← The House Without a Key

The House Without a Key · Chapters

Chapters explained

Chapter companions for The House Without a Key by Earl Derr Biggers.

Read with companionsBook page

Each chapter has a companion in the reader — open a free preview to see notes beside the text.

  1. Chapter 1

    Dedication

    The author dedicates the book to their mother and father.

  2. Chapter 2

    The House Without a Key

    John Quincy Winterslip, a young Bostonian, arrives in Honolulu to visit his aunt Minerva and uncle Dan. He is immediately struck by the exotic atmosphere and the family's luxurious beachfront home. The chapter introduces the central mystery: Dan Winterslip has been receiving threatening letters, and the family is on edge. John Quincy meets various characters, including the enigmatic Jim Egan and the beautiful Carlota Egan, and learns of the tensions surrounding his uncle's past.

  3. Chapter 3

    I: Kona Weather

    Miss Minerva Winterslip walks along Waikiki Beach with her brother Amos, who has been estranged from their brother Dan for thirty-one years. She crosses the fence dividing their properties to visit Dan at his lavish home, where she learns that her nephew John Quincy Winterslip is being sent from Boston to escort her home. Dan welcomes the news and invites John Quincy to stay with him.

  4. Chapter 4

    II: The High Hat

    John Quincy Winterslip arrives in San Francisco by ferry, feeling weary from his cross-country train journey. He experiences a strange sense of familiarity with the harbor, which he shares with a young woman he meets on the deck. She is amused by his silk hat, and in a moment of reckless abandon, he tosses it overboard. The encounter ends as they part ways at the Ferry Building.

  5. Chapter 5

    Midnight on Russian Hill

    John Quincy Winterslip arrives in San Francisco and is met by a Japanese chauffeur sent by his cousin Roger. After settling in at Roger's Nob Hill home, they have lunch at a club where they encounter Captain Arthur Temple Cope, an Englishman who expresses hostility toward Dan Winterslip. Roger later takes John Quincy to Dan's house on Russian Hill at night to perform a mysterious errand, revealing a letter from Dan requesting their discreet help.

Free preview

20 more chapter companions sit beside the text in BetterReads — open a free preview to unlock the rest.

20 more companions → free preview
  1. Chapter 6IV: A Friend of Tim's
  2. Chapter 7V: The Blood of the Winterslips
  3. Chapter 8Beyond the Bamboo Curtain
  4. Chapter 9VII: Enter Charlie Chan
  5. Chapter 10VIII: Steamer Day
  6. Chapter 11IX: At the Reef and Palm
  7. Chapter 12X: A Newspaper Ripped in Anger
  8. Chapter 13XI: The Tree of Jewels
  9. Chapter 14XII: Tom Brade the Blackbirder
  10. Chapter 15XIII: The Luggage in Room Nineteen
  11. Chapter 16XIV: What Kaohla Carried
  12. Chapter 17The Man from India
  13. Chapter 18The Return of Captain Cope
  14. Chapter 19Night Life in Honolulu
  15. Chapter 20XVIII: A Cable from the Mainland
  16. Chapter 21IX: “Goodbye, Pete!”
  17. Chapter 22The Story of Lau Ho
  18. Chapter 23The Stone Walls Crumble
  19. Chapter 24The Light Streams Through
  20. Chapter 25XXIII: Moonlight at the Crossroads