The following morning, as soon as I emerged from our room, I heard a familiar voice say, ‘Good morning!’ It was Jatayu. Feluda was already seated on a chair on the corridor outside, waiting for his tea. Jatayu glanced round excitedly and said, ‘Oh! This is such a thrilling place, Mr Mitter! Full of powerfully suspicious characters.’ ‘You are unharmed, I hope?’ Feluda asked. ‘Oh yes. I feel fitter than ever. This morning, you know what I did? I challenged the manager of our lodge to an arm-wrestle. But the fellow didn’t accept.’ Then he came a little closer and whispered, ‘I have a weapon in my suitcase!’ ‘A catapult?’ ‘No, sir. A Nepali dagger, straight from Kathmandu. If I’m attacked, I’m going to stab my attacker with it—push it straight into his stomach, I tell you. Then let’s see what happens. I’ve always wanted to build up a collection of weapons, you know.’ I wanted to laugh again, but my self-control was getting better, so I managed to stop myself. Lalmohan Babu sat down on the chair next to Feluda and asked, ‘What’s your plan today? Aren’t you going to see the fort?’ ‘Yes, but not the fort in Jodhpur. We’re going to Bikaner.’ ‘Bikaner? Why Bikaner?’ ‘We’ve got company. Somebody’s arranged a car.’ Another voice said ‘Good morning!’ from a different part of the corridor. Mr Globetrotter was walking towards us. ‘Did you sleep well?’ he asked. I caught Lalmohan Babu casting admiring glances at Mandar Bose’s handsome moustache and muscular physique. Feluda introduced him to Mr Bose. ‘Good heavens, a globetrotter!’ Lalmohan Babu’s eyes widened. ‘I must cultivate you, dear sir. You must have had a lot of hair-raising experiences!’ ‘Plenty, I can assure you. The only thing that I have missed is being boiled in a cannibal’s cooking pot. Apart from that, I have had virtually every experience a man can possibly have.’ Suddenly, I noticed Mukul. I hadn’t seen him come out on the corridor. He was standing quietly in a corner, staring at the garden. Then Dr Hajra appeared, dressed and ready to go out. A flask was slung from one shoulder; from the other hung binoculars, and around his neck was the strap of his camera. He said, ‘It will take us almost four and a half hours to get there. If you have a flask, take it with you. God knows if we’ll get anything to drink on the way. But I’ve told the dining hall to give us four packed lunches.’ ‘Where are you off to?’ asked Mandar Bose.

On being told where we were going, he became all excited. ‘Why don’t we all go together?’ he asked. ‘What a good idea!’ exclaimed Lalmohan Babu. Dr Hajra looked a little uncomfortable. ‘Well then, how many are actually going?’ he enquired. ‘Look, there’s no question of all of us going in one car,’ Mr Bose reassured him. ‘I will arrange another taxi. I think Mr Maheshwari would also like to go with