We were having a most enjoyable lunch in the dining room called Mysore in our hotel. It specialized in Moghlai cuisine. Lalmohan Babu had offered to pay for this meal, as a token of thanks to Mr Tarafdar for having saved his life. Tarafdar and Shankar Babu had rejoined us in the hotel. ‘But how did Gawangi find you in the first place?’ Feluda asked Lalmohan Babu. ‘Don’t ask me, Felu Babu! What happened was this: I was totally engrossed in telling my story, and Nayan was hanging on to every word. We kept going into and coming out of caves and mandaps, without really taking anything in. In one of these, suddenly I saw a statue of Mahishasur. I was about to come out after just one glance, when my eyes fell on another statue, painted black from head to toe, except that its torso was covered with red and white stripes. It was massive, and it was horrible. I was staring at it, quite puzzled by this deviation from all the other sculptures in the complex and wondering if it might perhaps be a statue of Ghatotkach—I mean, there were characters from the Mahabharata strewn about, weren’t there?—when the statue suddenly opened its eyes. Can you imagine that? The monster had actually been sleeping while standing up! Anyway, he lost not a second when he opened his eyes and saw us. Before either of us could get over the shock, he had picked us up and was striding ahead. Well, I think you know the rest.’ ‘Hm. Gawangi might be physically exceptionally strong, but I’m sure he’s actually quite simple. Thank Heavens for that, or Sunil would have found it a lot more difficult to hypnotize him.’ ‘Yes, you’re right,’ Mr Tarafdar said. ‘We had no idea, of course, that we had been followed. You see, Shankar is interested in ayurveda. He’d heard somewhere that a herb called Sarpagandha could be found in Mahabalipuram. So we had gone to look for it. In fact, we even found it and were returning feeling quite jubilant, when we saw Gawangi and Thakur.’ ‘Sarpagandha? Isn’t that given to people with high blood pressure?’ Feluda asked. ‘Yes,’ Shankar Babu replied. ‘Sunil’s pressure tends to climb up occasionally. I wanted the herb for him.’ Lalmohan Babu threw a chicken tikka into his mouth. ‘Felu Babu,’ he said, munching happily, ‘we managed without your help today. Perhaps you’re not going to be needed any more!’ Feluda ignored the jibe and said, ‘What is more important is that Gawangi and Thakur’s efforts failed.’ ‘Yes. We’re now left with only Basak.’ Mr Reddy, who had arrived just before lunch and had been persuaded to join us (although he ate only vegetarian food), spoke for the first time. ‘Tell you what, Mr Tarafdar,’ he said gently. ‘I suggest you don’t go out anywhere else today. In fact, you should rest in the hotel tomorrow as well. After today’s events, I really don’t think you should run any