The Footsteps at the Lock · Chapter
XII: The Secret of the Island explained
Bredon and Leyland reconstruct the events of the crime, concluding that Nigel Burtell murdered his cousin Derek and staged the canoe disappearance.
What happens
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 the lock to hide the body, and likely hid it on Shipcote Island with an accomplice. They then paddle to the island, finding a path suggesting a heavy weight was dragged through the undergrowth.
Themes in this chapter
Deception and Identity
Nigel fakes Derek's presence and stages the canoe disappearance, using elaborate deception to mislead investigators.
Detection and Rational Inquiry
Bredon and Leyland use fingerprints, logic, and reconstruction to solve the crime, highlighting methodical investigation.
Appearance vs. Reality
The peaceful river and island contrast with the hidden crime, and Nigel's innocent facade masks murder.
Characters to notice
- Miles Bredon
Presents fingerprint evidence and reconstructs the crime with Leyland.
- Mr. Leyland
Collaborates with Bredon, theorizes the murder and the hiding of the body on the island.
- Nigel Burtell
Suspect; his fingerprints match those on the decanters; he is believed to have murdered Derek and staged the disappearance.
- Derek Burtell
Victim; presumed dead, body hidden on Shipcote Island.
- Mr. Erasmus Quirk
Mentioned as not being included in the canoe trip to the island.
- Angela
Mentioned as spending two nights at home, not joining the investigation.
Key passages
“I’m going to leave it to you,” he said, “how much you take Mr. Quirk into your confidence. Meanwhile, I must tell you that I’ve got Nigel Burtell’s fingerprints; and I’m confoundedly glad that I did.”
Bredon tells Leyland he has obtained Nigel's fingerprints and will let Leyland decide how much to share with Quirk.
Bredon presents key evidence.
“He acted as he acted because he wanted it to be thought that Derek Burtell was alive, whereas in reality he was dead. That means he had already murdered his cousin, on the Sunday.”
Leyland theorizes that Nigel faked Derek's presence to cover up the murder that had already occurred on Sunday.
Leyland's deduction about the murder timeline.
“The island confronted them at last, a haunted spot, you would say, with its laced interplay of sun and shadow.”
They finally reach Shipcote Island, which seems eerie and mysterious.
Description of the island setting.
“They had scarcely landed, when they found an unmistakable path through the bracken; a path, as they noticed with excitement, such as would be made by the dragging of a weight through the tangled fronds, not the mere casual wake left by a foot-passenger.”
Upon landing, they discover a path in the ferns that appears to have been made by dragging something heavy.
Evidence of the body being dragged on the island.