The Rhythm of Riddles: 3 Byomkesh Bakshi Mysteries by Bandyopadhyay Saradindu

Author:Bandyopadhyay, Saradindu [Bandyopadhyay, Saradindu]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9788184756968
Publisher: Penguin Books Ltd
Published: 2012-07-17T00:00:00+00:00

8

Glancing at his watch, Byomkesh said, ‘Only seventeen minutes to go. Therefore I shall present my explanation swiftly before departing for the station.’

It is needless to describe the sensation caused in the town by the arrest of Baikuntha-babu’s murderer. Somehow people had come to know that it was Byomkesh who had made the impossible come true. Despite trying his best to maintain an air of affection as well as satisfaction, Shashanka-babu had failed miserably at the task. Therefore we had decided to return to Calcutta without any further unnecessary delay.

Kailash-babu had returned to his former residence. We were gathered in his bedroom before our departure. Shashanka-babu, Barada-babu and Amulya-babu were present; half-sitting, half-lying on his bed, Kailash-babu was striving to summon an unfamiliarly pleasant expression to his countenance. His remorse for falsely suspecting his son was evident.

‘Now I realize that it was neither a ghost nor a ghoul but Shailen-babu,’ he exclaimed suddenly. ‘Oh, how devious the man is! Do you remember how he had sat here in this room and cried “there … there!”? All lies. He had seen nothing—he was merely trying to deceive us. So that we could not imagine that he himself was the ghost. Now, Byomkesh-babu, pray explain how you solved the mystery.’

Everyone looked at Byomkesh eagerly.

With a smile, Byomkesh began. ‘Do not take it amiss, Barada-babu, but I was always a disbeliever when it came to ghosts and spirits. I am not getting into the question of their existence; but I suspected from the beginning that the creature appearing in Kailash-babu’s presence was not a spirit but a flesh and blood human being. I am a mere materialist, I deal in material objects; therefore, I always keep extra-sensory matters out of my calculations.

‘Now let us assume that the ghost is in fact a human being. The question that naturally arises is: who is he and why would he behave thus? Why would a person frighten everyone who lives here by pretending to be a ghost? The only answer is that he wished to drive everyone away. Think about it, there cannot possibly be any other reasonable explanation.

‘Very well. Now the question is—why does he wish to drive them away? Surely he has some motive in doing this. What is that motive?

‘As all of you are aware, not a trace of Baikuntha-babu’s valuable jewels was found after his death. The police suspect that he stashed them in a wooden box, which the murderer took after killing him. But I was unable to accept this contention without question. What little I have learnt of Miser Baikuntha’s personality does not suggest that he was the kind of person to hoard his valuables in a simple wooden box. No one knew where he actually kept them. And yet, they were definitely in this very room. The question, then, is—where?

‘But let us abandon this question for the moment. The only logical explanation for this nuisance of ghosts was that Baikuntha-babu’s assailant knew where the valuables were hidden, but had not yet had the opportunity to take them away.

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