We left for Calcutta the next morning. Prof Haldar accompanied us, but Feluda did not mention the pink pearl even once in his presence. All he said on reaching home was, ‘I wish the press hadn’t got hold of the story!’ Two days passed eventlessly. On the third day, we were both in our living room, I reading and Feluda clipping his nails, when the telephone rang. Feluda answered it, spoke briefly, then put it down. ‘That was Boral,’ he informed me. ‘Is he here in Calcutta?’ ‘Yes. He said he had to see me urgently. He is coming at half past five. He sounded both excited and disturbed. Topshe, go and call Lalmohan Babu.’ It was necessary to tell Lalmohan Babu, for he’d have been quite disappointed if we had left him out. ‘If I’m not involved right from the start, Felu Babu, I cannot understand how things develop, and then I cannot think well enough to be able to help you!’ he had once complained. Lalmohan Babu arrived at five and, exactly half an hour later, Jaichand Boral turned up, just as Srinath came in with the tea. Mr Boral looked tired and haggard. In the last couple of days, two national dailies had published the story of the pink pearl, which had clearly added to his worries. He quickly finished the glass of water Srinath offered him, then shook his head ruefully. ‘Who knew a small report in the press would create such havoc? I have to tell you three things. First, a cousin of mine—Motilal Boral—has written to me, saying that if the pearl is sold, he wants a share of the proceeds since it is a family heirloom, not just my personal property. Motilal lives in Benaras. He runs a cinema. His letter openly implies that I have tried to deceive him by never telling him about the pearl.’ ‘I see. What’s the second thing?’ ‘I received one more letter, from a man called Suraj Singh in Dharampur, which is in Uttar Pradesh. It was once a princely state. Suraj Singh appears to be a most powerful man in Dharampur for he wrote from Dharampur Palace. He says he has a huge collection of pearls, but he doesn’t have a single pink one. So he’d like to buy the one I’ve got, and wants me to name a price.’ ‘OK, what about the third thing?’ ‘That’s really the reason why I am here. It’s really worrying me, Mr Mitter. Someone actually turned up at my house the day before yesterday. I think he was a Marwari. Judging by his clothes and the number of rings he was wearing—he even had a diamond stud in one ear—he was a very wealthy man. He said he collected antiques and art objects. I guess he sells them abroad at hefty prices.’ ‘And he wanted your pearl?’

‘Oh yes. He offered me fifty thousand for it. I said I needed three days to think it over. He’s visiting Calcutta at present. He has a house in Chittaranjan Avenue. So he gave me his address and said he must have my answer by ten o’clock tomorrow morning. He seemed totally determined to get the pearl. If I refuse, he might offer a bit more . . . after that, if I still don’t agree, Mr Mitter, who knows what he might do?’ ‘What is this man called?’ ‘Maganlal Meghraj.’ Even Feluda was stunned for a few seconds by this revelation. Maganlal! Why did this man keep coming back into our lives? None of our adversaries in the past had been as dangerous as Maganlal. We had already dealt twice with him. Why did he want Mr Boral’s pearl? ‘Look, Mr Boral,’ Feluda said eventually, ‘you’ll have to refuse his offer. That pearl is worth at least five times the amount he’s offered you. He will sell it to a foreign buyer. That’s what he does for a living . . . most of the time, anyway. We know him well.’ ‘But what if he doesn’t listen to me? He did say nothing could stop him from getting it.’ ‘Yes, he would say that. Tell you what, why don’t you leave your pearl with me? If you take it with you, Maganlal will definitely grab it. He would not hesitate to kill you, if he had to.’ ‘My God! What am I going to tell him, Mr Mitter?’ ‘Simply say that you didn’t bring it with you since you decided not to sell it. After all, you cannot be expected to roam the streets of Calcutta with something so valuable in your pocket.’ ‘Very well, I will leave it with you. Here it is.’ Mr Boral took out the same handkerchief and handed over the red velvet box to Feluda, who locked it away in the Godrej safe that stood in his bedroom. Then he returned to the living room and said, ‘What will you say to Suraj Singh? He is not going to give up easily, either.’ ‘Even so, my answer must be no. We’ve had that pearl for a hundred and fifty years. I have no wish to lose it. It’s not as though I’m in desperate need of money. I manage pretty well with my own income —I own some farmland and then I have my salary.’ ‘All right. Let’s see what happens tomorrow. You must tell me everything before you go.’ Mr Boral finished his tea and left. ‘I can hardly believe Maganlal’s got involved in this!’ Lalmohan Babu exclaimed when he had gone. ‘God knows what he’ll do this time.’ ‘He may have put us in some tricky situations, Lalmohan Babu, but we outwitted him each time, didn’t we? What happens this time depends entirely on Mr Boral and what he tells Maganlal. I only hope Maganlal doesn’t get to know that Boral came to see me.’ ‘You took a great risk, Felu Babu. Did you really have to keep the pearl here?’ ‘Yes, there was