The Rasp · Chapter
The Lady of the Sandal explained
Anthony Gethryn discovers a woman's hair and distinctive sandal marks outside the study window, leading him to find a wet canvas bathing-sandal in the river.
What happens
Anthony Gethryn discovers a woman's hair and distinctive sandal marks outside the study window, leading him to find a wet canvas bathing-sandal in the river. He crosses to the Lemesurier house, where Sir Arthur Digby-Coates invites him to lunch. At lunch, Anthony observes Lucia Lemesurier's strange behavior and uses conversation to distract the party, while covertly analyzing her reactions.
Themes in this chapter
Appearance vs. Reality
Lucia Lemesurier appears composed but is internally agitated; Anthony's casual demeanor masks his investigative purpose.
The Detective as Outsider
Anthony Gethryn, though a guest, observes and analyzes the household from an outsider's perspective, using conversation to gather information.
Secrecy and Blackmail
Lucia's hidden anxiety and her urgent questioning of her sister suggest undisclosed secrets related to the murder.
Characters to notice
- Anthony Gethryn
Discovers evidence outside the study window and a sandal in the river; joins lunch at the Lemesurier house and steers conversation.
- Sir Arthur Digby-Coates
Meets Anthony near the Lemesurier house and invites him to lunch; expresses grief over John Hoode's murder.
- Lucia Lemesurier
Hostess at lunch; appears pale and anxious, overturns a spirit-lamp, and shows intense interest in Anthony's story.
- Miss Dora Masterson
Lucia's sister; solicitous about Lucia's health and anxious about her absent lover.
- Colonel Gethryn
Mentioned as Boyd, the detective who continues questioning at Abbotshall.
Key passages
“Finger-holes. Just where my fingers would go if I was a good deal narrower across the shoulders and squatted here and tried to look into the room without bringing either of my feet on to the bed.”
Anthony deduces that the marks were made by a person's fingers gripping the sill while crouching to peer inside.
Shows Anthony's analytical reasoning about the physical evidence.
“That explains the closeness of those fingermarks. A woman in the case, eh?”
He concludes that a woman was involved because the finger marks are close together, indicating narrower shoulders.
Key moment linking the evidence to a female suspect.
“Minister murdered by Bathing Belle—only not at the seaside! Cock Robin's murderer not Sparrow as at first believed, but one W. Wagtail!”
Anthony jokes to himself that the murderer might be a female swimmer, referencing the nursery rhyme 'Cock Robin'.
Highlights Anthony's self-deprecating humor and the emerging theory of a water-related clue.
“She had shown no interest until the end of the story.”
Lucia only reacted when Anthony mentioned the impossibility of a long swim for an athletic Englishwoman.
Suggests Lucia's personal connection to swimming and the river.