mutt data files

[neman]

I have a bit of a problem with mutt 1.2.5i that I have set up on a 
debian 2.2 box: it does not want to show me in what folders do I have
new mail. I am thinking about writing a wrapper around mutt which
would give me little different folder listing not just showing which
folders have new mail, but also how many new mails are there in a
particular folder. Now the problem is how can I get the needed data
form mutt? Where does mutt save its data, and in what format? 

Atiz