We finished our soup and were waiting for the next course, when Feluda spoke again. ‘What happened to your weapon?’ he asked Lalmohan Babu.

‘I have it with me,’ Lalmohan Babu replied, chewing a bread stick, ‘haven’t had the chance to show it to you, have I?’

‘What is it?’

‘A boomerang.’

Ah, that made sense. I had been wondering why he had shouted ‘boomerang!’ in his sleep.

‘Where did you get a thing like that?’

‘An Australian was selling some of his stuff. He had put an advertisement in the paper. There were many other interesting things, but I couldn’t resist this one. I have heard that if you can throw it correctly, it would hit your target and return to you.’

‘No, that’s not quite true. It would come back to you only if it misses the target, not if it hits it.’

‘Well yes, you may be right. But let me tell you one thing. It’s damn difficult to throw it. I tried from my terrace, and it went and broke a flower pot on the balcony of the house opposite. Thank goodness, those people knew me and were kind enough to return my weapon without making a fuss about their flower pot.’

‘Please don’t forget to take it with you today.’

Lalmohan Babu’s eyes began to shine with excitement.

‘Are you expecting trouble?’

‘Well, I can’t guarantee anything, can I? After all, whoever has been trying to steal that diamond hasn’t yet got it, has he?’ Feluda spoke lightly, but I could see he was not totally easy in his mind.

At five to three, a blue Ambassador drove up and stopped before the main entrance. ‘Here’s our taxi,’ said Feluda and stood up. Lalmohan Babu and I followed suit. The driver was a local man, young and well built. Feluda joined him on the front seat, clutching Mr Dhameeja’s (fake) attaché case. Jatayu and I sat at the back. The boomerang was hidden inside Jatayu’s voluminous overcoat. I had taken a good look at it. It was made of wood and looked a bit like the bottom half of a hockey stick, although it was a lot thinner and smoother.

The sky had started to turn grey and the temperature dropped appreciably. But the clouds were not very heavy, so it did not seem as though it might rain. We left for the Wildflower Hall on the dot of 3 p.m.

Our hotel was in the main town. We hadn’t had the chance to go out of the hotel since our arrival. The true spirit of the cold, sombre, snow-covered mountains struck me only when our car left the town and began its journey along a quiet, narrow path.