Hatyapuri

Disturbed by the heat and humidity of Calcutta in June, (combined with frequent electricity failures) the "Three Musketeers", Pradosh C. Mitter (Feluda), Topshe, and Lalmohon Babu (alias Jatayu) go to Puri for vacation. There they stay in Neelachal Hotel, which was owned by Lalmohan Babu's landlord's classmate, Shyamlal Barik. In the evening, while strolling on the beach, the trio spot footprints on the sand, with a smaller mark on the sides of the footprints. Then Lalmohan Babu goes to meete an astrologer, Laxman Bhattacharya, who can tell everything about the person by touching the forehead of the particular person. Bhattacharya lives in a building called "Sagarika". In the hotel, Shyamlal Barik comes to their room and tells them that the house is owned by one D.G. Sen. Nobody knows his full name. Shyamlal further tells that Sen's main interest is in collecting manuscripts.

Next morning, while strolling on the beach, Topshe and Lalmohan Babu spot a dead body lying on the beach. They tell the news to Feluda, who in turn calls the police. He tells the two of them that he has fixed an appointment with D.G. Sen. While going to Sagarika, they spot a small crowd on the beach. There they find Inspector Mahapatra, whom Feluda was acquainted previously on a case. Mahapatra tells them that the victim's name is Rupchand Singh, who had been identified by his driving license. He had come to Puri from Nepal. He had been shot dead, but the weapon was not found. The "Three Musketeers" then go to Sagarika and meet Nisith Bose, D.G. Sen's secretary.

Nisith tells them that the full name of his employer is Durga Gati Sen. He is now suffering from gout. They meet Mr. Sen in the terrace of his house. Mr. Sen shows them many manuscripts, of which the most famous and the oldest ones were the Ashtadashasahasrika Pragya Paramita and Kalpasutra. He also tells them that he does not sell these manuscripts. The trio then come out of the house. While walking on the beach, they meet a man named Bilas Majumdar. He introduces himself as a famous photographer. They come back to the hotel, where Majumdar tells them his story.

Bilas tells that 8 months back, Mr. Sen and he had gone to Nepal, for a photography session. So one morning they went to a forest, where Majumdar was clicking photos of orchids. Then he had a serious accident but he cannot remember what it was. But fortunately, his life was saved. But he could remember nothing. He had broken a few bones. After telling his story, Lalmohan Babu tells him to consult Laxman Bhattacharya, the astrologer. So they agree to consult Laxman Bhattacharya next evening.

Next day evening, Feluda, Topshe and Lalmohan Babu take a trip around Puri. On the way, they meet Inspector Mahapatra. He tells him that Rupchand Singh arrived yesterday in Puri. Then the trio and Bilash Majumdar go to The astrologer's house. There the astrologer tells him that the rock was pushed by a person. This means there was a murder attempt on Majumdar. Then, the four of them go to the Railway Hotel to have dinner, where Lalmohan Babu tells him to meet D.G. Sen tomorrow. While returning to the hotel, they meet Mahesh Hingorani, who had travelled with them to Puri in the same train. He tells them that he had offered 25,000 rupees for the Pragya Paramita but he refused. Hingorani then walks of in disgust.

Next morning Feluda and Topshe go to the Puri railway station to buy newspaper. There they meet Nisith Bose. He tells them that a man had come today at Mr. Sen's house. On seeing the man, Mr. Sen told him to get out at once. Feluda believes that the man was Bilash Majumdar. Nisith Bose then hurries out of the station. Feluda and Topshe come to the hotel to find Majumdar waiting for them. He tells them that he had gone to Mr. Sen's home. Mr. Sen seemed to recognize him and then told him to go back. He tells them that next day, he is leaving Puri. Majumdar leaves them, while Topshe and Lalmohan Babu go to Bhubaneshwar. They return to Puri in the evening, to find Feluda had gone out. They wait for him but they become restless. They go out in search for him. Suddenly, Lalmohan Babu stumbles on something. Topshe sees that Feluda was lying unconscious on the beach. They help him to his feet and go back to the hotel. Feluda's head was bleeding. In the hotel, Shyamlal brings in a man, who introduces himself as Mahim Sen, Mr. Sen's son. Mahim Sen tells them that he had come to Puri to meet his father. Feluda tells him that one of the most valuable manuscripts from Mr. Sen's collection is missing and the secretary, i.e., Nisith Bose is missing. When Mahim goes out of the hotel, Feluda tells Topshe that Nisith took all his bedding with him but left his wallet in his room.

Next morning, they go to a house named "Bhujanga Niwas", which is near Sagarika. Inside the house, Lalmohan Babu find the dead body of Nisith Bose. He was stuck on the head with a blunt instrument. Feluda tells Topshe and Lalmohan Babu that tonight, they have keep a vigil in front of Sagarika. In the night, in a thrilling climax, Feluda catches the culprits, Bilas Majumdar and Laxman Bhattacharya.

Feluda gathers everyone in Bhujanga Niwas and tells everyone that Bilas Majumdar is actually Mr. A. Sarkar, who is a smuggler by profession. Feluda told him that the actual Bilas Majumdar had died three weeks ago in a hospital in Nepal. Feluda tells that he had actually pushed Mr. Sen from the cliff. But the driver of the car he was in, Rupchand Singh, started blackmailing him. So Sarkar killed him. He came to Puri and when he saw D.G. Sen here, he joined hands with Laxman Bhattacharya to help him steal the manuscripts. But Nisith Bose had actually seen him doing this. So Bhattacharya killed him with the hard manuscript, and later he threw the manuscript into the sea. Before throwing it into the sea, Bhattacharya saw Feluda and attacked him with the blood-soaked manuscript. Tonight they were planning to make another robbery, but they got caught. Feluda returns the Pragya Paramita to Mr. Sen and tells him that the Nulias had retrieved the manuscript from the sea. Inspector Mahapatra arrests the culprits.

Next morning, Feluda and Co. goes to Sagarika, where he tells Mr. Sen that he was the one who was roaming in the beach with his walking stick. He actually did not suffer from gout. Mr. Sen then shows them his wooden leg.

• Pradosh Chandra Mitter aka. Feluda, the private investigator
• Tapesh Ranjan Mitra aka. Topshe, Feluda's assistant and cousin
• Lalmohan Ganguly aka. Jatayu, the bumbling crime fiction writer
• Durga Gati Sen, manuscript collector
• Mahim Sen, son of D.G. Sen
• Bilash Majumdar/Mr. A. Sarkar, self-proclaimed "wildlife photographer"
• Laxman Bhattacharya, astrologer
• Inspector Mahapatra, officer in-charge of the case
• Shyamlal Barik, manager of Neelachal Hotel
• Mahesh Hingorani aka. M.L. Hingorani, a businessman
• Srinivas Som, Jatayu's roommate
• Haripada Dutta, Jatayu's driver
• Nisith Bose, D. G. Sen's secretary

Sunday Suspense, a Bengali audio programme on Mirchi Bangla, adapted this novel in 2017, with Sabyasachi Chakraborty voicing Feluda, RJ Somak voicing Topshe, Jaganath Basu voicing Lalmohan Ganguly, with RJ Deep, RJ Mir, and others voicing various characters.