Maganlal had given us three days to give an answer. Feluda made no attempt to contact him in these three days. What happened on the fourth day left us reeling with shock. It was a Friday. I got up as usual and finished doing yoga, which I had started to do recently, inspired by Feluda. By the time I finished. it was half past six. Normally, Feluda joined me at this time, bathed and fully dressed. There was no sign of him today. I went to his room and found the door ajar. A slight push made it open widely. What I saw was totally amazing. Feluda was still lying on his bed, fast asleep. He should have been up more than an hour ago. I went over to him quickly and tried to wake him. When he didn’t respond even to some vigorous shaking, it dawned upon me that he was unconscious. Automatically, my eyes went to the Godrej safe. It was open, its contents lying on the floor. Quickly, I felt his pulse. That—thank God!—appeared normal. I ran back to the living room and rang Dr Bhowmik, our family physician. He arrived in ten minutes. Feluda began stirring as the doctor started to examine him. ‘Someone used chloroform, I think,’ said the doctor. ‘But how did he get in?’ It took me a minute to work that out. The side door to the bathroom, through which our cleaner came in every day, was open. Feluda opened his eyes in about fifteen minutes. ‘You’ll be fine,’ Dr Bhowmik said reassuringly. ‘In just a few minutes, you’re going to feel like your old normal self. What you need to check is whether anything has been stolen. Your safe is still hanging open.’ ‘Topshe, open the bottom drawer.’ I did, but couldn’t find the red velvet box Mr Boral had left with us. His pink pearl had gone. Feluda shook his head and sighed. ‘Who can I blame but myself? I did bolt that door last night, I remember that. But the bolt had become rather loose. I noticed it a few days ago, but didn’t get round to getting it fixed. Oh, I could kick myself!’ Dr Bhowmik left. I rang Lalmohan Babu and fold him what had happened. He came as soon as he could. ‘Look, Felu Babu, I knew something like this would happen. I did try to warn you, didn’t I? If they could come straight into your room and actually chloroform you, just think how dangerous these people are! What are we going to do now?’ he asked. Feluda, having recovered, was drinking a cup of tea. ‘I am not going to tell Boral about this. At least, not immediately. Let’s see if I can get that pearl back.’ The telephone rang. It was Someshwar Saha from Sonahati. Feluda spoke for about three minutes before replacing the receiver.

‘Boral’s got some fresh news. He’s heard again from Dharampur. Singh still wants the pearl for his collection. He’s offered one hundred and fifty thousand. Boral is now thinking of selling the pearl— after all, it’s not a small amount. Besides, he’s had to face so many problems lately that he’s told Someshwar he’d be quite happy to get rid of it. Suraj Singh is going to Delhi for a week. He’ll travel to Sonahati after that and meet Boral personally.’ ‘Then we’ve got to retrieve that pearl from Maganlal!’ ‘Of course. Topshe, see if Maganlal is listed in the telephone directory.’ I grabbed the directory and quickly found the right page. ‘Yes, he is. Sixty-seven, Chittaranjan Avenue.’ ‘OK. Let me finish my tea, then we’ll leave.’ ‘But are you feeling all right?’ ‘Oh yes. I am one hundred per cent fit.’ ‘Why don’t you tell the police?’ ‘The police couldn’t possibly tell me anything I don’t know already. I don’t wish to waste their time.’ It was ten minutes past nine when we reached Maganlal’s house. ‘God knows what he’ll do this time,’ muttered Lalmohan Babu as we walked in. But, as it turned out, Maganlal was not at home. He had left for Delhi that very morning. ‘Did he go by air?’ Feluda asked his bearer. ‘No, sir. He went by train.’ We left. ‘Isn’t it odd,’ Lalmohan Babu remarked, ‘that the two people interested in the pearl have both gone to Delhi?’ ‘Yes, but we ought to get that verified.’ Feluda had friends everywhere, including the railway reservations office. We went there straight from Maganlal’s house and Feluda found a man he knew, called Aparesh. ‘How many trains left for Delhi this morning?’ ‘Only one. It left Howrah at 9.15 and will reach Delhi tomorrow at 10.40 a.m.’ ‘Now can you check your list and tell me if a Mr Meghraj went to Delhi by that train?’ Aparesh went through a reservation list and replied, ‘Yes, here you are. Mr M. Meghraj, first class AC. But he wasn’t booked to go to Delhi.’ ‘No? Then where’s he gone?’ ‘Benaras. He’ll get there tonight at half past ten.’ ‘Benaras?’ I felt surprised, too. But then, didn’t Maganlal have his headquarters in Benaras? ‘How many trains are there that will reach Benaras tomorrow morning?’ ‘There are two that leave at a reasonable time. One is the Amritsar Mail. It leaves at 7.20 in the evening and reaches Benaras at 10.05 a.m. The other’s the Doon Express which will leave tonight at 8.05 and get to Benaras at 11.15 tomorrow morning.’ Feluda booked us on the Amritsar Mail. Had it not been for Aparesh’s help, we’d never have got three reserved seats at such short notice. The only trouble was that we didn’t have enough money. So we had to go back home and return to the railway booking office by twelve o’clock.

Lalmohan Babu left immediately to pack a suitcase. ‘Take enough clothes to last you a week. I’ve no idea how long we might have to stay. And don’t forget it’s very cold over there,’ Feluda