# XXXII explained — The Door with Seven Locks

> Chapter companion for The Door with Seven Locks by Edgar Wallace.

## What happens

Bertram Cody's written confession details the conspiracy among Havelock, Stalletti, Mrs. Cawler, Silva, and himself to conceal Lord Selford's deathbed accusation and exploit his estate. It describes the plan to hide the young Lord Selford, Stalletti's experimental hypnotic identity destruction, and the creation of a signed statement stored in the tomb with seven locks.

## Themes in this chapter

### Greed and Inheritance

The conspiracy to divert Lord Selford's estate for personal gain.

### Secrecy and Deception

The elaborate cover-up of Lord Selford's death and the hidden confession.

### Madness and Control

Stalletti's experiment to destroy identity and create obedient subjects.

### Science and Ethics

The unethical use of hypnotism to alter a child's identity.

## Character check-ins

### Bertram Cody

Author of the confession; describes his role as tutor and conspirator.

### Mr. Havelock

Sole executor; instigated the cover-up and agreed to Stalletti's experiment.

### Antonio Stalletti

Proposed the hypnotic identity destruction experiment; present at Lord Selford's death.

### Mrs. Cawler

Nurse to young Lord Selford; provided her nephew for Stalletti's experiment; later married Cody.

### Silva

Portuguese gardener; present at Lord Selford's death and became a conspirator.

### Lord Selford

The late Lord Selford; his deathbed accusation and will set the conspiracy in motion.

### Old Lord Selford

The young Lord Selford, a boy of weak intellect, subjected to Stalletti's experiment.

## Key lines

> This statement is written by Henry Colston Bertram, commonly called Bertram Cody, with the knowledge, approval, and agreement of those persons whose signatures appear hereunder.

Bertram Cody writes this confession with the consent of all who signed it.

_Opening of the confession establishing collective responsibility._

> Dr. Stalletti’s theory was that, if the vital forces are inhibited in one direction, they will find abnormal expression in another, and it was his desire to create what he called the perfect man, strong, obedient, having no will of his own, but subservient to the will of another.

Stalletti believed that suppressing a child's natural development would produce a perfectly obedient human being.

_Explanation of Stalletti's experimental goal._

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/the_door_with_seven_locks_se/chapters/xxxii
- Book: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/the_door_with_seven_locks_se
- All chapters: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/the_door_with_seven_locks_se/chapters