The Footsteps at the Lock · Chapter
XIX: The Story Nigel Told explained
Nigel, recovering from a heart attack, recounts his involvement in Derek's disappearance scheme.
What happens
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 subsequent actions including altering the canoe's hole to suggest an accident.
Themes in this chapter
Deception and Identity
Nigel's story reveals a layered deception: Derek's alias 'Mr. Anderton', the two-headed man trick, and the fake disappearance.
Inheritance and Moral Responsibility
The entire plot revolves around securing Aunt Alma's inheritance, with Nigel admitting he had 'no moral scruples' about the scheme.
Appearance vs. Reality
Nigel alters the canoe's hole to make a deliberate act look like an accident, highlighting the gap between appearance and truth.
Characters to notice
- Nigel Burtell
Narrates the entire scheme from his sickbed, revealing his complicity and motives.
- Derek Burtell
The instigator of the disappearance plan, described as a drug user and clever schemer.
- Miles Bredon
Interrupts to clarify details about the camera and the hole in the canoe, showing his investigative focus.
- Mr. Leyland
Delighted that Nigel is bedridden, avoiding arrest; takes notes on the confession.
- Aunt Alma
Mentioned as the wealthy great-aunt whose inheritance motivates the scheme.
- Mr. H. Anderton
The alias used by Derek to establish an overlapping identity before his disappearance.
Key passages
“I think I ought to warn you, Mr. Burtell, that, though no arrest has been made, I mean to make notes of your story, and shall be prepared to produce them in case of emergency.”
Leyland informs Nigel that he will record the confession for potential legal use, even without a formal arrest.
Leyland's cautious approach to gathering evidence.
“He suggested, then, that he should disappear, and I should automatically become my grandfather's heir; we were to go halves in all the profits that resulted.”
Derek proposed that he fake his death so Nigel would inherit, and they would split the insurance money.
Core of the conspiracy between the cousins.
“To avoid that difficulty, you must make your alias overlap with your real self. Mr. X must come into existence at least a day before Derek Burtell disappeared.”
Derek's plan required the alias to be established before his disappearance to avoid detection.
Key strategic element of the deception.
“I got hold of a sharp piece of stone, and worried round the edges of the hole at the bottom, in the hope that it would look as if the canoe had run aground and got smashed up that way.”
Nigel used a stone to roughen the hole's edges, trying to make it appear accidental.
Nigel's attempt to cover up the deliberate damage.