The Complete Adventures of Feluda: Volume II (66 page)

Mr Boral came to our house at around twelve o’clock and told us what Maganlal had said.

‘What do you want to do with the pearl now?’ he asked. ‘Should I
take it back with me?’

‘Maganlal knows I have got it here. He’s an extremely cunning man. I shouldn’t be surprised if he actually came here himself. I realize you are anxious to take the pearl back to your house, but believe me, it will be safer here. If you keep it, Maganlal will take it from you, by hook or by crook. We can’t let that happen.’

‘Very well. Let’s wait until Maganlal leaves Calcutta. Once he’s out of the way, I can come back and collect it from you.’

‘Yes, that would be far better. Are you going back to Sonahati today?’

‘Yes, by the evening train.’

‘All right. Don’t forget to let me know if anything untoward happens.’

The next morning, Someshwar Saha rang us from Sonahati. Mr Boral, he said, was attacked on his way back from Calcutta. He was struck on the head and he lost consciousness. When he came to, he found his belongings strewn all over. Someone had clearly gone through everything looking for a specific object.

‘Maganlal did this!’ I exclaimed when Feluda told me what Mr Saha had said.

‘Of course. He obviously decided not to take chances. Thank God the pearl was not with Mr Boral.’

Lalmohan Babu dropped by in the evening, and was told of the latest development.

‘This can mean only one thing, Felu Babu,’ he declared. ‘Maganlal will now try speaking to you. He must know for sure that you have got Boral’s pearl.’

Barely five minutes later, a car stopped outside our house and then the doorbell rang. I opened it to find the object of our discussion standing there, beaming at me.

‘May I come in, Tapesh Babu?’ asked Maganlal.

‘Certainly.’

Maganlal stepped in. Still dressed in a black sherwani and a white dhoti, he didn’t seem to have changed at all.

‘I have often wanted to visit your house, Mr Mitter. After all, we’re such old friends, aren’t we?’ he remarked jovially. ‘Hello Uncle, how are you?’

Lalmohan Babu stiffened. Maganlal had treated him so awfully on two previous occasions that he was clearly finding it difficult to relax in his presence.

‘Fine, thank you,’ he croaked after a while.

‘Would you like a cup of tea?’ Feluda asked politely.

‘No, sir. I am not going to take much time, Mr Mitter. Perhaps you can guess why I am here?’

‘Yes, perhaps I can.’

‘Then let’s not beat about the bush. Where is that pearl?’

‘Mr Boral doesn’t have it. At least that much you ought to know, since the men you sent to attack him did not find it.’

‘My men?’

‘Yes, who else would do such a thing?’

‘Please don’t talk like that, Mr Mitter. There is no evidence that those men were mine.’

‘I don’t even have to look for evidence, Maganlalji. A crook of your stature has his own style. I would recognize your style anywhere.’

‘Is that so? Well, let me ask you again: where is that pearl?’

‘With me.’

‘I need it.’

‘Too bad. You cannot always have what you need, or what you want.’

‘Maganlal always gets what he wants. Why are you wasting your time talking? I want that pink pearl. If you don’t give it to me, you know very well I have the means to take it from you.’

‘Then you will have to resort to those means, won’t you? You won’t get it from me, Maganlalji.’

‘No?’

‘No.’

‘Very well,’ Maganlal rose. ‘I will take my leave now. Goodbye, Mr Mitter. Goodbye, Uncle.’

‘Goodbye,’ Lalmohan Babu answered in a faint voice. Maganlal stopped at the door and turned back. ‘I am prepared to give you another three days,’ he said, looking straight at Feluda. ‘Today is Monday. Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday. Think it over. Do you understand me?’

‘Perfectly.’

Maganlal went out. Lalmohan Babu stared after him, shaking his head. ‘I don’t like this, Felu Babu,’ he said. ‘Why don’t you give him the pearl and be done with it? How long can you keep it here, anyway? Boral will take it back sooner or later, won’t he?’

‘Yes, but not when there is even a remote chance of its failing into
the wrong hands. I will return the pearl to its rightful owner only when I can be sure that Maganlal is out of the way.’

