We had left the house at ten o’clock. By the time we got back, it was half past twelve. Feluda wanted to return the sword to Mahitosh Babu, but we discovered on our return that he had gone with Mr Sanyal to visit the Head of the Forest Department in the forest bungalow in Kalbuni. So we went to our room, taking the sword with us. Before we did this, however, we spent some time on the ground floor. Feluda went to the trophy room. I could not tell what he was thinking, but he began to examine all the guns that were displayed there. He picked up each one, and inspected its barrel, its butt, trigger and safety catch. Lalmohan Babu began to ask him something, but Feluda told him to be quiet. ‘This is a time to think, Lalmohan Babu,’ he said, ‘not to chat.’ By this time, Lalmohan Babu had become quite familiar with Feluda’s moods, so he promptly shut up. Feluda finished inspecting the trophy room and turned to go upstairs. We followed silently. He spoke again on reaching the veranda on the first floor. ‘What’s this?’ he asked, stopping suddenly and staring at Devtosh Babu’s room. ‘Why is the elder brother’s room locked?’ There was a padlock on the door. Where could he have gone? Why had he left the room locked? Feluda said nothing more. We reached our room. Feluda spent the next few minutes sitting quietly, frowning; then he got up and paced restlessly, stopped short and sat down again. Two minutes later, he was back on his feet. I knew this mood well. He always acted like this as he got closer to unravelling a complex mystery. ‘Since there is no one about, and Devtosh Babu’s room is locked,’ he said suddenly, ‘it might not be a bad idea to do a bit of snooping.’ He left the room. I stuck my head out of the door and saw him go into Mahitosh Babu’s study. I came back into our room to find Lalmohan Babu stretched on the leopard skin on the floor. He was using its head as a pillow. Clearly, seeing a tiger’s pug mark in the forest had gone a long way to boost his courage. After a few seconds of silence, he remarked, ‘Thank goodness I thought of dedicating my book to Mahitosh Sinha-Roy! Could we ever have had such a thrilling experience if I hadn’t? Just take this morning: a bullet in a bamboo grove, a snake in the grass, pug marks of a Royal Bengal, a ruined old temple, a famous peepul tree . . . what more could anyone want? All that’s left to make the experience complete is an encounter with the man-eater.’ ‘Do you really want that?’ I asked. ‘I am not scared any more,’ he replied, yawning noisily. ‘If you have Madhavlal on one side, and Felu Mitter on the other, no man-eater can do anything to you!’ He closed his eyes, and seemed to go to sleep. I picked up Mahitosh Babu’s book and had read a few pages, when Feluda returned. His footsteps made Lalmohan Babu open his eyes and sit up. ‘Did you find anything?’

‘No. I did not find what I was looking for, but that is what is significant.’ After a brief pause, Feluda asked, ‘Do you remember why Yudhisthir’s chariot got stuck to the ground?’ ‘Because he told a lie?’ ‘Exactly. But these days, a liar doesn’t always get punished by God. Other men have to catch and punish him.’ I could not ask him what he meant, for a jeep arrived as he finished speaking. Only a few minutes later, a servant turned up to say Mahitosh Babu had returned, and lunch had been served. Despite all that had happened, we had all enjoyed our meals every day. Mahitosh Babu obviously had a very good cook. Today, the food looked inviting enough, but our host began a conversation on a rather sombre note. ‘Mr Mitter,’ he said solemnly, ‘since you have discovered the meaning of Adityanarayan’s message, I don’t think I have the right to keep you here any longer. If you like, I can make arrangements for your return. One of my men is going to Jalpaiguri. He can book your tickets for you.’ Feluda did not reply immediately. Then he said slowly, ‘I was thinking of going back myself. You have been an excellent host, but naturally we cannot stay here indefinitely. But, if you don’t mind, I’d like to stay here tonight and leave tomorrow morning. You see, I am a detective, and there’s been a murder. I’m sure you’ll appreciate why I want to stay a bit longer to see if any light can be thrown on the case. It is immaterial whether I can discover the truth, or the police do their job. I only want to know what happened, and how it happened.’ Mahitosh Babu stopped eating and looked straight at Feluda. ‘There is no one in this house who would plan a murder in cold blood, Mr Mitter,’ he said firmly. Feluda paid no attention. ‘Where is your brother?’ he asked casually. ‘Has he been taken somewhere else? His room was locked.’ Mahitosh Babu replied in the same grave tone, ‘My brother is in his room. But since last night, his . . . ailment has become worse. He has to be restrained, or he might cause serious damage to whoever came his way, yourself included. Sometimes, he starts imagining he’s seen people who died hundreds of years ago—you know, characters out of a history book. Then he attacks them if he thinks they did anything wrong in the past. Once he mistook Torit for Kalapahar and nearly throttled him to death. One of the servants saw him, luckily, and managed to take him away.’ Feluda continued to eat. ‘Did you know,’ he said conversationally, ‘the death of Mr Sengupta is not the only mystery we are dealing