Someshwar Burman’s house—a massive affair—was in Rammohan Roy Sarani. He came from a family of zamindars in East Bengal, but had been residing in Calcutta for a long time. Most of the rooms in his house were now lying empty. Apart from servants, there were only five people in the house: Someshwar Burman, his son Nikhil, Mr Burman’s secretary, Pranavesh Roy, his friend Animesh Sen, and an artist called Ranen Tarafdar. He was said to be drawing a portrait of Someshwar Burman. We learnt all these facts from Mr Burman himself. It was difficult to guess his age, because his hair was almost wholly untouched by grey. His eyes were bright, as the eyes of a magician ought to be. We were all seated in the living room on the ground floor. Nikhil Babu ordered some tea for us. ‘My father was a homoeopath,’ Someshwar Burman told us. ‘He had a thriving practice. I studied law, but never worked as a lawyer. My grandfather had been a tantrik. Perhaps it was he who influenced me. I was interested in magic even as a young boy. I remember watching an old magician in a park in Allahabad. The sleight of hand he could perform was just amazing. That’s what made me get more interested in traditional Indian magic. What is shown on a stage is always done with the help of equipment and gadgets. That does not mean anything to me. Indian magic depends purely on the dexterity of the magician. That’s what I call real magic. So once I’d finished college, I left home to learn this kind of magic. and gather as much information as I could. I was lucky to have a father who was both understanding and generous. He was happy to see me take an interest in something new. In our family, you see, people have always worked in different fields. There have been doctors, lawyers, singers, actors, the lot. And many of them were very successful in their chosen profession, just as I was as a magician. Rajas used to invite me to their states. I used to sit on the floor in their palaces, and pull off trick after trick, before a gaping audience. I earned a lot of money, too, though I did not have a set fee. What I received was always far in excess of my expectations.’ The tea had arrived by this time. Feluda picked up a cup and said, ‘Tell us something about your manuscript. I hear you have written about Indian magic?’ ‘Yes,’ Someshwar Burman replied. ‘I’m not aware of anyone else having worked in this area. I’ve often written articles about my research and findings, which is how some people have come to know about the existence of my manuscript. That’s the reason why Surya Kumar came to me, or else he could never have known that such a manuscript existed. Mind you, he had heard my name as a magician long ago.’ ‘Does he want to