‘What about that maharaja who is also interested in the same pearl? We know nothing about him, do we?’

‘No, but there is someone who can tell us something about the man: Uncle Sidhu. I haven’t been to see him for a long time. Let’s visit him today.’

‘What is that man called? Can you remember his name?’

‘Suraj Singh.’

‘And the place?’

‘Dharampur, in Uttar Pradesh.’

We got into Lalmohan Babu’s car and reached Uncle Sidhu’s house in five minutes. We found him in his room inspecting an ancient scroll with a magnifying glass. He looked at us coldly.

‘Who are you? I don’t think I know any of you.’

Feluda laughed. ‘You must forgive me, Uncle. I know it’s a long time since I last visited you, but I’ve had so many cases that it simply didn’t leave me any time for socializing. At least it means I am doing well in my work. You should be pleased.’

This time, Uncle Sidhu smiled. ‘Felu Mitter,’ he said, ‘I have known you since you were a child of eight. You had killed a mynah with your airgun and brought the dead bird to show me. I had said to you, “It is a sin to kill a poor defenceless creature. Promise me you won’t do it ever again.” You understood, and stopped using your airgun. Of course I am glad you’re doing well. But don’t try boasting about it. I might have been a detective, too. I had—and still have—exactly what it takes. But that would have meant being tied down to a job, so I didn’t bother. I am a bit like Sherlock Holmes’s brother, Mycroft. His brain was even sharper than Sherlock’s, but he was too lazy to do any serious work. Sherlock used to consult him sometimes. Anyway, what made
you
come here today?’

‘I need some information about a man.’

‘Who?’

‘Have you heard of a place called Dharampur?’

‘Certainly. It is in UP, seventy-seven miles to the south of Aligarh. It was once a princely state. Even today, there is no rail connection, one has to get there by road.’

‘Then you must know about Suraj Singh.’

‘Good heavens, is he still alive?’

‘Yes.’

‘He is quite a character. A multi-millionaire, he owns a chain of hotels; and has a stupendous collection of jewels. The best in India.’

‘What’s he like as a person?’

‘I’ve no idea. Never met the fellow. But I do know this: men like Suraj Singh don’t fall into a category. If you went to visit him, you might well find him a kind and hospitable man. But the same man would go to any length—even murder—to get what he wanted. Naturally, he wouldn’t do it himself. He must have a lot of people working for him. He himself will never break the law, but his job will get done.’

Feluda thanked Uncle Sidhu, and we left. I couldn’t quite see why and how we might have to deal with Suraj Singh, but when I mentioned this to Feluda, he replied, ‘Since he’s taken the trouble to write to Boral, it’s obvious he’s pretty keen to buy that pearl. I’d be very interested to see how far he’d go to get it. I’m glad we went to see Uncle Sidhu today.’

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 warned him.

Our train left on time. The journey was eventless, except that Feluda bought a newspaper the following morning in which we read an important report. A group of American traders was visiting India. Suraj Singh was one of the Indians they were dealing with. That explained why Singh had gone to Delhi.

We reached Benaras only fifteen minutes later than the scheduled time.

Although this was my second visit, I still felt startled and strangely moved by the sight of the ghats and the streets of Benaras. We checked in at the Calcutta Lodge, where we had stayed before. Niranjan Chakravarty was still the manager there.

When Feluda asked him if he had a vacant room, he said, ‘For you, sir, I will always be able to find a room. How long do you want it for?’

‘I don’t really know. Let’s say a week.’

We were given a mini dormitory, like the last time. It had four beds in it, but the fourth was unoccupied. Since we had already had breakfast on the train, Feluda wanted to get cracking immediately.

‘What exactly are you suggesting we do, Felu Babu? Walk straight into the lion’s den?’ Lalmohan Babu wanted to know.

‘Yes, but you don’t have to come with us, if you’d rather stay here.’

‘No, no, of course not. We are the Three Musketeers, remember?’ We had to pass the temple of Vishwanath to get to Maganlal’s house. The sights and the smells were very familiar. Nothing had changed in the past few years. Perhaps nothing would, even in the future.

We left the temple behind us and reached a relatively quiet spot. It all came back to me quite clearly. A left turn from here would take us to Maganlal’s house.

