The Borough Treasurer · Chapter
XVI: The Lonely Moor explained
Bert Stoner, after consulting his friend Myler, decides to blackmail his employer Mallalieu rather than claim the reward for information about Kitely's murder.
What happens
Bert Stoner, after consulting his friend Myler, decides to blackmail his employer Mallalieu rather than claim the reward for information about Kitely's murder. Confronting Mallalieu on a lonely moor, Stoner reveals he knows Mallalieu and Cotherstone were convicted frauds and that they killed Kitely to silence him. Enraged, Mallalieu strikes Stoner with his stick; Stoner falls backward through a rotten railing into a quarry and lies motionless below.
Themes in this chapter
Greed and Materialism
Stoner chooses potential blackmail money over the legal reward, driven by desire for wealth.
Deception and Betrayal
Stoner betrays his employers by threatening to expose their secret; Mallalieu's violent reaction is a betrayal of trust.
Fate and Consequence
Stoner's decision to blackmail leads directly to his fatal fall; Mallalieu's past crimes catch up with him.
Characters to notice
- Bert Stoner
Decides to blackmail Mallalieu instead of claiming the reward; confronts Mallalieu on the moor and is struck down.
- Mr. Mallalieu
Enraged by Stoner's accusations and blackmail attempt; strikes Stoner, causing him to fall into a quarry.
- David Myler
Advises Stoner to claim the reward legally and avoid blackmail; his counsel is ignored.
- Mr. Cotherstone
Implied as a co-conspirator in Kitely's murder and the past fraud; mentioned by Stoner.
- Mr. Kitely
The murdered ex-detective; Stoner reveals he was killed because he knew Mallalieu and Cotherstone's criminal past.
Key passages
“Keep to the law, Bert, old man! ... You'll be all right then. Stick to my advice—see Tallington at once—this very afternoon!—and put in for the five hundred.”
Myler urges Stoner to claim the reward legally rather than resort to blackmail.
Myler's advice contrasts with Stoner's greed.
“I know who killed Kitely! ... Kitely was murdered by either you or Cotherstone!”
Stoner directly accuses Mallalieu and Cotherstone of murdering Kitely.
This confrontation triggers the violent climax.
“God ha' mercy! ... If—if he's killed? He shouldn't ha' plagued me—he shouldn't ha' dared me!”
Mallalieu panics after Stoner falls, fearing he has killed him.
Shows Mallalieu's immediate guilt and fear.