There was something particularly eerie about the silence during the night in Benaras. This was possibly because, during the day, every street was filled with people, sounds, smells and colours. When we reached Gyan Bapi at midnight, everything was wrapped in darkness and all I could hear was a dog barking in the distance. We had to wait for about five minutes. Just as Feluda finished his cigarette and crushed its stub with his shoe, a voice called softly: ‘Mr Mitter!’ Four dark figures emerged from an alley. ‘I brought three men,’ said Motilal’s voice. ‘Are you ready?’ ‘Sure,’ Feluda whispered back. ‘We know our way. Let’s go.’ We began walking. Both Motilal and Feluda seemed to be very familiar with the way to Maganlal’s house. They were walking fast even in the dark. Only one streetlight shone in a corner. In its dim light I could see that one of Motilal’s companions was as tall and muscular as Maganlal’s man. That was obviously Manohar. We stopped at the mouth of the alley that led to Maganlal’s house. ‘Please wait here,’ Feluda said to Lalmohan Babu. ‘We’ll take about twenty minutes, I should think.’ The others left before either Lalmohan Babu or I could speak. They soon vanished from sight. We stood a little foolishly, unsure of what to do. Lalmohan Babu broke the silence after a couple of minutes. ‘I can’t imagine why your cousin had to go and get mixed up with those hooligans.’ ‘He’ll explain everything, I am sure.’ ‘I don’t like this at all.’ ‘Sh-h. I don’t think we should talk.’ Lalmohan Babu fell silent again. If I strained my ears, I could hear the sound of a harmonium and ghungrus, coming from the far distance. I looked at the sky. Millions of stars winked back at me. I had never seen quite so many of them. Now I realized there was a very faint light, perhaps being cast by all those stars. There was no moon. How long was it since we were left here waiting? Ten minutes? Fifteen? It seemed like hours. It felt strange to think that Maganlal’s house was being burgled less than fifty yards away, but there was no noise, absolutely no way of telling what was going on inside. Five minutes later, I heard footsteps coming back. Yes, it was Feluda and the others. ‘Right, let’s get back,’ he said as they got closer. ‘Mission—?’ Lalmohan Babu began breathlessly. ‘—Accomplished!’ Feluda finished his sentence. Then he turned to Motilal Boral.

‘Thank you very much for your help, Mr Boral. I’ll make sure you get your share when that pearl is sold.’ We started walking back to the hotel. The other men waved, and disappeared into the darkness. None of us spoke on the way. As soon as we were back in our room, Lalmohan Babu burst into speech, unable to contain himself a moment longer: ‘Come on, tell us what happened!’ ‘First look at this.’ Feluda took out the red