# The Footsteps at the Lock — Chapters explained

> Chapter companions for The Footsteps at the Lock by Ronald A. Knox.

- [The Footsteps at the Lock](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/the_footsteps_at_the_lock_se/chapters/the-footsteps-at-the-lock.md): Miles Bredon and Angela investigate the lock where the canoe was found empty, discovering footprints and clues that suggest foul play rather than an accidental drowning.
- [I: Two Cousins](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/the_footsteps_at_the_lock_se/chapters/i-two-cousins.md): This chapter introduces the two Burtell cousins, Derek and Nigel, who are both students at Simon Magus College, Oxford. Derek is dissolute in a conventional, unimaginative way, while Nigel is an affected aesthete who cul
- [II: Shipcote Lock](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/the_footsteps_at_the_lock_se/chapters/ii-shipcote-lock.md): The Burtell cousins, Derek and Nigel, canoe down the upper Thames, indifferent to the natural beauty around them. Nigel disembarks at Shipcote Lock to catch a train, leaving Derek to continue alone. The chapter provides 
- [III: The Canoe Adrift](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/the_footsteps_at_the_lock_se/chapters/iii-the-canoe-adrift.md): Nigel Burtell, having returned to Oxford, discovers his viva examination is not until the next day. He travels to Eaton Bridge and waits at the Gudgeon Inn for his cousin Derek, who is overdue from a canoe trip. Growing 
- [IV: The Indescribable Has Its Doubts](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/the_footsteps_at_the_lock_se/chapters/iv-the-indescribable-has-its-doubts.md): Miles Bredon, the Indescribable Insurance Company's private detective, is summoned to investigate the disappearance of Derek Burtell. In a meeting with Sholto and Dr. Tremayne, he learns the details of the case: Derek's 
- [Mr. Burgess Expands](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/the_footsteps_at_the_lock_se/chapters/v-mr-burgess-expands.md): Bredon and Angela continue their investigation, towing a canoe upstream and stopping at the Gudgeon Inn. They meet Mr. Burgess, the lock-keeper, who expands on his theory that the missing canoeist deliberately staged the
- [VI: The Archimedes Touch](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/the_footsteps_at_the_lock_se/chapters/vi-the-archimedes-touch.md): Miles Bredon and his wife Angela discuss the case at the Gudgeon Inn, a self-consciously quaint establishment. Bredon critiques the police's focus on finding a body and instead raises suspicions about Nigel Burtell's ali
- [VII: The Camera Cannot Lie](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/the_footsteps_at_the_lock_se/chapters/vii-the-camera-cannot-lie.md): Angela presents Bredon with six photographs she developed. Bredon analyzes each image, deducing that the final photograph shows a man who appears dead or drugged in a canoe near the lock-stream bridge. He reconstructs th
- [A Common-Room Dinner](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/the_footsteps_at_the_lock_se/chapters/viii-a-common-room-dinner.md): Bredon visits Nigel in Oxford to return developed photographs he found near the river, using the pretext to observe Nigel's reactions. Nigel's affected aestheticism and evasiveness hint at deception. Later, Bredon dines 
- [IX: Nigel Goes Down](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/the_footsteps_at_the_lock_se/chapters/ix-nigel-goes-down.md): Bredon and Angela discuss the case over breakfast, debating whether Nigel Burtell could have murdered his cousin Derek. Bredon argues that Nigel's alibi is strong, as the canoe would have taken too long to drift downstre
- [X: Discordant Notes](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/the_footsteps_at_the_lock_se/chapters/x-discordant-notes.md): The Burtell case continues to generate public sensation and amateur detective activity. Inspector Leyland reports his investigation findings, which include a suspiciously perfect alibi for Nigel. Meanwhile, Mr. Erasmus Q
- [Mr. Erasmus Quirk](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/the_footsteps_at_the_lock_se/chapters/xi-mr-erasmus-quirk.md): Inspector Leyland and Miles Bredon discuss the puzzling evidence of two wallets found at different locations, suggesting the canoe journey involved two separate episodes. They consider tracking Nigel Burtell and the myst
- [XII: The Secret of the Island](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/the_footsteps_at_the_lock_se/chapters/xii-the-secret-of-the-island.md): Bredon and Leyland reconstruct the events of the crime, concluding that Nigel Burtell murdered his cousin Derek and staged the canoe disappearance. They deduce that Nigel faked Derek's presence at Millington Bridge, used
