The victim was just a hermit monk, but everyone from KingJigme Singye Wangchuck down to the humblest of his 600, 000 subjects wants desperately to solve the mystery before this ill-omened Year of the Tiger ends.
Even after next year's election, the new king, Jigme Khesar Wangchuck, an Oxford-educated 27-year-old, will control the army and appoint key functionaries.