The criminals of Kathmandu

chapter 2

What happened next day marked the real beginning of this story.But before I talk about it,I must mention the telephone call Feluda received a few hours after Mr Batra's departure.

Lalmohan Babu left at 7p.m.'It looks as though it's going to rain,'he said,looking out of the window.'I had better be going today.Tell you what ,Tapesh,I'll come back tomorrow.You see,I've thought some more about the new plot.I'd like to discuss it with you.'

It began to pour at around eight.The phone call came at 8.45.Feluda took it on the extension in his room.I heard the conversation on the main telephone in the living room.

'Mr Pradosh Mitter?'asked a deep,rather refined voice.

'Speaking.'

'You're the private investigator?'

'Yes.'

'Namaskar.My name is Anikendra Som.I'm calling from the Central Hotel.'

'Yes?'

'I need to meet you personally.When can I-?'

'Is it urgent?'

'Yes,very.It's raining so heavily it might be difficult to go out tonight,but I'd be grateful if you could find some time tomorrow morning.I've travelled to Kolkata expressly to meet you.I think you'll be interested in the reason.'

I don't suppose you could explain a bit further on the telephone?'

'No I'm sorry.'

'All right.How about nine o' clock tomorrow?'

'That's fine.Thank you.'

Mr Som rang off.Two clients in one evening.I thought to myself.At this rate,Feluda would soon have a queue outside our front door!'

I had recently to follow Feluda's example and started to do yoga in the morning.We were both ready for the day by 8 a.m.Lalmohan Babu rang at half-past eight.

'I'm in my way to your house.'he said.'I'll stop on the way at New Market to look at a green jerkin I saw the other day.I need to find out its price.'He had clearly started making preparations for going to a hill station.

More than an hour later,we were still waiting in the living room,but there was no sign of Mr Som.At 9.45 Feluda glanced at his watch and shook his head irritably.I could tell he was about to comment bitterly on Mr Som's sense of punctuality.But the telephone rang before he could utter a word.

'Why do I find your phone number in the diary of a murder victim?'boomed a familiar voice.It was inspector Mahim Dasgupta,in charge of the Jorosanko police station.

Feluda frowned.'Who's been murdered?'

'Come to Central Avenue,Central Hotel.Room number 23.All will be revealed.'

'Is it Anikendra Som?'

'Did you know him?'

'No I was supposed to meet him this morning.How did he die?'

'Stabbed.'

'When?'

'Early this morning.I'll give you the details when you get here.I arrived about twenty minutes ago.'

'I'll try to get there in half an hour,'said Feluda.

Lalmohan Babu walked in five minutes later,but did not get the chance to sit down.'Murder,'said Feluda briefly,pushing him out of the house.Then he threw him into the back seat of his Ambassador, got in beside him and said to Lalmohan Babu's driver,Haripada,'Central Hotel.Quickly.'

I got in the front with a swift glance at Lalmohan Babu's face.Shock and bewilderment were writ large,but he knew Feluda wouldn't tell him anything even if he asked.

Haripada drove as fast as the traffic let him.Inspector Dasgupta filled us in when we arrived. Apparently,Anikendra Som had checked in on Sunday evening.The hotel register showed us he lied in Kanpur .He was supposed to check out tomorrow.At 5a.m.this morning,a man came and asked for him.On being given his room number,the man went up,using the stairs,not the lift.He was seen leaving the hotel fifteen minutes later.The hotel staff who had seen him described him as a man of medium height,clean shaven,clad in a bush-shirt and grey trousers.The chowkidar said he had a taxi wiaiting.

Mr Som had ordered breakfast at 8 a.m.A waiter arrived on the door,but when there was no response to his loud knocking,he opened the door with a duplicate key.He found Mr Som's body sprawled on the floor,stabbed in he chest with a kukri.The knife had not been removed.

In due course,the police arrived and searched the room.All they found was a small VIP suitcase with a few clothes in it,and a pair of boots.There was no sign of a wallet or money or any other valuables.Presumably,the killer had removed everything.Feluda went in to have a look at the body,'A good-looking man,'he told us afterwards,'Couldn't have been more than thirty.'

According to the receptionist,Mr Som had spent most of his time outside the hotel the day before.He had returned an hour before it started raining.Since the rooms did not have telephones,he had used the telephone directory at the reception desk to look up a number.Then he had written it down in his notebook and used the telephone at the reception counter to make a call.

The police found the notebook with Feluda's number in it.It was lying on the floor between the bed and the beside table.Only the first three pages had been written on.There were disjointed sentences,apparently written at random.

'What do you make of this?'Feluda asked,showing me the scribbles.

'Well,it looks as though a rather shaky hand wrote these words.The word "den",in particular,is almost illegible.'

'Perhaps the man was under terrible strain,'remaked Lalmohan Babu.

'Maybe.Or he may have been travelling at enormous speed I think those words were written in an aeroplane,and as he was writing the word" den",the plane dropped into an air pocket.'

'Yes,you must be right!'exclaimed Lalmohan Babu.'Awful things,air pockets.I remember on our way to Bombay,I had just taken a sip from my cup of coffee when there was such a sip from my cup of coffee when there was such a mighty bump that I choked and spluttered...God,it was awful!'

Feluda wrote the words down in his own notebook and returned Mr Son's to the inspector.

'I will inform his people in Kanpur,'said Mahim Babu.'The body will have to be identified.'

'I believe there is an evening flight from Delhi that comes via Kanpur.You can check if the passenger list last Sunday had Mr Son's name on it.But I think he had recently been to a hilly area.'

'Why,what makes you think of that?'

'Did you notice those heavy boots in that corner?'One of them has a piece of fern stuck on its heel.It couldn't have come from a place on the plains.'

'Yes,you're probably right.I'll keep you informed,Mr jitter,especially if we find any fingertips on the kukri.'

'There's one other thing.Please check with the gift shop in the Grand Hotel if the kukri was sold by them.'

On our way back,Feluda showed us the words he had found in Mr Som's notebook:

1.Is it only LSD?

2.Ask CP about any past cases.

3.Den-is it here or there?

4.Find out AB.

5.Ring up PCM,DDC

The last sentence was followed by Feluda's number.

'Is it something to do with foreign exchange?'asked Lalmohan Babu

'Why do you say that?'

'Well,LSD...I mean it looks like an L,but could it be pound-selling-pence?'

Feluda clicked his tounge in mock annoyance.Do stop thinking of money all the time,'he admonished.'This LSD refers to the d**g,Lysergic Acid Diethylamide.The whole world knows about it.The human brain contains a chemical called serotonin,which helps the brain functions normally.LSD,I believe,reduces the level of this chemical.The brain then acts abnormally,causing hallucinations. For instance,if you took a dose of the d**g now and looked out of the window,you wouldn't see the traffic or the crowds.Green meadows and rippling rivers may greet your eyes instead.'

'Really?Is it possible to buy this stuff?'

'Yes,it most certainly is;but not obviously,at your local pharmacy.It is sold secretly.If you went to the hotel behind the Globe cinema where a lot of hippies stay,you might be lucky enough to get a sugar cube.'

'Sugar cube?'

'Yes.Just one grain of LSD in a sugar cube is quite enough.It would have the strength of-to borrow your own phrase-five thousand horsepower!But,mind you,hallucinations caused by this d**g needn't necessarily be beautiful.I have heard of a case where a man climbed to the roof of a multi-storey building and threw himself over,thinking all the while that he was simply going down a flight of stairs.'

'My God!You mean-?

'Yes,Instant death.,'

'How terrible!'