The Complete Adventures of Feluda: Volume II (67 page)

We returned to our hotel. The manager, Niranjan Chakravarty, called from his room on seeing us: ‘Mr Mitter, you have a visitor here. He’s been waiting for you for quite some time.’

We went into the manager’s room and found a man of about forty-five sitting opposite him. He rose as we entered.

‘Namaskar. My name is Motilal Boral.’

‘Namaskar. Are you Jaichand’s cousin?’

‘Yes, his first cousin. I own a cinema here.’

‘Yes, he told us. Come to our room, we can talk more comfortably there.’

The four of us trooped upstairs to our room.

‘Where is that pearl now? Is it still with Jaichand?’ asked Motilal, sitting down on the fourth empty bed.

‘No.’

‘No?’

‘Have you heard of Maganlal Meghraj?’

‘Oh yes. I couldn’t have spent twenty-three years in Benaras without having heard of Maganlal.’

‘He has got the pearl.’

‘But why? He’s not a collector. He exports things, doesn’t he? Buys stuff at a low price and then sells it abroad. Or so I’ve heard.’

‘Yes, that’s right. Only this time, he is going to sell it to Suraj Singh of Dharampur.’

‘Really? Is Suraj Singh going to come here?’

‘No. He’s in Delhi, and Maganlal is going to go there very soon.’

‘What are you going to do?’

‘We shall travel to Delhi, too, if we can get hold of that pearl.’

‘If Maganlal cannot sell it, will my cousin get paid?’

‘Of course, provided Suraj Singh keeps his word.’

‘The strange thing is that I did not even know our family possessed such a valuable object. You see, I left Sonahati when I was only fifteen, and never went back. Jai found the pearl and he kept it all these years without telling anyone. I wrote to him only when I read the newspaper report. His first letter said he was not going to sell it,
but I heard from him only yesterday. He now seems to have changed his mind. Here’s his letter.’

He took out a folded piece of paper and passed it to Feluda. Feluda read it quickly and handed it back.

‘He has offered you thirty thousand rupees. Are you happy with that?’

‘Not really, but I am not going to argue. Something is better than nothing, isn’t it? But are you sure Maganlal has got the pearl?’

‘Absolutely. We saw it with our own eyes.’

Motilal thought for a while. Then he said, ‘Let me get this straight. If you get the pearl, you yourself will go and sell it to Suraj Singh. Is that right?’

‘Right. You will get your share, and the money that remains will go to Jaichand.’

‘So somehow we must get that pearl back.’

‘Yes. Can you help me in this matter?’

‘What would you like me to do?’

‘Find me a few people who wouldn’t mind doing something rather reckless.’

Motilal frowned, lost in thought. Then he looked straight at Feluda. ‘Look, Mr Mitter,’ he said, ‘running a cinema isn’t good enough these days. I mean, I don’t make enough money that way. Most people like to watch videos at home. So I’ve had to think of doing other things to add to my income.’

‘You mean things not entirely straightforward?’

‘Yes, something like that; but without actually breaking the law.’

‘Does that mean you do know of people who might agree to work for me?’

‘Yes. In fact, Manohar—who used to be Maganlal’s right-hand man—has joined me. I can arrange a couple of other men besides him.’

‘That’s brilliant.’

‘Just let me know what needs to be done.’

‘Come to the Gyan Bapi Masjid with your men at midnight. We’ll meet you there.’

‘All right.’

‘Felu Babu,’ Lalmohan Babu said anxiously, ‘have you really thought this through?’

Feluda ignored him. ‘Maganlal’s current right-hand man is extremely strong. He’ll have to be dealt with,’ he told Motilal.

Motilal smiled. ‘Don’t worry about that. Manohar is a wrestler, too; plus he is an intelligent man.’

‘Very well then. See you later tonight, at Gyan Bapi.’

Motilal stood up. ‘By the way,’ he stopped at the door, ‘do you know where Maganlal has kept this pearl?’

‘Yes, we saw it.’

‘Good.’