‘Have you decided what you’re going to say?’ Lalmohan Babu asked.

‘No. I don’t always prepare and rehearse my lines. Sometimes it’s
best to play things by the ear.’

‘Is that what you want to do this time?’

‘Yes.’

Here was Maganlal’s house, with paintings of two armed guards by the front door. They were standing as before, with their swords raised high, but their colour seemed to have faded a little. We slipped in through the open door and stood in the courtyard.

‘Koi hai?’
Feluda shouted. When no one answered, he said, ‘All right, let’s go upstairs. We must meet the man, so there’s no point in waiting here.’

Maganlal’s room was on the second floor. I remembered we had had to climb forty-six steps to get there. No one stopped us on our way. As we reached the second floor and emerged at one end of a long passage, we found a man sitting near the stairs, rubbing tobacco leaves in his hand. He gave us a startled look.

‘Who are you looking for?’ he asked.

‘Seth Maganlal. Is he here?’

‘Yes, but he’s having his lunch. Why don’t you wait in his drawing room? I’ll show you where it is.’

We followed the man into a room that I recognized instantly. This was where Maganlal had made a knife-thrower throw large, vicious looking knives around Lalmohan Babu, who had fainted at the end of the ‘show’. Then, when we met him later in Kathmandu, he had dropped LSD into Lalmohan Babu’s tea. Fortunately, our Jatayu came to no harm, but the whole episode had caused us a great deal of anxiety.

‘Felu Babu,’ said Jatayu as soon as we were seated. ‘Please decide what you’re going to say. I can’t think of anything at all.’

‘Don’t let that worry you. You are not required to speak. I am.’

‘Did you bring that thing with you?’

‘That thing’ clearly meant Feluda’s revolver.

‘Yes, I did. Do try to calm yourself. It’s very difficult to tackle a tricky situation like this if one of my companions starts showing his nervousness.’

Lalmohan Babu did not say anything after this. We continued to wait for what seemed like ages. A wall clock ticked away, from somewhere came the sound of a drum, and I could smell food being cooked. Where was Maganlal?

‘How long does he take to finish a meal?’ Lalmohan Babu sighed impatiently. Almost immediately, a man entered the room. Judging
by his size and bulging muscles, he was a wrestler. He went straight to Feluda and said, ‘Stand up.’

‘Why should I?’

‘I have to search you.’

‘Who’s told you to do that?’

‘The master.’

‘Maganlal?’

‘Yes.’

Feluda made no attempt to rise. The man caught him by his shoulders and pulled him to his feet. There did not seem to be any point in putting up a resistance, for the man was far stronger than Feluda.

The first thing that he found was the revolver. This was followed by Feluda’s wallet and handkerchief. Then he turned to Lalmohan Babu and myself. Our pockets yielded no weapons. Finally, the man returned everything to us, except the revolver which he took away at once. His departure was followed by the sound of someone clearing his throat outside the room. A second later, Maganlal came in.

‘Why are you hounding me like this, Mr Mitter?’ he demanded, sitting down on a mattress. ‘Haven’t you learnt your lesson? What good is it going to do, anyway? You’ll never get that pearl back.’

‘You consider yourself very clever, don’t you Maganlalji?’

‘Sure, and so do you. I couldn’t have run my business so successfully if I didn’t have the brains, could I? If I wasn’t clever, Mr Mitter, I could not have brought that pearl straight out of your bedroom.’

‘Oh? And what pearl would that be?’

‘The pink pearl!’ Maganlal shouted, sounding intensely annoyed. ‘Do I have to describe it to you? You know very well what I’m talking about.’

‘No, Maganlalji,’ Feluda said slowly, with unruffled calm. ‘There is something
you
don’t know. That pearl is a white pearl—a cheap, cultured white pearl, painted pink to fool you and your men who broke into my house. The real pink pearl has gone back to its rightful owner. Actually, you are not half as clever as you think.’

I listened to Feluda’s words, absolutely amazed. How could he tell so many lies with a straight face? Where did he find such courage? I cast a quick glance at Lalmohan Babu. He was staring at the floor, his head bowed.

