Mr Sanyal arrived in our room the following morning, just as we finished our bed-tea. What did he want so early in the morning? I looked at him in surprise, but Feluda greeted him warmly. ‘We haven’t really had the chance to get to know each other, have we?’ he said, offering our visitor a seat. ‘As Mahitosh Babu’s friend, you must have had a lot of interesting experiences yourself.’ Mr Sanyal took a chair opposite the table. ‘Yes. I have known Mahitosh for fifty years, since our school days.’ ‘May I ask you something?’ ‘About Mahitosh?’ ‘No, about Torit Sengupta.’ ‘Yes?’ ‘What sort of a man was he? I mean, what was your impression?’ ‘He was a very good man. I found him intelligent, diligent and very patient.’ ‘How was he at his work?’ ‘Brilliant. Absolutely brilliant.’ ‘Yes, I got that impression myself.’ Mr Sanyal gave Feluda a level look. ‘I have come to make a request, Mr Mitter,’ he said simply. ‘A request?’ Feluda asked, offering him a cigarette. Mr Sanyal accepted it and waited until it had been lit for him. I saw him smoking for the first time. He inhaled deeply before replying. ‘Yes. You have seen a lot in the last three days,’ he said. ‘You are far more clever than ordinary men, so obviously you have drawn your own conclusions from what you’ve seen. Today is probably the last day of your stay. No one knows what the day has in store. No matter what happens today, Mr Mitter, I’d be very grateful if you could keep it to yourself. I am sure Mahitosh would want the same thing. If you look at the history of any old family in Bengal—particularly the zamindars—I’m sure you’ll find a lot of skeletons in their cupboards. The Sinha-Roys are no exception. However, I see no reason why the facts that come to light should be made public. I am making the same appeal to your friend, and to your cousin.’ ‘Mr Sanyal,’ Feluda replied, ‘I have enjoyed Mahitosh Babu’s hospitality for three days. I am very grateful to him for his generosity. I can never go back to Calcutta and start maligning him. None of us could do that. I give you my word.’ Mr Sanyal nodded silently. Then Feluda asked another question, possibly because he couldn’t help himself. ‘Devtosh Babu’s room is still locked. Can you explain why?’ Mr Sanyal looked a little oddly at Feluda. ‘By the end of this day, Mr Mitter, the reason will become clear to you.’ ‘I take it that the police are still working on this case?’

‘No.’ ‘What! Why not?’ ‘Well, suspicion has fallen on someone . . . but Mahitosh does not want the police to harass this person at all.’ ‘You mean Devtosh Babu?’ ‘Yes, who else could I mean?’ ‘But even if that’s true, even if he did kill, he’s not going to be charged or punished in the usual way, is he? I mean, considering his medical condition?’ ‘Yes, you are probably right. Nevertheless, the news would spread, wouldn’t it? Mahitosh doesn’t want that to happen.’ ‘Simply to save the good name of his family?’ ‘Yes. Yes, that’s the reason, Mr Mitter. Let’s just leave it at that, shall we?’ Mr Sanyal rose, and left. We left at half past eight. There were two jeeps once again, like the first day. Feluda, Lalmohan Babu and I were in one; in the other were Mahitosh Babu, Mr Sanyal, Madhavlal and a bearer called Parvat Singh. There were three rifles with us today. Madhavlal had his, Mahitosh Babu had another, and the third was with Feluda. He himself had asked for a rifle. Having heard from Madhavlal how he had killed the snake with his revolver, Mahitosh Babu had raised no objection. ‘You can choose whatever you like,’ he had said. ‘The 375 would be suitable for a tiger.’ I did not understand what the number signified, but could see that the rifle was most impressive in size, and probably also in weight. As a matter of fact, I was the only one who was not armed. Feluda had handed the sword to Lalmohan Babu this morning, saying, ‘Hang on to it. This sword has an important role to play today. You’ll soon get to see what I mean.’ Lalmohan Babu was therefore clutching it tightly, wearing an air of suppressed excitement. When we woke this morning, the sky was clear. But now it had started to cloud over again. The road being muddy and slippery, we took longer to reach the forest. Each driver took his jeep half a mile further into the forest than the last time, but then could go no further. ‘Never mind,’ Madhavlal said, ‘I know the way. We have to cross a nullah and walk for fifteen minutes to get to the temple.’ We began our journey amidst the rustle of leaves, a cool breeze and the occasional rumble in the sky. Feluda loaded his gun before getting out of the jeep. Mahitosh Babu’s gun was being carried by Parvat Singh. Apparently, he had always accompanied his master on hunting expeditions. A short but well-built man, he clearly did not lack physical strength. I saw a herd of deer in a few minutes. A sudden surge of joy filled my heart, but then it leapt in fear. Somewhere in this forest—perhaps not very far away—was a man-eater. Normally, a tiger could easily walk more than twenty miles and travel from one forest to another to look for a prey. But if it was injured, it might not be able to walk very far. In any case, the forest here was not all that big. Large areas of woodland had been cleared to make tea estates, and farms. Besides, although tigers didn’t usually come out of hiding during the day, they were likely to do so if the day was dark and cloudy. This was something I had learnt from Feluda only