Motilal Boral left. Feluda, too, got to his feet and said, ‘I need to speak to Mr Chakravarty. It’ll only take a minute. After that, we’ll go and have something to eat. I am absolutely famished.’

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 velvet box from his pocket and placed it on his bed.

‘Shabaash!’ exclaimed Lalmohan Babu. ‘How did you get it? There was no violence, I hope?’

‘Yes, there was, I am afraid. There had to be. But the only person who received a blow on his head was Maganlal’s henchman. Manohar did that. No one else was injured.’

‘How did you open that cash box?’

‘How is a locked object normally opened, Lalmohan Babu? I used a key.’

‘What! Where did you get it?’

‘From Maganlal.’

‘How? Good heavens, what did you use? Magic?’

‘No, sir. Not magic, but you might call it medicine. Supplied by a
doctor our manager happens to know.’

‘What nonsense are you talking, Felu Babu? What was supplied?’

‘Chloroform,’ Feluda replied with a grin. ‘Tit for tat. Now do you understand?’

We took the Delhi Express the next evening, reaching Delhi at 6 a.m. the following day. Having stayed at Janpath Hotel during our last visit to Delhi, we went there straight from the station. Feluda began ringing various other hotels as soon as we were taken to our room. It took him ten minutes to find out where Suraj Singh was staying.

‘Yes sir, Mr Singh is staying with us,’ said a voice from Taj Hotel. ‘Room number 347.’

‘Could I speak to him, please?’

Luckily, Suraj Singh was in his room. Feluda told him he wanted to see him regarding the pink pearl. Mr Singh agreed immediately to see us in his room at six o’clock the same evening. We spent the afternoon eating at a Chinese restaurant and looking at the shops in Janpath. Then we went back to the hotel for a rest before leaving again at a quarter to six.

Feluda rang from the lobby at Taj Hotel to inform Mr Singh of our arrival. We were told to go up to his room.

The man who opened the door when we rang the bell turned out to be his secretary. ‘Please sit down,’ he said. ‘Mr Singh will be with you in a minute.’

The three of us sat on a large sofa. It wasn’t really just a room, but a whole suite. We were in the sitting room. Suraj Singh appeared shortly. One look at him was enough to tell us he was immensely wealthy. He was wearing an expensive suit, a golden tie-pin and a gold pen peeped from his front pocket. On his fingers he wore more than one gold ring, studded with precious stones. He was perhaps in his mid-fifties, although only a few strands of hair at his temple had turned grey: The rest of his hair was jet black, as was the rather impressive moustache he sported.

‘Which one of you is Mr Mitter?’ he asked.

Feluda rose and introduced himself. Mr Singh nodded, but continued to stand.

‘What’s your connection with the pink pearl?’

‘I am a private investigator. Jaichand Boral left the pearl with me for safe keeping.’

‘Really? How do I know you didn’t steal it from him? Why should I believe you?’

‘I couldn’t prove anything, Mr Singh, if that’s what you mean. You’ll just have to take my word for it. I did not steal the pearl from Mr Boral. He gave it to me.’

‘No, I am not prepared to accept that without sufficient evidence.’

‘Very well. In that case, Mr Singh, you cannot buy the pearl. It will go back to Boral’

‘No, you have got to give it to me.’

‘I am not obliged to do anything of the sort. No one can force me.’ In a flash, Suraj Singh produced a revolver. This was followed by an ear-splitting noise. It took me a second to realize the noise had come from Feluda’s Colt, not Singh’s revolver. Feluda had realized what Mr Singh was going to do the instant he had moved his hand, and so had taken out his own weapon and fired it.

Mr Singh’s revolver was knocked out of his hand. It fell on the carpet with a thud. I saw him glance again at Feluda. But, this time, his eyes held respect, not contempt.

‘I once killed a tiger from a distance of forty yards, but your aim is far better than mine,’ he admitted frankly. ‘All right then, give me that pearl. I will write you a cheque.’

Feluda handed him the velvet box. Mr Singh took out the pearl from it, holding it gently. He turned it around, looking at it from different angles. His eyes gleamed with hope and excitement. Finally, he said, ‘I’d like to have it examined by an expert. You wouldn’t mind, would you? After all, I am going to pay an awful lot of money for it.’

