by Satyajit Ray
Strangely enough, even after a heroic act like that, Victor was quite unmoved. He was back with his men, practising kung-fu, in the little field opposite the bungalow, as if nothing had happened.
‘The thing is, you see …’ Lalmohan babu finally opened his mouth. But Feluda interrupted him. ‘The thing is that you are still totally in the dark, is that it?’
Lalmohan babu smiled meekly and nodded.
‘It shouldn't be difficult to throw light on everything. But, before I do that, you must be told about Gore, and understand how he functioned.
‘The first thing to remember is that he was really a smuggler, though he was trying to pass himself off as a respectable film producer. He decided to make a film from your story. You wrote in that story that a smuggler lived in a building called Shivaji Castle. Naturally, that caused some concern. Gore wanted to find out how much you knew about the real occupants of Shivaji Castle, since he was one of them, and he was a smuggler. So he dressed as Sanyal and went to your house. But, having spoken to you, he realized that you were completely innocent and harmless, and your entire story was purely imaginary. The reference to Shivaji Castle was just a coincidence.
‘Gore felt reassured, but then it occurred to him that he could use you to transfer the stolen necklace. So he hid it in a book, and tried to pass it to someone in his own gang—possibly someone who lived on the seventeenth floor in Shivaji Castle. If you were caught, you would blame Sanyal, not Gore. Isn't that right? So Gore could safely hide behind the figure of Sanyal.
‘However, things went wrong. What you handed over to Gore's man was not a necklace worth five million, but one of your own books worth five rupees. Mr Red Shirt—or Nimmo, if you like—went to Shivaji Castle, and was taking that packet to a flat on the seventeenth floor, when he was attacked in the lift by a man from a rival group. Nimmo killed him and took the packet up, as instructed. Then, whoever opened it realized that the necklace wasn't in it. Gore was informed, and he returned at once. He knew what had happened. So he had to accomplish two things—one, he had to get the necklace back; and two, he had to get rid of us. Luckily for him, we hadn't handed the necklace over to the police. As soon as he'd met us, Gore realized that, somehow, Sanyal must reappear. If Sanyal had given you that packet, then only Sanyal could recover it from you. No one would then suspect Gore.’
‘But that perfume …?’
‘Wait, wait, I am coming to that. Using Gulbahar was just an example of Gore's cunning. He had prepared the ground in Calcutta. Whenever you would smell that perfume, you'd think of Sanyal, and automatically associate the two. You were convinced, weren't you, that Sanyal was following you everywhere in Bombay?’
‘Yes.’
‘Right. Now, just think back a little. That day, when we went to his flat, Gore left us in the living room and disappeared for a few minutes. It seemed as if he had gone to fetch your money. Isn't that right?’
‘Yes.’
‘It couldn't have been difficult, could it, to slip out in that time and sprinkle a few drops of that perfume in the lift? When I went to every floor from top to bottom, sniffed everywhere and still found no trace of that scent outside the lift, I knew at once that no one wearing it had used the lift. It was planted there deliberately. Similarly, when our car was parked outside the Lotus cinema, Gore could have asked one of his men to slip a hand through a window and spray a few drops on the seats. It was easy!’
Yes, everything seemed easy once Feluda had explained it. Lalmohan babu had clearly grasped the whole story by now, but even so, he did not look very happy. That surprised me. Why was there no smile on his face? Eventually, a question from Mr Ghoshal changed everything.
Tea was over, and the whole unit was getting ready to go back. The sun had disappeared behind the hills and now it was really quite cold. I felt myself shiver, and saw Mr Ghoshal striding towards us busily.
‘Laluda, all the posters and hoardings for Jet Bahadur are going up on Friday. But there's something I need to know now,’ he said.
‘What is it?’
‘How do you wish to be named? I mean, should we use your real name, or your pseudonym?’
‘The “pseudo” is the real name, my friend!’ replied Lalmohan babu with a huge grin. ‘And it should be spelt J-a-t-a-y-u!’
Read the other Adventures of Feluda in Puffin
The Emperor's Ring
Trouble in Gangtok
The Golden Fortress
The Incident on the Kalka Mail
A Killer in Kailash
The Mystery of the Elephant God
The Bandits of Bombay
The House of Death
The Curse of the Goddess
Trouble in the Graveyard
The Criminals of Kathmandu
The Royal Bengal Mystery
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First published in Puffin by Penguin Books India 2003
Copyright © The Estate of Satyajit Ray 2003
This translation copyright © Penguin Books India 2005
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ISBN: 978-0-14333-579-5
This digital edition published in 2011.
e-ISBN: 978-81-8475-212-0
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