Uncle Sidhu fell silent again. However, in the end, he shook his head and said, ‘No, Felu, my boy. I think you’re off on a wild goose chase. Haven’t you got a real case to work on at the moment? Is that why you’re trying to make one up, eh?’

Feluda gave his famous lopsided smile, but said nothing. Uncle Sidhu went on, ‘If there was someone left here from the Godwin family, they might have been able to shed some light. But I don’t suppose you’ll find anyone. After all, not all English families were like the Barwells or the Tytlers, whose descendants remained in India until quite recently—right from the time of Clive!’

It was at this point that Feluda played his trump card.

‘Thomas Godwin’s family remained here for three generations after his death. I know that for a fact.’

‘Really?’ Uncle Sidhu sounded amazed. The truth was that, before going to Uncle Sidhu’s house, we had spent an hour and a half that morning in another cemetery in Lower Circular Road. It had been built later than the one in Park Street, and was still in use.

‘We saw Charlotte Godwin’s grave,’ Feluda said. ‘She died in 1886, at the age of sixty-seven.’

‘Was her surname shown as Godwin? That means she remained unmarried. Ah, she was a good writer!’

‘Next to Charlotte was her brother, David’s tomb. He died in 1874.’ Feluda took out his notebook and began rattling out a list, ‘He was the head assistant in Kidd & Co. in Kidderpore. Next to him lies his son, Lt. Col. Andrew Godwin, together with his wife, Emma. Andrew died in 1882. Their son, Charles, is buried beside them. He was a doctor, and he died in 1920.’

‘Well done! Full marks for your meticulous research and perseverance.’ Uncle Sidhu sounded really pleased. ‘Now you must find out if anyone from their family is alive and living in Calcutta. Did you find the name Godwin in the telephone directory?’

‘Just one. I rang the number. That Godwin has nothing to do with Thomas.’

‘You might need to look a bit further. Who knows, there might be a link? Mind you, I have no idea how you’d ever be able to find it. But if you do, we might learn something more about this colourful character called Thomas Godwin. All this talk of grave-digging strikes me as pure nonsense. Anyway, good luck!’

Chapter 4

When we returned home, I waited patiently until the afternoon; after that, my patience ran out and I couldn’t help asking Feluda, ‘There was a piece of paper in Naren Biswas’s wallet. What was written on it?’

Feluda had made some enquiries and learned that Mr Biswas had been admitted to Park Hospital. He had decided to go there in the evening and return Mr Biswas’s belongings to him.