A Thief in the Night · Chapter
A Trap to Catch a Cracksman explained
Bunny is roused from bed by a frantic late-night telephone call from Raffles, who reveals he is trapped in Barney Maguire's house after attempting to burgle it.
What happens
Bunny is roused from bed by a frantic late-night telephone call from Raffles, who reveals he is trapped in Barney Maguire's house after attempting to burgle it. Raffles had accepted Maguire's boast about a burglar trap as a challenge. Bunny rushes to Half-moon Street, only to encounter Maguire himself returning home with companions, leaving Bunny caught in his own predicament.
Free preview opens on this chapter — companions, themes, and character notes appear beside the text.
Narrative arc
Story tension across the book — this chapter sits in Rising action.
- Setup
- Escalation
- Breaking point
This excerpt is the dramatic climax because it reveals the long-withheld truth about Raffles’s final act of he…
Full beat labels and climax notes unlock in the reader.
Follow the arc while readingThemes in this chapter
- Adventure and Risk
Raffles accepts Maguire's boast as a challenge, leading to his entrapment.
- Friendship and Loyalty
Bunny rushes to rescue Raffles despite the danger.
- Crime and Morality
The chapter centers on a burglary attempt and the moral consequences of criminal daring.
Characters to notice
- Bunny
Narrator who receives Raffles' desperate call and rushes to Maguire's house.
- A. J. Raffles
Trapped in Maguire's burglar trap; telephones Bunny for help.
- Barney Maguire
Heavyweight champion who set the trap; returns home to find Bunny at his door.
- Swigger Morrison
Bunny had been dining with him at his club earlier that night.
Key passages
“I was just putting out my light when the telephone rang a furious tocsin in the next room.”
Bunny was about to go to sleep when the phone rang urgently.
Opening scene sets the late-night urgency.
“I'm caught at last … caught … at last!”
Raffles admits he is finally trapped.
Raffles' confession of being caught in Maguire's trap.
“I was nicely caught in my turn.”
Bunny finds himself trapped as Maguire arrives home.
Bunny's own predicament at the end of the chapter.