‘Fine, go ahead.’

‘Shankarprasad!’ Suraj Singh called. A neat little man of about forty emerged from the adjoining room. He wore glasses with a golden frame.

‘Sir?’

‘Take a good look at this pearl. Is it genuine?’

Like Sunderlal, Shankarprasad peered closely at it, frowning in concentration. A minute later, he gave it back to Mr Singh.

‘No, sir,’ he said.

‘What! What do you mean?’

‘This is not a genuine pink pearl, sir. It’s only an ordinary cultured white pearl. Someone painted it pink, that’s all.’

‘Are you sure?’

‘Absolutely.’

Suraj Singh turned to Feluda. His face had turned scarlet, he was shaking all over.

‘You . . .’ he muttered, clearly finding it difficult to speak, ‘you . . . were trying to sell me a fake? You scoundrel!’

Feluda appeared totally astounded. ‘I don’t understand!’ he exclaimed. ‘Perhaps Jaichand Boral made a mistake. Maybe it was a fake pearl all along, but he didn’t know it.’

‘Shut up! Put that gun away.’

Feluda lowered his hand.

‘Here’s your stupid pearl!’ Suraj Singh thrust the pearl and the little box into Feluda’s hand.

‘Now get out!’ he barked.

The three of us walked out like three obedient children. I stole a glance at Feluda as we got into the lift. His brows were creased in a deep frown.

It was quite late at night by the time we reached our house in Calcutta two days later. Feluda had barely spoken during the journey.

The next morning, however, I heard him humming under his breath. It was the same song Lalmohan Babu had been forced to sing for Maganlal. He said nothing when I entered his room, but continued to move about restlessly, still humming. I felt quite pleased by this for I hate to see him depressed.

Lalmohan Babu arrived in five minutes. We heard his car toot outside. I opened the door; but before I could say anything, Feluda strode forward to greet him.

‘Good morning!’ he said, folding his hands and bowing low, ‘Please do come in, O Clever One!’

Considerably taken aback, Lalmohan Babu stopped at the threshold and stuttered, ‘D-does this m-mean you have . . .?’

‘Yes, sir. I don’t like being in the dark, Mr Ganguli, so it’s impossible to keep me there for long. I have worked out the truth: you and my dear cousin were in it together, weren’t you? Your own jeweller created the false pearl, right? But how, and when—?’

‘I’ll tell you, I’ll tell you. Oh God, I’ll be glad to make a confession!’ Lalmohan Babu came in and sat down. ‘Please forgive me for doing this, Mr Mitter, and don’t be cross with your cousin,
either. He helped me all right, but it wasn’t his idea. You see, when you paid no heed to Maganlal’s threat, I began to feel most concerned. He gave you three days to make up your mind—Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday. I came back here on Tuesday, remember? You went off to get a haircut. Tapesh found your keys in your absence and opened your safe. Then he passed me Boral’s pearl. I took it to my jeweller immediately, and he made a duplicate the same day. I returned on Wednesday and got Tapesh to slip it back into your safe. What I did was purely out of concern for your welfare, believe me.’

‘I do. It was an admirable plan. Where is the real pearl?’

‘With me, safe and sound. When you told Maganlal it was fake, for a minute I thought you had seen through everything.’

‘No. I would never have thought you capable of such deviousness. I was bluffing before Maganlal and hoping his jeweller would simply say he couldn’t tell if the pearl was genuine. How was I to know the old man would make a mistake and declare that it was?’

‘Jaichand Boral will get a better offer, I am sure.’

‘He already has, from an American millionaire. I found a letter from Someshwar waiting for me. He’s been offered three hundred thousand rupees.’

‘Oh good. I
am
pleased for him.’

Feluda now turned to me. I braced myself for a sharp tap on my head, or at least a long lecture, but all Feluda did was place his hand very gently on my shoulder.

‘Let me give you a word of advice,’ he said. ‘When you write about this case, do not reveal what the two of you did until you get to the end of the story. It will hold the suspense, and your readers will enjoy your story all the more!’