- [XIII: Pursued](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/the_footsteps_at_the_lock_se/chapters/xiii-pursued.md): Leyland plans to investigate the man in the punt while Bredon reviews his notes on the Burtell case. Bredon engages Mr. Quirk in a speculative conversation about the cousins' disappearance, exploring motives such as Aunt
- [XIV: The Man in the Punt](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/the_footsteps_at_the_lock_se/chapters/xiv-the-man-in-the-punt.md): Leyland returns from tracing the mysterious man in the punt, who hired a punt under the name Luke Wallace with a false address. The man was seen asking questions about the Burtells at Millington Bridge and then continued
- [XV: A New Legacy](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/the_footsteps_at_the_lock_se/chapters/xv-a-new-legacy.md): Mrs. Coolman, the great-aunt of Derek and Nigel Burtell, dies peacefully. Her will, drawn up shortly before her death, leaves nearly a hundred thousand pounds to Derek, with Edward Farris as the alternative heir. This ne
- [XVI: Bredon Plays Patience](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/the_footsteps_at_the_lock_se/chapters/xvi-bredon-plays-patience.md): Leyland returns to Oxford to consult solicitors, while Mr. Quirk investigates the man in the punt's purchases. Bredon and Angela take a holiday on the Windrush. A cipher postcard arrives for Nigel, which Bredon decodes b
- [XVII: Mr. Quirk Disappears](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/the_footsteps_at_the_lock_se/chapters/xvii-mr-quirk-disappears.md): Leyland returns with news that Derek Burtell may be alive, having found a letter at the White Hart in White Bracton that explains the Bradshaw cipher. The group debates whether the cousins are in active correspondence, w
- [XVIII: In Undisguise](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/the_footsteps_at_the_lock_se/chapters/xviii-in-undisguise.md): Nigel Burtell faints after being exposed as Mr. Quirk. Bredon explains to Leyland how he deduced that Quirk was actually Nigel in disguise, revealing that Nigel's undergraduate persona was an act—his round shoulders, yel
- [XIX: The Story Nigel Told](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/the_footsteps_at_the_lock_se/chapters/xix-the-story-nigel-told.md): Nigel, recovering from a heart attack, recounts his involvement in Derek's disappearance scheme. He explains the plan to fake Derek's death for insurance money, the canoe trip, the alias 'Mr. H. Anderton', and his subseq
- [XX: A Reconstruction](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/the_footsteps_at_the_lock_se/chapters/xx-a-reconstruction.md): Bredon and Leyland reconstruct the events of the murder, testing the timing and feasibility of Nigel's actions. They discover a crucial shadow inconsistency in a photograph, leading them to reconsider the timeline. A str
- [XXI: A Walk in the Dark](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/the_footsteps_at_the_lock_se/chapters/xxi-a-walk-in-the-dark.md): Bredon and Leyland attempt to follow the stranger in the punt, but after a difficult overland journey through fields and obstacles, they lose track of him. They return to the Gudgeon, where Angela has supper waiting. The
- [XXII: Another Story](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/the_footsteps_at_the_lock_se/chapters/xxii-another-story.md): Mr. Edward Farris recounts his involvement in the Burtell affair, explaining how Mrs. Coolman sent him to verify Derek and Nigel's river trip, his suspicions of Nigel, and his subsequent actions including stealing the ca
- [XXIII: Bredon Plays Patience Again](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/the_footsteps_at_the_lock_se/chapters/xxiii-bredon-plays-patience-again.md): Nigel, now recovering, engages Angela in a philosophical debate about murder and moral responsibility, while Bredon investigates the alias 'Luke Wallace' and discovers that someone using that name stayed at a Witney hote
- [XXIV: Backed Both Ways](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/the_footsteps_at_the_lock_se/chapters/xxiv-backed-both-ways.md): Miles Bredon reveals that Derek Burtell orchestrated his own disappearance and the false murder scene, using drug-induced cunning to frame his cousin Nigel. Derek's plan involved trick photography, false footprints, and 
- [XXV: A Postscript](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/the_footsteps_at_the_lock_se/chapters/xxv-a-postscript.md): In a letter to Mrs. Bredon, Nigel Burtell recounts his time in a Belgian town after Derek is found by the police. He confirms Miles Bredon's reconstruction of events, explains Derek's movements after faking his death, an
- [List of Illustrations](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/the_footsteps_at_the_lock_se/chapters/list-of-illustrations.md): A map showing the winding river of the upper Thames flowing from south to north.

HTML index: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/the_footsteps_at_the_lock_se/chapters