Mr Samaddar’s driver was old, but that didn’t stop him from driving at eighty-five kilometres per hour when we reached VIP Road. Feluda sat fidgeting, as though he would have liked to have driven faster. Soon, we had to reduce our speed as the road got narrower and more congested. However, only a little while later, it shot up to sixty, despite the fact that the road wasn’t particularly good and it had started to get dark. There was no one at the main gate of Radharaman’s house. ‘Perhaps it’s not yet time for those police constables to have arrived,’ Feluda remarked. We found Sadhan in the garden with his airgun. ‘Why, Sadhan Babu, what are you killing in the dark?’ Feluda asked him, getting out of the car. ‘Bats,’ Sadhan replied promptly. There were a number of bats hanging from the branches of a peepul tree just outside the compound. The sound of our car had brought Anukul to the front door. Mr Samaddar told him to light a lantern and began unlocking the German lock. ‘I’m dying to learn how you solved the mystery,’ he said. I could understand his feelings, for Feluda hadn’t uttered a single word in the car. I, too, was bursting with curiosity. Feluda refused to break his silence. Without a word, he stepped into the room and switched on a powerful torch, It shone first on the wall, then fell on the melochord, still resting peacefully on the small table. My heart began to beat faster. The white keys of the instrument gleamed in the light, making it seem as though it was grinning from ear to ear. Feluda did not move his arm. ,‘Keys . . .’ he said softly. ‘Look at those keys. Radharaman didn’t mean a lock and a key at all. He meant the keys of an instrument, like a piano, or—’ He couldn’t finish speaking. What followed a split second later took my breath away. Even now, as I write about it, my hand trembles. At Feluda’s words, Mr Samaddar suddenly sprang in the air and pounced upon the melochord like a hungry tiger on its prey. Then he picked it up, struck at Feluda’s head with it, knocked me over and ran out of the door. Feluda had managed to raise his arms in the nick of time to protect his head. As a result, his arms took the blow, making him drop the torch and fall on the bed in pain. As I scrambled to my feet, I heard Mr Samaddar locking the door behind him. Even so, I rushed forward, to try and push it with my shoulder. Then I heard Feluda whisper, ‘Bathroom.’ I picked up the torch quickly, and we both sped out of the small bathroom door. There was the sound of a car starting, followed by a bang. A confused babble greeted us as we emerged. I could hear Anukul shouting in dismay, and Abani Sen speaking to his son very