Akhil Chakravarty began talking to us in the car. ‘I did go off in a different direction,’ he said, ‘but I didn’t go far. In fact, I could hear every word from where I stood near the rock with my initials on it. I used to ask Mahesh why he grew preoccupied at times and sank into silence. He used to laugh and tell me to look at his horoscope to find out. It is amazing, isn’t it, that such an important event in his life remained a secret, even from me? Perhaps it’s my own fault, I failed to study his stars properly.’ As our car drew up outside our gate, I realized who Feluda had called from Kailash. Shankarlal Misra was waiting for us. ‘Mission successful?’ Feluda asked him, getting out of the car. ‘Yes,’ Mr Misra replied. ‘Biren has come to meet you.’ We walked into the living room to find the same sadhu from Rajrappa sitting on a sofa. He rose as he saw us and said, ‘Namaskar.’ Clad in long saffron robes, he was tall and well built, his thick matted hair almost reaching his waist. An equally thick beard covered most of his face. ‘He agreed to come only when I told him about his father’s last wish,’ Mr Misra said. ‘He has got nothing against his father.’ ‘No,’ agreed Biren, ‘but then, I don’t feel any love or attachment for him, either. Shankar tried very hard to bring me back. He thought if I saw my father and other members of my family, even from a distance, I might wish to come back. That is the reason why I was in Rajrappa that day. But I realized after seeing my family that that was not going to make any difference at all. I had ceased to care for them. My father was a complex man, but he was the only one who seemed to have understood me. So, in the beginning, I used to write to him. But later . . .’ ‘But those letters were not sent from abroad, were they? I don’t think you ever left the country!’ Feluda said coolly. We gasped, but Biren Chowdhury simply stared at Feluda with an expressionless face. Then, unexpectedly, he smiled. ‘Shankar had told me how clever you were. I was only testing you,’ he laughed. ‘Very well. Now you may take off your disguise,’ Feluda suggested. ‘It may be enough to fool the whole town of Hazaribagh, but you don’t fool me.’ Biren Chowdhury continued to laugh as he took off his wig and his false beard. I gave another gasp as his face was revealed. Lalmohan Babu clutched at my sleeve and whispered, ‘Kan-kan-kan—’ He had got the name wrong again, but I was too astounded to correct him. Mr Karandikar looked at us and nodded. Akhil Chakravarty broke the silence. ‘What do you mean, Mr Mitter? Biren never went abroad? Well then, his letters—?’ ‘It is possible to send letters from abroad, Mr Chakravarty, if one has a friend like your son.’

‘My son? What’s he got to do with anything?’ ‘Mr Mitter’s right,’ Biren Chowdhury—or should I call him Mr Karandikar?—replied, ‘Adheer was in Dusseldorf, wasn’t he? I wrote to him and got him to send me several European postcards. Then I used to write Baba’s name and address on them, sometimes adding a line or two, put them in envelopes and send them back to Adheer. He would then arrange to have them posted from various parts of Europe. He travelled a lot himself. But when he returned to India, naturally I had to stop.’ ‘How extraordinary! Why did you have to be so secretive?’ ‘There was a reason,’ Feluda said. ‘I would like Mr Karandikar to confirm if my guess is correct.’ ‘Yes?’ ‘You were much impressed and inspired by the life of Colonel Suresh Biswas, and you wanted to be like him. I knew Colonel Biswas had left home as a young man and made his way to England and Brazil, but what I didn’t know was that he was the first Bengali who had learnt to train tigers to perform in a circus. I read about this last night in a book called The Circus in Bengal. One of the items for which he became famous was parting the tiger’s mouth and placing his head in it.’ Lalmohan Babu opened his mouth to speak once more. ‘Sh-sh-sh-sh—’ he began. ‘What is it, Lalmohan Babu? Would you like us to be quiet?’ ‘N-n-no. Sh-shame on me, Felu Babu, shame on me! I read that book before you, and yet I failed to pick that up. I must be crazy, I must be blind, I must be . . .’ ‘All right, all right, you can blame yourself later. Now please let me finish.’ Lalmohan Babu simmered down. Feluda went on, ‘Biren Chowdhury wanted to work with wild animals, like his hero. But an educated young man from a well-known family is not expected to join a circus as a trainer of tigers, is he? Mahesh Chowdhury might have been different from most men, but even he would not have approved. Biren knew that, and so he decided to indulge in a little deception. Am I right?’ ‘Absolutely,’ Biren Chowdhury replied. ‘What is most astonishing is that Mahesh Chowdhury could recognize his son even after so many years when he went to the circus on the first day. Arun Babu failed to do that, although he saw you from only a few feet away. You had to have plastic surgery done on your nose, didn’t you, when you were attacked by a tiger? That’s why you even look different from the old photo in your father’s house.’ ‘Ah, that explains it!’ Akhil Chakravarty exclaimed. ‘I did wonder why everyone was calling him Biren, and yet I could not recognize him at all.’ ‘Anyway,’ Feluda said, ‘I must now tell you why I really wanted you to come here.’