We finished our packing in the late afternoon. Since we were going for less than a week, I didn’t take too many clothes. At six-thirty in the evening, Jatayu rang us.

‘I am taking a new weapon,’ he informed us. ‘I’ll show it to you when we get to Delhi.’

We knew he was interested in collecting weapons of various kind. He had taken a Nepali dagger on our journey through Rajasthan, although he did not get the chance to use it.

‘I have bought my ticket,’ he added. ‘I’ll see you tomorrow at the airport.’

Our tickets arrived a couple of hours later, together with a note from Dinanath Babu. It said:

Dear Mr Mitter,

I am enclosing your air tickets to Delhi and train tickets to Simla. I have made reservations for you for a day in Delhi at the Janpath Hotel; and you are booked at the Clarkes in Simla for four days. I have just received a reply from Mr Dhameeja. He says he has my attaché case safe. He expects you to call on him the day after tomorrow at 4 p.m. You have got his address, so I will not repeat it here. I have not made a list of the items in my case because, thinking things over, it struck me that there is only one thing in it that is of any value to me. It is a bottle of enterovioform tablets. These are made in England and definitely more effective than those produced here. I should be happy simply to get these back. I hope you have a safe and successful visit.

Yours sincerely,
Dinanath Lahiri

We were planning to have an early night and go to bed by ten o’ clock, but at a quarter to ten, the door bell rang. Who could it be at this hour? I opened the door and was immediately struck dumb to find a man who I never dreamt would ever pay us a visit. If Feluda was similarly surprised, he did not show it.

‘Good evening, Mr Pakrashi,’ he said coolly, ‘please come in.’

Mr Pakrashi came in, a slightly embarrassed look on his face, a smile hovering on his lips. His ill-tempered air was gone. What had happened in a day to bring about this miraculous change? And what had he come to tell us so late in the evening?

He sat down on a chair and said, ‘Sorry to trouble you. I know it’s late. I did try to ring you, but couldn’t get through. So I thought it was best to call personally. Please don’t mind.’

‘We don’t. Do tell us what brings you here.’

‘I have come to make a request. It is a very special request. In fact, it may strike you as positively strange.’

‘Really?’