The Footsteps at the Lock · Characters
Character guide
Key figures in The Footsteps at the Lock by Ronald A. Knox.
Skim names here — open a free preview to see character cards and Character Web beside the page as you read.
Derek Burtell
major
Also known as Derek, Mr. Burtell, Mr. Derek Burtell, the elder Burtell, old man Burtell
The elder Burtell cousin, whose vanishing at Shipcote Lock turns a quiet river holiday into a case of suspected murder and a fifty-thousand-pound inheritance.
Nigel Burtell
major
Also known as Nigel, Mr. Burtell, Nigel Burtell, Mr. Nigel Burtell, young Nigel, Master Nigel
The younger cousin who paddles away from the lock with a suspiciously precise alibi, leaving his cousin's canoe adrift and a trail of too-careful timing behind him.
Miles Bredon
major
Also known as Miles Bredon, Bredon, Miles
A reluctant insurance detective who would rather play patience than solve crimes, yet whose instinct for human evasion makes him the one man the Indescribable sends when fifty thousand pounds are at stake.
Mr. Leyland
supporting
Also known as Leyland, Poor Mr. Leyland, Inspector Leyland
The police inspector who works the case alongside Bredon, patient with landladies and alert to the significance of which bed was slept in and which window opened onto an outhouse roof.
Angela
supporting
Also known as Lie Angela, Angela
Bredon's wife, whose genius for collecting bores and extracting confidences turns a quiet riverside holiday into an intelligence-gathering operation she conducts with knitting needles and demure half-truths.
Mr. Erasmus Quirk
supporting
Also known as Mr. Erasmus Quirk, Mr. Quirk, Quirk, the late Mr. Quirk
A small, stooping American member of the Detective Club who arrives at the Gudgeon to write up the Burtell mystery and finds in Angela Bredon an audience far more attentive than he suspects.
Mrs. Bredon
supporting
Also known as Mrs. Bredon, Dear Mrs. Bredon
She is the domestic counterweight to her husband's reluctant career: the country cottage, the patience, the steady presence that makes his intermittent summons to Indescribable House bearable. Where Miles grumbles and procrastinates, she supplies the insight and composure he rarely admits he needs. Her role in the early arc is to humanize a man who treats detection as an imposition, reminding the reader that behind the amateur sleuth stands a marriage that actually works.
Mrs. Coolman
minor
Also known as Mrs. Coolman
A local resident with knowledge of the Burtell family.
Mr. Burgess
supporting
Also known as Mr. Burgess, Burgess, poor old Burgess, old Burgess, Mrs. Burgess
Burgess tends the lock and the island, a minor official whose ordinary routine becomes the fixed point everyone else's story must be measured against. His inattention is both comic and damning: the murderer's whole scheme depends on slipping past a man who doesn't seem hard to slip past. He matters because the early investigation keeps circling back to what he did and didn't see, turning a humble lock-keeper into the accidental witness whose gaps of observation shape the puzzle.
The Stranger
minor
Also known as the stranger, The stranger
An enigmatic figure seen near the lock around the time of the disappearance.
Edward Farris
minor
Also known as Farris, Edward Farris, Mr. Farris, Mr. Edward Farris
A witness who provides a crucial alibi.
Aunt Alma
minor
Also known as Aunt Alma, Alma
An elderly relative of the Burtell cousins.
Dr. Simmonds
minor
Also known as Dr. Simmonds, Simmonds, Dr.
The local doctor who examines the scene.
Sir John Burtell
minor
Also known as Sir John Burtell, John, Sir John, John Burtell
The late father of Derek and Nigel, mentioned in the story.
Lizzy
minor
Also known as Lizzy
A maid or servant in the Burtell household.
Charles Burtell
minor
Also known as Charles, Mrs. Charles Burtell, Chuck, Burtell
A relative of the Burtell family, mentioned in passing.
George Lowther
minor
Also known as George Lowther, Lowther
A man who provides information about the Burtell family history.
Mr. H. Anderton
minor
Also known as Mr. H. Anderton, H. Anderton, Mr. Anderton, the useful Mr. Anderton
A helpful local who assists with the investigation.
Carmichael
minor
Also known as Carmichael, Mr. Carmichael
A colleague of Bredon's from the insurance office.
Luke Wallace
minor
Also known as Luke Wallace, Wallace, Mr. Wallace, Mr. Luke Wallace, Mr. L. Wallace, L. Wallace
A boatman who discovers the adrift canoe.
Sholto
minor
Also known as Sholto
A friend or associate of the Burtell family.
Uncle Robert
minor
Also known as Uncle Robert
An uncle of the Burtell cousins who appears briefly.
