# V: An Amateur Sleuth explained — The Cheyne Mystery > Chapter companion for The Cheyne Mystery by Freeman Wills Crofts. ## What happens Cheyne decides to pursue the gang himself rather than go to the police, hoping to recover the documents for Arnold Price's claim to the barony of Hull. He races to intercept the launch Enid, but misses it. He then follows Price and Lewisham by train from Kingswear to Exeter and finally to London, where he hires a taxi to tail them, only to lose them in traffic. ## Themes in this chapter ### Adventure and Detection Cheyne embarks on a self-styled detective mission, finding excitement in the chase and employing methods from detective novels. ### Cunning and Intellect Cheyne uses reasoning to anticipate the gang's route and observes Price's disguise and compartment changes. ### Deception and Identity Price and Lewisham use disguises and subterfuge to avoid detection, while Cheyne alters his own appearance. ## Character check-ins ### Maxwell Cheyne Decides to become an amateur sleuth, pursuing the gang on his own initiative; follows Price and Lewisham by train and taxi. ### Arnold Price Observed by Cheyne on the train; uses a disguise and changes compartments to avoid detection. ### Tom Lewisham Travels with Price; also alters his appearance during the journey. ### Miss Cheyne Cheyne's sister; he briefly sees her at Warren Lodge to explain his absence and obtain money. ### Johnson Told by Cheyne about the location of his dinghy at the boat slip. ## Key lines > To enter upon a battle of wits with such men would be a sport more thrilling than big game hunting, more exciting than war, and if by his own unaided efforts he could bring about their undoing he would not only restore his self-respect, which had suffered a nasty jar, but might even recover for Arnold Price the documents which he required for his claim to the barony of Hull. Cheyne views the chase as an exhilarating intellectual contest, hoping to redeem his pride and retrieve the documents needed for Price's claim to the barony. _Highlights Cheyne's motivation for amateur detection._ > Taking a taxi in his turn, he bent forward and said to the driver what the sleuths of his novels had so often said to their drivers in similar circumstances: 'Follow that taxi. Ten bob extra if you keep it in sight.' Cheyne instructs his taxi driver to tail the other cab, offering a bonus, exactly as detectives do in the fiction he has read. _Shows Cheyne's reliance on literary detective tropes._ ## Links - HTML: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/the_cheyne_mystery_se/chapters/v-an-amateur-sleuth - Book: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/the_cheyne_mystery_se - All chapters: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/the_cheyne_mystery_se/chapters