‘Do you know these people?’ Feluda went on, ‘the gentleman is Parvati Charan—P.C. Biswas, your greatgrandfather. It is obvious from his clothes that he had become a Christian. The lady is Thomas Godwin’s granddaughter, Victoria. It was she who wrote that letter. In fact, she had her photo taken even before she was married. Bourne & Shepherd have a copy of that, too. Victoria fell in love with your great-grandfather, a native Christian. So she fell out of favour with her own grandfather, Thomas Godwin. However, before he died, he forgave Victoria and gave her his blessings. A year later, Victoria and Parvati Charan were married.

‘What this means is that Tom Godwin’s name is linked with not one, but two families in Calcutta—one in Ripon Lane, and the other in New Alipore. What is more intriguing is that both families had old documents that mentioned Tom’s watch. One was the letter from Victoria; the other was Thomas Godwin’s daughter, Charlotte’s diary.’

How extraordinary! Truth was really stranger than fiction. It turned out that a bundle of letters written by Victoria was lying in an old trunk in Naren Biswas’s house. It had remained there for decades, but no one had bothered to read the letters. When Naren Biswas began to read up on the history of Calcutta, he came across the bundle one day and read every letter. That was how he learned about the Perigal repeater and told his brother, Girin.

All these details emerged slowly, as Feluda continued to shoot a volley of questions at Girin Biswas. Mr Biswas began to wilt visibly, but Feluda hadn’t finished. Rather abruptly, he asked, ‘Are you in the habit of going to the races, Mr Biswas?’

Mr Choudhury spoke before Girin Biswas could say anything. ‘He took an advance from me!’ he barked. ‘And then he lost that money in the races, didn’t he? Now he brings me a Cooke-Kelvey watch. Useless fellow!’

Feluda ignored Mr Choudhury. ‘That means you inherited one of Tom’s traits. Is that why you were prepared to take such an enormous risk?’

Girin Biswas made a spirited reply. ‘Mr Mitter, there’s one thing you seem to be forgetting. Anyone can bury his property in a grave. But, a hundred years after its burial, no one can make a personal claim on it. That watch is no longer Tom Godwin’s property.’

‘I am aware of that. The watch now belongs to the state. Even you cannot claim ownership. The truth is, you see, you didn’t just try to steal from the cemetery. You did something else. That is also a criminal offence.’

‘What offence?’ Girin Biswas shot back defiantly.

Feluda took out a tiny object from his pocket. ‘Let me see. Did this button come off the jacket you are wearing? Didn’t you have it cleaned at Hong Kong Laundry only the other day?’