# XVI: The Lonely Moor explained — The Borough Treasurer

> Chapter companion for The Borough Treasurer by J. S. Fletcher.

## 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.

## Character check-ins

### 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 lines

> 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._

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/the_borough_treasurer_se/chapters/xvi-the-lonely-moor
- Book: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/the_borough_treasurer_se
- All chapters: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/the_borough_treasurer_se/chapters