# XXI explained — The Lodger

> Chapter companion for The Lodger by Marie Belloc Lowndes.

## What happens

On a bitterly cold night, Bunting returns home from a job where he received a generous tip of a sovereign. He spots the lodger, Mr. Sleuth, walking ahead and attempts to catch up. When Bunting finally touches the lodger's coat, he finds it wet and gluey. Mr. Sleuth claims he brushed against a dead animal on Primrose Hill. Bunting lies about noticing anything, but later discovers his hand is streaked with blood. He washes it secretly, disturbing his wife. The next morning, Bunting anxiously checks the newspaper for news of a murder, but finds none.

## Themes in this chapter

### Fear and Suspicion

Bunting's growing dread and the couple's silent, sleepless night highlight the atmosphere of mistrust and terror.

### Appearance vs. Reality

Mr. Sleuth's claim of brushing against a dead animal contrasts with the blood on Bunting's hand, revealing a darker truth.

### Complicity and Moral Ambiguity

Bunting lies to the lodger about what he felt, choosing to protect him rather than confront the evidence.

## Character check-ins

### Mr. Bunting

Returns home from a job, encounters the lodger at night, touches his bloodied coat, and lies about it.

### Mr. Sleuth

Seen walking at night on Primrose Hill, his coat is wet and bloody; he offers a weak excuse about a dead animal.

### Mrs. Bunting

Awakened by Bunting's secret hand-washing; lies awake with him all night, suspicious and tense.

### Joe Chandler

Mentioned in Bunting's thoughts regarding a practical joke that upset Mrs. Bunting.

## Key lines

> I’m afraid, Mr. Bunting, that you must have felt something dirty, foul, on my coat? It’s too long a story to tell you now, but I brushed up against a dead animal, a creature to whose misery some thoughtful soul had put an end, lying across a bench on Primrose Hill.

Mr. Sleuth explains that the wet, sticky substance on his coat is from a dead animal he encountered on a bench.

_This is the lodger's transparent excuse for the blood, which Bunting does not believe._

> No, sir, no. I didn’t notice nothing. I scarcely touched you, sir.

Bunting denies feeling anything unusual on the lodger's coat.

_Bunting lies to protect himself and the lodger, despite knowing the truth._

> He did not draw his left hand out of his pocket till he heard Mr. Sleuth shut the bedroom door upstairs. Then he held up his left hand and looked at it curiously; it was flecked, streaked with pale reddish blood.

After the lodger goes upstairs, Bunting examines his hand and sees it is stained with blood.

_This confirms Bunting's suspicion that the lodger is involved in something violent._

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/the_lodger_se/chapters/xxi
- Book: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/the_lodger_se
- All chapters: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/the_lodger_se/chapters