The Three Taps · Chapter
XI: The Generalship of Angela explained
Angela Bredon devises a clever social scheme to inspect the cigarette cases of Brinkman and Pulteney, hoping to find evidence of a rare brand of cigarettes.
What happens
Angela Bredon devises a clever social scheme to inspect the cigarette cases of Brinkman and Pulteney, hoping to find evidence of a rare brand of cigarettes. Through dinner conversation and a blindfolded tasting game, she successfully identifies Brinkman's cigarette as a 'Callipoli,' while also maneuvering to check Pulteney's case, which turns out to be empty.
Themes in this chapter
Deception and Fraud
Angela's entire scheme is a carefully orchestrated deception to secretly inspect the men's cigarettes without their knowledge.
Marriage and Partnership
Angela and Miles work as a team, with Angela taking the lead in executing the plan, highlighting their collaborative partnership.
Appearance vs. Reality
The dinner conversation and games appear to be lighthearted socializing, but are actually a cover for a covert investigation.
Characters to notice
- Angela Bredon
Orchestrates the dinner-table scheme to inspect Brinkman's and Pulteney's cigarettes, using conversation and a blindfold game to achieve her goal.
- Miles Bredon
Enlists Angela's help to investigate the cigarette brand; participates in the blindfold tasting game as part of the plan.
- Mr. Brinkman
Target of Angela's scheme; his cigarette is identified as 'Callipoli' after he is tricked into participating in the blindfold game.
- Mr. Pulteney
Another target; his cigarette case is found empty during the investigation, and he later fills a briar pipe.
- Mr. Leyland
Provides a handkerchief for the blindfold game and participates in the conversation about silver hallmarks.
- The Old Gentleman
Engages in the dinner conversation, commenting on the word 'genial' and comparing detectives to schoolmasters.
Key passages
“Angela, I've got a job of work for you. All you've got to do is to make Brinkman and Pulteney open their cigarette-cases for inspection without knowing that they're doing it.”
Miles asks Angela to trick Brinkman and Pulteney into revealing their cigarette brands without their realizing it.
Sets up the central scheme of the chapter.
“I wish I smoked. But if I did I would smoke a pipe; it always looks so comfortable. Besides, you can shut your eyes and go to sleep with a pipe, which must be rather dangerous with a cigarette.”
Angela pretends to wish she smoked, using the comment to steer the conversation toward a blindfold tasting game.
Part of her strategy to create an opportunity to inspect Brinkman's cigarette.
“It was easy work for Angela to drop the spoon, and set Mr. Pulteney grovelling for it. Meanwhile, she hastily picked up Brinkman's cigarette, and read the word 'Callipoli.'”
Angela creates a distraction by dropping a spoon, then quickly examines Brinkman's abandoned cigarette and sees the brand name 'Callipoli.'
Key moment where Angela successfully obtains the evidence.