The Cloven Foot · Chapter
XVII: Murder explained
In the dead of night, Jack Chicot raises the alarm that his wife La Chicot has been murdered in their lodging house on Cibber Street.
What happens
In the dead of night, Jack Chicot raises the alarm that his wife La Chicot has been murdered in their lodging house on Cibber Street. The landlady Mrs. Evitt, fellow lodger Mrs. Rawber, and Desrolles gather at the scene. Chicot leaves to fetch a policeman but never returns, raising suspicion. The police and a surgeon arrive, confirming death by a throat wound, and the investigation begins.
Themes in this chapter
Crime and Justice
The chapter depicts the immediate aftermath of a murder, the investigation by police and surgeon, and the suspicion falling on the husband.
Secrets and Deception
Chicot's disappearance and the unanswered questions about the murder suggest hidden motives and deception.
Bohemianism vs. Respectability
The lodging house inhabitants include a tragic actress and a woman of questionable habits, contrasting with the respectable horror of murder.
Characters to notice
- Chicot
Jack Chicot discovers his wife's body and raises the alarm, then disappears while supposedly fetching a policeman.
- La Chicot
Found murdered in her bed with a throat wound; the chapter centers on the discovery of her body.
- Mrs. Evitt
The landlady who panics about her ruined house and immediately suspects Chicot of the murder.
- Mrs. Rawber
A tragic actress lodging in the house; she is terrified and later indignant when police search her room.
- Mr. Desrolles
A cool-headed lodger who helps manage the situation, calls for a policeman, and notes Chicot's suspicious disappearance.
Key passages
“Murder! an awful word under the most ordinary circumstances of everyday life—all awful word even when spoken of an event that happened long ago, or afar off. But what a word shouted in the dead of night, through the close darkness of a sleeping house, thrilling the ear of slumber, freezing the blood in the half-awakened sleepers’ veins.”
The word 'murder' is terrifying in any context, but it becomes even more horrifying when shouted in the middle of the night, waking people from sleep and chilling them with fear.
The narrator emphasizes the visceral impact of the murder alarm in the dark, silent house.
“I never raised my hand against her in my life, though she has tempted me many a time. I came into the house three minutes ago, I should not have known anything, for when I come in late I sleep in the little room, but I saw that—(he pointed to the thin red streak which had crept across the threshold, and under the door, to the carpetless landing outside), 'and then I came in and found her lying here, as you see her.'”
Chicot claims he never struck his wife despite provocation, and that he only discovered the body when he saw blood seeping under the door after returning home late.
Chicot protests his innocence and explains how he found the body, but his later flight undermines his credibility.
“She's the handsomest corpse I've laid out for the last ten years, said the nurse, and I think she does me credit.”
The workhouse nurse comments that La Chicot is the most beautiful dead body she has prepared for burial in a decade, taking pride in her work.
The nurse's professional detachment highlights the grim routine of death in the poorhouse.