The victim was just a hermit monk, but everyone from KingJigmeSingyeWangchuck down to the humblest of his 600, 000 subjects wants desperately to solve the mystery before this ill-omened Year of the Tiger ends.
Bhutan's road to democracy was paved by the fourth king, JigmeSingyeWangchuck, who decided that the country's destiny should not be left to accidents of birth.
The former king, JigmeSingyeWangchuck, had announced the end of the absolute monarchy three years earlier before an audience of yak herders in a remote mountain village.