# XI: The Fourth Man explained — The Melody of Death

> Chapter companion for The Melody of Death by Edgar Wallace.

## What happens

Inspector Goldberg attempts to capture George Wallis by raiding a house where a disguised taxi driver is expected to meet him, but Wallis has already swapped places with the driver and escaped. Later, Wallis leads a bank robbery with Persh and Callidino, but they are forced to flee when a mysterious fourth man intervenes. Wallis reads about the failed robbery in the paper and discusses alibis with Callidino, while obsessing over the identity of the fourth man.

## Themes in this chapter

### Deception and Secrecy

Wallis uses disguise and misdirection to evade police, swapping places with a taxi driver and later sneaking back into his house.

### Crime and Morality

The bank robbery is carried out with precision, but Wallis expresses relief that the guard was not killed, showing a moral line.

### Identity and Disguise

The taxi driver's disguise and Wallis's ability to impersonate him highlight the theme of shifting identities.

## Character check-ins

### George Wallis

Masterminds the bank robbery and evades capture by swapping places with a taxi driver.

### Chief Inspector Goldberg

Leads the raid and attempts to arrest Wallis, but is outmaneuvered.

### Persh

Participates in the bank robbery as a lock expert; later caught by police.

### Callidino

Italian accomplice who disables alarms and discusses alibis with Wallis.

### George Smith

The bearded taxi driver who assists Wallis by swapping places and later evades shadowing.

## Key lines

> It is very simple, said Inspector Goldberg, the driver comes up and George Wallis is waiting inside made up exactly like him. The moment he enters the door and closes it Wallis opens it, and steps out on to the car and drives off.

Inspector Goldberg explains that Wallis swapped places with the taxi driver by being disguised identically, then driving away.

_Goldberg deduces the simple but effective disguise trick._

> I can take you for consorting with criminals. A difficult charge to prove, said the bearded one, more difficult to get a conviction on, and possibly it would absolutely spoil your chance of bagging George in the end.

The taxi driver argues that charging him for consorting with criminals would be hard to prove and would ruin the chance to catch Wallis.

_The driver uses logic to avoid arrest._

> Do you know, he asked suddenly, that no man ever escapes the English police if he is known. It saves a lot of trouble to await developments.

Wallis states that known criminals cannot escape the English police, so it is better to wait and see what happens.

_Wallis's pragmatic view on police pursuit._

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/the_melody_of_death_se/chapters/xi-the-fourth-man
- Book: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/the_melody_of_death_se
- All chapters: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/the_melody_of_death_se/chapters