# VII: A Nameless Visitor explained — The Canary Murder Case

> Chapter companion for The Canary Murder Case by S. S. Van Dine.

## What happens

The investigation continues as the day telephone operator, Spively, is questioned about a mysterious caller who visited Margaret Odell's apartment at 9:30 PM on the night of the murder. Spively describes a well-dressed man in evening attire who rang Odell's bell and left when there was no answer. The team debates how the murderer could have entered the locked apartment, with Vance suggesting the possibility of two unknown persons being involved. Heath speculates that the visitor may have been a professional criminal and Odell's lover.

## Themes in this chapter

### Appearance vs. Reality

The well-dressed visitor in evening attire may be a professional criminal, contrasting his elegant appearance with his likely nefarious intentions.

### Circumstantial Evidence vs. Deduction

Vance uses deductive reasoning to infer details about the visitor's cigarette case from Spively's description, while the team grapples with circumstantial evidence about how the murderer entered.

### Deception and Manipulation

The possibility that the visitor was a lover grafting on Odell suggests a relationship built on deception and financial manipulation.

## Character check-ins

### Spively

The day telephone operator who provides a detailed description of the nameless visitor who called at 9:30 PM.

### John F.-X. Markham

District Attorney who questions Spively and struggles with the impossibility of the murderer's entry.

### Philo Vance

Offers sardonic commentary on the visitor's attire and proposes the theory of two men being involved.

### Ernest Heath

Sergeant who speculates that the visitor was a professional criminal and Odell's lover.

### Margaret Odell

The victim, whose apartment and movements are central to the discussion of the nameless visitor.

## Key lines

> One by one the rosy petals fall

Vance quotes a line of poetry to comment on the unraveling of the case.

_Vance uses this poetic reference to express amusement at the situation._

> My word! A gigolo!

Vance exclaims that the visitor described by Spively is a gigolo.

_Vance identifies the visitor's type based on his fashionable attire._

> How, oh how, did the fair Margaret's executioner get in?

Vance rhetorically asks how the murderer entered the apartment.

_Vance highlights the central mystery of the locked-room scenario._

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/the_canary_murder_case_se/chapters/vii-a-nameless-visitor
- Book: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/the_canary_murder_case_se
- All chapters: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/the_canary_murder_case_se/chapters