The Nawab's Ring

By Dr Kisholoy Roy

A chance invitation of Probal Pakrassi, the protagonist and the detective in the novella to the Sengupta household at Madhyamgram in the outskirts of Kolkata followed by a murder of the chief karta of the household and a theft and what follows after that is intrigue. A number of suspects, travails in resolving the mystery and the final disclosure. A perfect plot to sit back and enjoy the genre of mystery, crime and thriller.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Dr Kisholoy Roy
• Release date: Oct 19, 2022
• ISBN: 9781005470296

Dr Kisholoy Roy

Dr. Kisholoy Roy is a PhD in Management from IIT (Indian School of Mines), Dhanbad. He is a certified Accredited Management Teacher (AMT) who has been into teaching Management for several years now at the post graduate level. Dr Roy has authored several books on management apart from authoring various case studies, articles and research papers. He is presently engaged as an independent trainer and consultant in digital marketing and brand communication apart from his engagements as a faculty in Marketing with various B-schools.

Book preview

 Chapter 1

Namaskar Probal babu, can you recognize me? I and Probal babu were at H M Electronics, a showroom at Baguiati, Kolkata that retailed all conceivable consumer durables under one roof. We were there to buy an air conditioner for Probal babu’s new flat at Nagerbazaar when we encountered a gentleman of around 35 years. Probal Pakrassi took around ten seconds to recognize the gentleman as Sumanto Sengupta, an advocate practicing law at the Calcutta High Court. He also recollected that for solving a particular case, Sumanto babu was of immense help to him. Sumanto Sengupta was pleased to be recognized as he said, "Actually I would have probably missed you but my son Soumyo recognized you and was constantly pestering me to introduce him to you. He is a big fan of yours and wants to say something.’ ‘Oh sure, where is he,’ queried Probal babu. From behind his father’s waist, emerged a face that was bright and cute. A boy of around eight years age had a faint smile on his face and obviously seemed a little shy to interact. ‘Yes young man. I heard that you have something to ask. What is it?’ asked Probal babu

 ‘Can you get my stolen bird back?’ 

‘What is he mentioning about the bird?’ asked Probal babu.

The gentleman laughed gently and said, ‘Oh, that is nothing. He wanted to have a bird so I purchased a talking myna for him. The very day it was brought home, it got stolen by someone.’

‘There is only a feather remaining in the cage’, added Probal babu’s kid admirer. 

‘Oh, I see’ said Probal babu

‘It was there at night. But not in the morning,’ said Soumyo.

‘Ok understood. But can Soumyo not do anything to unravel the mystery?’ asked Probal babu

‘Am I a detective? I am simply a small boy studying in Class II,’ said Soumyo.

The boy’s father did not allow the conversation to advance further as he mentioned, ‘Ok Somu; we have to go to New Town at your maternal aunt’s place today so instead of conversing with your star detective here why not invite him to your house someday?’ said Sumanto babu.

The boy was prompt enough with the invitation. Meanwhile, Sumanto Sengupta pulled out a business card from his wallet that contained his detailed residential address at Madhyamgram. 

Probal babu gave a cursory look at the card and mentioned, ‘So you stay in Madhyamgram. Good, it’s not that far from my place. I can definitely come someday to meet my kid admirer and do my best in solving the mystery that is troubling him’. 

‘You might have heard my father’s name – Subro Shankar Sengupta. He was the erstwhile district magistrate of Burdwan and had been in news for his strict actions against various anti social elements of that area during the late 1990s’, said Sumanto babu.

‘Oh yes, I do recall. If I am not wrong, he also possess a huge collection of antique objects that are both interesting and intriguing and I read about that sometime back in a newspaper article that was published most probably on a Sunday,’ said Probal babu. 

‘Oh yes, you are absolutely correct. It was an article in The Times of India Sunday edition. By the way those collections are my father’s hobby. After his innings as an IAS officer serving in various capacities, he is now totally into those things. He has travelled the entire world for those collectibles’, said Sumanto babu. He added, ‘ You are interested about many things and I am sure you will love to see his collection – antique gramophone, upholstery items from the Mughal era, antique stamp collections, Nawab Siraj ud-Daulah’s ring… Apart from that, our house itself has historical importance. Our house is existing for close to 400 years and it was here that Nawab Siraj ud-Daulah visited and impressed by the work of one of my ancestors who was a tax collector of the area, gifted him a golden ring that is both immensely beautiful and carries astronomical value in today’s date. Why don’t you visit us on a Sunday. It will be nice to interact with the members of the household and of course