Lost Man’s Lane · Chapter
The Enigma of Numbers explained
In this chapter, Miss Butterworth and Mr.
What happens
In this chapter, Miss Butterworth and Mr. Gryce debate the significance of Mother Jane's numerical mutterings and the evidence found in her cabin. Mr. Gryce reveals that he discovered hidden trinkets and a ring inside dried vegetables corresponding to the numbers seventy, twenty-eight, and ten, linking Mother Jane to the disappearances of a peddler and young Mr. Chittenden. Miss Butterworth counters with her own discovery of a knot of crape and an open Bible in William's room, insisting that a human being was buried, not an animal. The chapter ends with Mr. Gryce revealing that he was the one who helped bury the body, and he presses Miss Butterworth for details about the crape.
Themes in this chapter
Detection and Investigation
Mr. Gryce and Miss Butterworth engage in a detailed exchange of investigative methods, from counting bricks and vegetables to interpreting symbolic clues like the knot of crape.
Secrecy and Deception
The Knollys family conceals William's vivisection, and Mother Jane hides stolen goods in her cabin, while Mr. Gryce himself admits to having helped bury a body in secret.
Superstition and the Supernatural
Mother Jane's numerical monologue and the mysterious disappearances in Lost Man's Lane evoke a superstitious atmosphere, though the chapter treats them as clues to real crimes.
Characters to notice
- Amelia Butterworth
Engages in a sharp debate with Mr. Gryce, revealing her own investigative discoveries about the knot of crape and William's room.
- Mr. Gryce
Describes his search of Mother Jane's cabin and the discovery of hidden evidence in dried vegetables, and admits to having helped bury a body.
- Mother Jane
Her numerical mutterings are revealed to correspond to hiding places for stolen goods; she is implicated in the disappearances.
- William Knollys
Mentioned as having a secret passion for vivisection, and his room contains a knot of crape and an open Bible.
- Lucetta
Her sobs are linked to the knot of crape and the open Bible, suggesting grief over a human death.
- Silly Rufus
Mentioned as a recent disappearance, but no evidence linking him to Mother Jane has been found.
Key passages
“Seventy! Twenty-eight! Ten! No more! I can count no more! Go.”
Mother Jane chants the numbers seventy, twenty-eight, and ten, then says she can count no further and orders the listener to leave.
Mr. Gryce mimics Mother Jane's monologue to reveal his identity as the person Miss Butterworth encountered in the cottage.
“I looked at the floor and detected no signs of any disturbance having taken place in its symmetrically laid bricks for years.”
Mr. Gryce examined the brick floor but found no evidence that it had been disturbed recently.
Describes Mr. Gryce's initial search of Mother Jane's cabin, which yielded no results from the floor.
“I began to count them next, and when I reached the seventieth onion from the open doorway, I crushed it between my fingers and—these fell out, madam—worthless trinkets, as you will immediately see, but—”
Mr. Gryce counted the dried vegetables hanging from the beams and crushed the seventieth onion, which contained small trinkets.
Reveals the method by which Mr. Gryce discovered hidden evidence linking Mother Jane to the peddler's disappearance.