ No one spoke for a few seconds. The atmosphere in the room suddenly became charged. Lalmohan Babu, who was sitting next to me, grabbed a cushion and clutched it tightly. Pritin Babu sat in a chair, supporting his head with one hand. Arun Chowdhury slowly rose to his feet. His eyes had turned red and a vein throbbed at his temple. ‘Listen, Mr Mitter,’ he roared, ‘you may be a famous detective, but I am not going to let you sit there and throw totally baseless accusations at me. Jagat Singh! His bearer slipped into the room through an open door. ‘Stop! If you take another step, I will shoot you,’ Feluda threatened coldly, holding his revolver. ‘Jagat Singh, it was you who stole into our room, wasn’t it? I managed to take off a fair amount of your hair. And I know who sent you there, with what purpose.’ Jagat Singh froze. Arun Babu sat down again, his whole body shaking with rage. ‘Wh-what are you trying to say?’ he demanded.

‘Listen very carefully. You knew your father was thinking of changing his will. You didn’t want him to find and destroy the old one. So you hid his key. Bibi saw him looking for it, and he even told her what he was looking for: “a pier . . . that which opens and that which shuts”. By a “pier” he meant a “quay”. Bearing in mind that he liked to play with the sound of words, I realized that the “quay” was really a “key”, something which could be used to open and shut an object. Presumably, the will was kept in a locked drawer. But even after stealing