‘I am not afraid of expenses,’ he retorted, laughing like a film villain. ‘I have published twenty-one thrillers, each one of which has seen at least five editions. I have bought three houses in Calcutta, by the grace of God. It’s in my own interest that I travel as much as possible. The more places I see, the easier it is to think up new plots. And not everyone is clever like you, so most people can’t see the difference between a walrus and a hippo, anyway. They’ll happily swallow what I dish out, and that simply means that the cash keeps rolling in. Oh no, I am not bothered about the expenses. But if you give me a straight “no”,’ then obviously it’s a different matter.’

Feluda gave in. Before taking his leave, Jatayu took the details of when and how we’d be leaving and for how long, jotted these down in his notebook and said, ‘Woollen vests, a couple of pullovers, a woollen jacket and an overcoat … surely that should be enough even for Simla?’

‘Yes,’ said Feluda gravely, ‘but only if you add to it a pair of gloves, a Balaclava helmet, a pair of galoshes, woollen socks and something to fight frostbite. Then you may relax.’

I hate exams and tests in school, but I love the kind of tests Feluda sets for me. These are fun and they help clear my mind.

Feluda told me to come to his room after dinner. There he lay on his bed, flat on his stomach, and began throwing questions at me. The first was, ‘Name all the people we’ve got to know who are related to this case.’

‘Dinanath Lahiri.’

‘OK. What sort of a man do you think he is?’

‘All right, I guess. But he doesn’t know much about books and writers. And I’m slightly doubtful about the way he is spending such a lot of money to send us to Simla.’

‘A man who can maintain a couple of cars like that doesn’t have to worry about money. Besides, you mustn’t forget that employing Felu Mitter is a matter of prestige.’

‘Well, in that case there is nothing to be doubtful about. The second person we met was Naresh Chandra Pakrashi. Very ill-tempered.’

‘But plain spoken. That’s good. Not many have that quality.’

‘But does he always tell the truth? I mean, how do we know that Dinanath Lahiri really used to go to the races?’

‘Perhaps he still does. But that doesn’t necessarily mean that he’s a crook.’

‘Then we met Prabeer Lahiri, alias Amar Kumar. Didn’t seem to like his uncle.’

‘That’s perfectly natural. His uncle is a stumbling block in his way forward in films, he gives him an attaché case full of things one day, and then takes it back without telling him … so obviously he’s annoyed with his uncle.’