Marlowe

Marlowe, Rupert Darby’s large brown mongrel, enters the story as an exuberant disruption to the Bloodhounds’ meetings and later becomes an unexpected part of the investigation. His soaked coat scatters water across a roomful of would-be detectives; his affection unsettles Miss Chilmark; and, after Rupert is gone, a patch of white paint on his fur helps expose uncertainty in the case against his former owner.

Identity and Introduction

The narration describes Marlowe as a large brown dog, perhaps a cross between a setter and a German shepherd. His thick, wavy coat gleams with rain when he first enters a Bloodhounds meeting. He trots into the centre of the circle, sniffs the air and shakes himself, soaking those gathered there. His physical presence immediately overwhelms the group’s orderly discussion: people cry out, a chair is overturned, and Polly Wycherley’s handbag spills its contents. Excited by the commotion, Marlowe rolls onto his back, gets up and barks.

Rupert appears as the dog’s owner, dressed in a black leather jacket, dark blue corduroys and a black beret. He calls Marlowe to heel, but the dog’s tail-wagging and further shaking only spread more water. The scene establishes the gap between Rupert’s command and Marlowe’s exuberant response, a mismatch that will recur when the dog disrupts another meeting.

Disruption and Conflict at the Meetings

The first interruption dissolves the meeting into disorder. Miss Chilmark complains that her dress is ruined and threatens Rupert with the dry-cleaning bill. Rupert turns the embarrassment into a joke at the Bloodhounds’ expense, suggesting that a group calling itself Bloodhounds has panicked at the arrival of a real dog. Polly Wycherley tries to restore the meeting by sending everyone back to their seats, noting that Marlowe is usually no trouble. The chairs are wet, however, and Miss Chilmark refuses to sit on one until the seats have been wiped.

The meeting eventually resumes with Marlowe in disgrace: Rupert anchors him by a lead to his chair leg and makes him lie outside the circle. The restraint is practical rather than transformative; in a later discussion, Marlowe again makes his way into the room, this time while the group is considering a riddle. He heads straight for the chairs and leaps onto the one beside Miss Chilmark. Placing a large paw against her chest, he startles her so badly that she backs away and tips the chair. Rupert catches its back before it hits the floor, averting a worse accident.

The near-fall leaves Miss Chilmark’s legs more exposed than she or her companions wish, and the narration notes that she is wearing popsocks. Marlowe then licks her left knee. The contact is presented as an affectionate gesture, but Miss Chilmark, already preoccupied with the dog, reacts hysterically and fears that he is going to bite her. Rupert grabs Marlowe by the scruff and hauls him across the circle. The dog growls in protest; Rupert explains that he was frustrated and had only been showing affection. The episode makes Marlowe both the immediate cause of Miss Chilmark’s alarm and the occasion for a sharp contrast between his physical enthusiasm and her fear of it.

Care After Rupert

Later, when Peter Diamond and Julie Hargreaves are at the house in Hay Hill, Marlowe is ravenous. Julie’s first task is to open a tin of dog food and pour water into a bowl. She says he has been alone there since seven the previous night, then offers to take him for a walk. The scene shifts attention from the dog as a comic disturbance to his dependence on people for food, water and company.

Julie is told that Marlowe is not young and that nobody would want to take him on. She rejects that as a reason to leave him without a home and says he can come home with her. When Peter points out that she already has two dogs, Julie answers that she is used to it. Her decision gives Marlowe a new caretaker and establishes that his future is not treated as incidental to the investigation: Julie chooses to take responsibility for him despite the practical demands of an older dog.

The Coat and the Evidence

On a walk, Julie looks closely at Marlowe’s dark-brown coat and notices that a section on his left side is going white. The discoloration is not natural aging: close inspection reveals many small white points, which she identifies as aerosol paint. The precise location and texture matter. This is not simply a dog whose fur has turned grey, but paint deposited on one side of his coat.

Julie connects the discovery to the spray paint used on the gallery window. Rupert had not taken Marlowe with him to the gallery party, so the dog’s paint cannot establish that the aerosol was used during the graffiti incident. Peter recognizes the consequence for the other evidence: the paint on Rupert’s beret can no longer be assigned with certainty to the time the window was sprayed. The aerosol must have been used elsewhere too, and Rupert could have been testing or practising with it. Marlowe does not identify who sprayed him or when; his marked coat instead breaks the assumed link between the beret and the gallery vandalism.

Narrative Role

Marlowe’s repeated entrances initially turn a circle of amateur investigators into a physical comedy of wet chairs, spilled belongings and startled reactions. But the dog’s role changes with the investigation. After his exuberance has repeatedly interrupted the Bloodhounds, the ordinary business of feeding and walking him brings Julie into close contact with the evidence on his coat. What first seems like a nuisance becomes a material clue, and what seems to implicate Rupert becomes less conclusive. Marlowe’s significance rests in that reversal: without intention or awareness, his body carries evidence that forces the investigators to reconsider when the spray paint was used.