The Complete Adventures of Feluda: Volume I by Satyajit Ray

Author:Satyajit Ray [Ray, Satyajit]
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
ISBN: 9789352141159
Publisher: Penguin Books Ltd
Published: 2015-05-31T18:30:00+00:00

Two

We drove down Jessore Road, and took a right turn after Barasat. This road led straight to Bamungachhi. Mr Samaddar stopped here at a small tea shop and treated us to a cup of tea and jalebis. This took about fifteen minutes. By the time we reached Radharaman Samaddar’s house, it was past eight o’clock.

A bungalow stood in the middle of a huge plot of land (it measured seven acres, we were told later), surrounded by a pink boundary wall and rows of eucalyptus trees. The man who opened the gate for us was probably the mali, for he had a basket in his hand. We drove up to the front door, passing a garage on the way. A black Austin stood in it.

As I was getting out of the car, a sudden noise from the garden made me look up quickly. I found a boy of about ten standing a few yards away, wearing blue shorts and clutching an air gun. He returned my stare gravely.

‘Is your father at home?’ asked Mr Samaddar. ‘Go tell him Moni Babu from Calcutta has come back, and would like to see him, if he doesn’t mind.’

The boy left, loading his gun.

‘Is that the neighbour’s son?’ Feluda asked.

‘Yes. His father, Abani Sen, is a florist. He has a shop in New Market in Calcutta. He lives right next door. He has his nursery here, you see. Occasionally, he comes and spends a few weeks with his family.’

An old man emerged from the house, looking at us enquiringly. ‘This is Anukul,’ Mr Samaddar said. ‘He had worked for my uncle for over thirty years. He’ll stay on until we know what should be done about the house.’

There was a small hall behind the front door. It couldn’t really be called a room, all it had was a round table in the middle, and a torn calendar on the wall. There were no light switches on the wall as the whole area did not receive any electricity at all. Beyond this hall was a door. Mr Samaddar walked over to it, and said, ‘Look, this is the German lock I told you about. One could buy a lock like this in Calcutta before the Second World War. The combination is eight-two-nine-one.’

It was round in shape, with no provision for a key. There were four grooves instead. Against each groove were written numbers, from one to nine. A tiny object like a hook stuck out of each groove. This hook could be pushed from one end of the groove to the other. It could also be placed next to any of the numbers. It was impossible to open the lock unless one knew exactly which numbers the hooks should be placed against.

Mr Samaddar pushed the four hooks, each to rest against a different number—eight, two, nine and one. With a faint click, the lock opened. It seemed almost as though I was in a magic show. ‘Locking the door is even easier,’ said Mr Samaddar. ‘All you need to do is push any of those hooks away from the right number.

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