‘Is that the truth, Mr Mitter?’

‘Why don’t you check it out?’

Frowning darkly, Maganlal rang a silver bell. The same large and hefty man answered it.

‘Call Sunderlal from his shop. Tell him Maganlal wants to see him. Now.’

The man left. A few seconds passed in silence. Maganlal opened a paan box and stuffed a paan into his mouth. Then, shutting it again, he asked a strange question:

‘Do you know any Tagore songs?’

I glanced quickly at him. He was looking at Lalmohan Babu. ‘Why don’t you answer me, Uncle? You can’t be a Bengali and not know a Tagore song!’

Lalmohan Babu shook his head silently.

‘No? You really don’t? You expect me to believe that?’

Feluda spoke this time: ‘He does not sing, Maganlalji.’

‘So what? He’ll sing now, for me. Sunderlal will take at least ten minutes to come here. Uncle will entertain us in the meantime. Come on, Uncle, get up and come and sit by me on the mattress. You’ll find it easier to sing from here. Get up, get up. If you don’t there’s going to be trouble.’

‘Why do you always make fun of him?’ Feluda asked angrily. ‘What’s he done to you?’

‘Nothing. That’s why I like him so much. Go on then Uncle, get going.’

Lalmohan Babu was forced to rise this time and do as he was told. He went and sat down on the mattress and began singing, ‘Let all be awash in this fountain of life’. The poor man could not sing at all, but he carried on nevertheless, for nearly five minutes. After that, he stopped abruptly and said, ‘I don’t know the rest.’

Maganlal had been tapping the top of his cash box in rhythm with the song. He nodded and said, ‘That is enough. You were very good Uncle. Now go back to your sofa.’

Lalmohan Babu returned to where he had been sitting before. Just as he flopped down on the sofa, Maganlal’s henchman came back, accompanied by an old man wearing thick glasses.

‘Come in, Sunderlalji,’ Maganlal opened his cash box and took out the little red velvet box Mr Boral had left with us. From it he extracted the pearl and asked, ‘Did you know a pearl could be pink?’

‘Pink?’

‘Yes.’

‘Well . . . yes, I have heard of pink pearls, but never seen one in my life.’

‘You’ve been running a jeweller’s shop for fifty years, and you’ve never seen one? Very well, just take a look at this. Tell me if you think it’s genuine.’

Sunderlal took the pearl from Maganlal and held it gingerly between his thumb and forefinger, peering at it closely. I noticed that his hands were trembling slightly. He examined it for nearly a minute before saying, ‘Yes, sir. It’s a genuine pearl, and certainly it’s pink. I never imagined I’d get to see something like this.’

‘Are you sure it’s not a fake?’

‘I do not see any reason to think so, sir.’

Maganlal took the pearl back. ‘All right, you may go now,’ he said. Sunderlal left.

‘You heard him, Mr Mitter,’ Maganlal glared at Feluda. ‘This pearl is genuine. You lied to me.’

‘Will you try to sell it to Suraj Singh?’

‘Why should I tell you? It’s none of your business.’

‘You’ll now go to Delhi, I suppose?’

‘What if I do?’

‘Suraj Singh is in Delhi right now.’

‘I am aware of that.’

‘Do you mean to say you have nothing to do with Suraj Singh?’

‘I am saying nothing, Mr Mitter, not a word. This whole business regarding the pink pearl is over now, the chapter’s closed.’

‘All right. Kindly allow us to leave since you won’t talk, and return my property which your man confiscated.’

Maganlal rang the bell again. ‘Give him back his revolver, and let them go,’ he said irritably.

The revolver was duly returned to Feluda. We left immediately. ‘How do you feel now?’ I asked Lalmohan Babu as we emerged on the veranda.

‘Better, thank you. God knows how he can guess a man’s weak point. I have never sung a Tagore song for five minutes in my entire life!’

We reached the front door.

‘I hope you realize, Lalmohan Babu,’ Feluda said, stepping out, ‘That we managed to find out something rather important today.’

‘Something important?’

‘Yes, sir. Now we know where that pearl is kept.’

‘Yes, but. . . hey, are you planning to take it back from him?’

‘Of course.’