The Circular Staircase · Chapter
XXXII: Anne Watson’s Story explained
Liddy discovers a fresh break in the trunk-room wall and brings Rachel's muddy boots as evidence of supernatural activity.
What happens
Liddy discovers a fresh break in the trunk-room wall and brings Rachel's muddy boots as evidence of supernatural activity. Rachel receives a message that Mrs. Watson is dying at the Charity Hospital and goes to her bedside. There, Mrs. Watson confesses that she is Anne Haswell, sister of Lucy Haswell, who married Arnold Armstrong under the alias Aubrey Wallace. Lucy died after childbirth, and Anne raised the boy Lucien. Arnold blackmailed Anne for years, and on the night of the murder, he struck her with a golf-stick, injuring her hand. In a frenzy, she took Halsey's revolver and shot Arnold from the circular staircase. She hid the revolver and later gave Lucien's address and money to Thomas. She asks Rachel to interest the Armstrongs in Lucien. Rachel promises to care for the boy, and Mrs. Watson dies that night.
Themes in this chapter
Secrecy and Deception
Mrs. Watson's hidden identity as Anne Haswell and her long concealment of the truth about Arnold Armstrong's paternity and her own role in his murder.
Family and Loyalty
Anne's fierce devotion to her nephew Lucien, sacrificing everything to protect and provide for him, and her loyalty to her dead sister Lucy.
Crime and Justice
Mrs. Watson's confession to the murder of Arnold Armstrong, revealing the motive of self-defense and desperation after years of blackmail and abuse.
Characters to notice
- Rachel Innes
Visits Mrs. Watson at the Charity Hospital and hears her deathbed confession.
- Liddy Allen
Discovers the fresh break in the trunk-room wall and brings Rachel's muddy boots as evidence.
- Mr. Jamieson
Investigates the circular staircase with the day detective while Rachel is at the hospital.
- Mrs. Watson
Reveals her true identity as Anne Haswell and confesses to shooting Arnold Armstrong.
- Arnold Armstrong
Revealed as Lucien's father and the man who blackmailed Mrs. Watson; she confesses to killing him.
- Lucien Wallace
Mrs. Watson's nephew, the son of Arnold Armstrong and Lucy Haswell, hidden at a farmhouse near Casanova.
Key passages
“I tell you, you can scoff all you like; something has been wearing your shoes. As sure as you sit there, there’s the smell of the graveyard on them.”
Liddy insists that something supernatural has been using Rachel's boots, claiming they carry the odor of a cemetery.
Liddy's superstitious reaction to the muddy boots highlights the theme of appearance vs. reality.
“She did not know that Thomas was dead, and I did not tell her.”
Rachel chose not to inform the dying Mrs. Watson that Thomas had died.
Rachel's decision reflects her compassion and desire to spare Mrs. Watson additional grief.
“It was she who had crept down the circular staircase, drawn by a magnet, that night Mr. Jamieson had heard someone there.”
Mrs. Watson admits she was the one who descended the circular staircase that night, compelled by an irresistible force.
This confession resolves the earlier mystery of the noises on the staircase.