Mrs. Hudson's missing windlass

Mrs. Hudson's missing windlass is an iron tool normally kept in a locker aboard Milo Motion's narrowboat. When Peter Diamond discovers that it is gone, its absence turns an ordinary piece of boat equipment into a possible murder weapon: Diamond asks whether it was heavy enough to crack a man's head and kill him, though the evidence here does not establish that it was used to do so.

The Tool and Its Usual Place

Milo keeps the windlass in the locker on the right, alongside the tiller. When Diamond opens the locker, he can see the tiller but not the windlass. Milo bends over and shifts the other contents, confirming that the expected tool is not merely hidden from view. The locker provides a specific point of reference: the windlass has a customary place aboard the boat, and its absence is noticed during a direct inspection.

Milo estimates its length by extending his hands about eight inches apart. He identifies it as iron and stresses that it is not something a person could casually put in a pocket and forget. The estimate and material description make the object more concrete without establishing its exact weight or dimensions.

The Discovery of Its Absence

The discovery follows Diamond and the others emerging from the cabin. Diamond presses the strap over the staple and closes the padlock, then asks where the windlass is kept because he wants to see it. The inspection proceeds from the locker’s contents to the missing tool: the tiller is visible, but the windlass is not. Milo shifts the contents himself and concludes that someone must have taken it, adding that it is always kept there.

Milo’s response establishes the absence as a change from the boat’s normal arrangement, rather than evidence that the windlass was never aboard. His suspicion that it was stolen is his immediate interpretation; the passage does not identify who removed it or when it disappeared.

Significance to the Investigation

Diamond’s next question changes the meaning of the missing tool. He asks whether it was heavy enough to kill a man with a blow to the head. The question connects the windlass’s material and size to the possibility of lethal force, but remains an investigative possibility, not a stated conclusion. Milo’s surprised response shows that he has not treated the disappearance as a murder clue before Diamond raises it.

The windlass therefore matters both as a missing object and as a gap in the boat’s inventory. Its customary place, iron construction, and approximate size give Diamond grounds to consider it in relation to the killing, while the passage leaves its removal and any use unresolved.