# Mr. Burgess — The Footsteps at the Lock character guide

> Mr. Burgess in The Footsteps at the Lock by Ronald A. Knox.

**Role:** supporting

**Also known as:** Mr. Burgess, Burgess, poor old Burgess, old Burgess, Mrs. Burgess

**First appearance:** 0006-v-mr-burgess-expands

## Snapshot

The lock-keeper whose turned back and vague watchfulness make him the unwitting hinge on which the whole alibi of the case swings.

## Who they are

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.

## Relationships

### [Miles Bredon](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_footsteps_at_the_lock_se/characters/miles_bredon)

_professional_

Miles Bredon and Mr. Burgess have a professional connection, possibly as investigator and informant or colleague.

### [Miles Bredon](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_footsteps_at_the_lock_se/characters/miles_bredon)

_professional_

Miles Bredon and Mr. Burgess have a professional connection, possibly as investigator and informant or colleague.

### [Miles Bredon](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_footsteps_at_the_lock_se/characters/miles_bredon)

_professional_

Miles Bredon and Mr. Burgess have a professional connection, possibly as investigator and informant or colleague.

## In the story

### [II: Shipcote Lock](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_footsteps_at_the_lock_se/chapters/ii-shipcote-lock)

The lock-keeper at Shipcote Lock, tending his garden and operating the lock; gives Nigel directions to the station.

### [Mr. Burgess Expands](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_footsteps_at_the_lock_se/chapters/v-mr-burgess-expands)

Lock-keeper who shares his theory about the staged accident and the escape route via the railroad.

### [VI: The Archimedes Touch](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_footsteps_at_the_lock_se/chapters/vi-the-archimedes-touch)

Lock-keeper who reported the footmarks and is considered by Bredon to lack imagination.

### [VII: The Camera Cannot Lie](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_footsteps_at_the_lock_se/chapters/vii-the-camera-cannot-lie)

Identified in the fourth photograph as the gardener at the lock; his back being turned is noted as an opportunity for the perpetrator.

### [IX: Nigel Goes Down](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_footsteps_at_the_lock_se/chapters/ix-nigel-goes-down)

Mentioned as the lock-keeper, described as a man of words rather than action.

### [XX: A Reconstruction](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_footsteps_at_the_lock_se/chapters/xx-a-reconstruction)

Provides a roll of oilcloth for the dummy body and is instructed to keep lookout.

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_footsteps_at_the_lock_se/characters/mr_burgess
- Book: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_footsteps_at_the_lock_se
- All characters: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_footsteps_at_the_lock_se/characters