By Which Train? explained

What happens

Themes in this chapter

• Detection and Rationality

  Reeves and Gordon use logical deduction to challenge the initial assumptions about the murder, focusing on the ticket and watches as clues.

• Deception and Secrecy

  The discussion reveals how evidence may have been deliberately manipulated to create a false impression about the time and train of the murder.

Characters to notice

• Mordaunt Reeves

  Leads the discussion, re-examining evidence and developing a new theory about the ticket and watches.

• Alexander Gordon

  Participates in the debate, initially skeptical but eventually engaged in the new line of reasoning.

• Marryatt

  Briefly encountered on the stairs, expresses certainty of Davenant's guilt and questions his sanity.

• Miss Rendall-Smith

  Mentioned as having provided information to Reeves; her belief in Davenant's innocence is discussed.

• Gordon Davenant

  Referenced as the accused; his innocence is the central point of contention.

Key passages

• “But it isn’t an easy thing, telling the truth. I know what the truth is⁠—namely that Davenant is innocent. I know, therefore, that this post card was a side-issue, irrelevant to the true explanation.”

  Reeves argues that revealing the cipher would mislead the police, so withholding it serves the truth.

  Reeves justifies his decision to keep the cipher secret, prioritizing his belief in Davenant's innocence.

• “What fools we’ve been! Don’t you see that if the man was really pitched out of the three o’clock from London, which doesn’t stop between Weighford and Binver, a ticket for Paston Whitchurch would disguise the fact that he came by that train, and make everybody think he came in the later one⁠—the 4:50 from Paston Oatvile?”

  Reeves realizes the ticket was planted to mislead investigators about which train Brotherhood was on.

  This insight shifts the timeline of the murder and suggests deliberate evidence tampering.