Tracks in the Snow · Chapter
VII explained
After several remands, Trethewy is committed for trial based on circumstantial evidence.
What happens
After several remands, Trethewy is committed for trial based on circumstantial evidence. However, the evening after his committal, Peters' housemaid Edith Summers reveals she lied about the candle by Peters' bed being long; in truth, a short candle was burning, indicating the murder occurred within a narrow time frame. The narrator realizes Trethewy is innocent and that someone else must be guilty, leading him to re-examine the evidence, including the footprints. He interviews Sergeant Speke, who admits the tracks were not present when he first searched. The narrator is left in horror, suspecting no one in particular but aware of the implications.
Themes in this chapter
Guilt and Innocence
The chapter explores the shift from Trethewy's presumed guilt to his innocence, and the narrator's horror at the possibility of another's guilt.
Memory and Perception
Edith Summers' false memory about the candle and Sergeant Speke's initial failure to notice the footprints illustrate how perception can mislead.
Crime and Detection
The candle evidence and re-examination of footprints demonstrate the detective work involved in solving the murder.
Characters to notice
- Reuben Trethewy
Committed for trial based on circumstantial evidence; later proven innocent by the candle evidence.
- Eustace Peters
Murder victim; the time of death is narrowed by the candle evidence.
- Edith Summers
Peters' housemaid who confesses to lying about the candle, providing crucial evidence that shifts the case.
- Sergeant Speke
Police sergeant who admits the footprints were not present when he first searched the house.
- James Callaghan
Narrator who investigates the new evidence and realizes Trethewy's innocence.
Key passages
“After several remands, the proceedings against Trethewy before the magistrates came to a close about the end of February. There was nothing much to note about these proceedings, which ended, as I suppose they must have ended, in his being committed for trial.”
After multiple court appearances, Trethewy was formally sent for trial by the end of February, as expected.
Summarizes the outcome of the preliminary hearings.
“I said something quite well intentioned about the evil of saying what was not true, and then told the girl kindly, that I did not think there was any harm done. But she had thought about it and was in earnest, and she made me see it in a moment.”
I initially dismissed her confession as harmless, but her persistence made me realize its significance.
Highlights the narrator's initial failure to grasp the importance of the candle evidence.
“I instantly went over in my mind the list of those few who were so placed as to lie within the reach of suspicion. Trethewy could no longer be suspected. Thalberg surely could not. I dismissed the two women servants from my mind immediately. There remained two men—three men—three men, of whom I was one.”
I quickly considered who could be guilty now that Trethewy was cleared, and realized I myself was among the suspects.
Shows the narrator's internal turmoil as he includes himself in the list of possible murderers.
“I very soon discovered, first, that Sergeant Speke had searched carefully enough around the house that morning to have seen the tracks if they had been there, and, secondly, that the man, Speke, as distinct from the Sergeant, knew perfectly well that they were not there.”
I learned that Sergeant Speke had searched thoroughly and privately knew the footprints were absent, though his official stance was different.
Reveals the discrepancy between Speke's personal knowledge and his official testimony.
