One evening, while Kumodini Babu was conning the Mahabharata (an
ancient epic) in his parlour, the Sub-Inspector came in, armed with
a search warrant issued by the Deputy Magistrate of Ghoria, which
he showed the astonished master of the house. A charge of receiving
stolen property brought against him was indeed a bolt from the blue;
but when Kumodini Babu regained his scattered wits, he told the
Sub-Inspector scornfully that he might search every hole and corner of
his house. For half an hour the police were occupied in turning his
furniture and boxes topsy-turvy; and at last the Sub-Inspector went
alone into a lumber-room, while his head constable kept Kumodini's
attention fixed on the contents of an almeira (ward-robe) which he
was searching. Shouting, "I have found the property!" he emerged
from the room with a box containing various articles of gold and
silver, which he said were hidden under some straw. On comparing
them with a list in his possession he declared that they exactly
tallied with property reported as part of the spoils of a burglary
in the neighbouring village. In vain Kumodini Babu protested his
entire innocence and asked whether he, a respectable Zemindar, was
likely to be a receiver of stolen goods. He was handcuffed and taken
to the police station on foot, while the Sub-Inspector followed in
a palanquin.
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