The Charing Cross Mystery · Chapter
Whose Portrait Is This? explained
Hetherwick and Matherfield visit the hotel where Robert Hannaford had been staying and meet his granddaughter Rhona.
What happens
Hetherwick and Matherfield visit the hotel where Robert Hannaford had been staying and meet his granddaughter Rhona. They inform her of Hannaford's sudden death. Hetherwick recalls seeing Rhona earlier with Kenthwaite. Later, Hetherwick returns to speak with Rhona and learns about a photograph Hannaford had cut from a newspaper, annotated with 'Through my hands ten years ago!' Matherfield arrives with news that the postmortem confirms Hannaford was poisoned.
Themes in this chapter
Murder and Mystery
The confirmation of poisoning transforms Hannaford's sudden death into a murder investigation, deepening the mystery.
Secrecy and the Past
The annotated photograph 'Through my hands ten years ago!' hints at a hidden history and unresolved secrets from a decade earlier.
Characters to notice
- Mr. Hetherwick
Visits the hotel with Matherfield, recognizes Rhona from earlier, later returns to question her about the photograph.
- Mr. Matherfield
Leads the investigation, informs Rhona of her grandfather's death, later reveals the postmortem confirmed poisoning.
- Rhona Hannaford
Granddaughter of the deceased, meets Hetherwick and Matherfield, provides the photograph cutting and cooperates with the inquiry.
- Mr. Robert Hannaford
Deceased ex-Superintendent; died suddenly at Charing Cross; had cut out a photograph annotated with a cryptic note.
- Mr. Kenthwaite
Mentioned as the man showing Rhona around the Temple; Hetherwick knows him slightly.
- Mrs. Keeley
Rhona's aunt who arrives early in the morning and accompanies her to view the body.
Key passages
“I’m sorry to say he is dead. He died suddenly in the train at Charing Cross. A seizure, no doubt.”
Matherfield informs Rhona that her grandfather died suddenly at Charing Cross, initially attributing it to a seizure.
Matherfield delivers the news of Hannaford's death to his granddaughter.
“Through my hands ten years ago!”
Hannaford's handwritten note on the photograph suggests the woman pictured had been involved with him or the police a decade earlier.
The cryptic annotation on the photograph hints at a past connection.
“But the doctors have finished their postmortem. And there’s no doubt about their verdict. Poisoned!”
Matherfield reveals that the autopsy conclusively determined Hannaford was poisoned.
The official confirmation of poisoning escalates the case to murder.