The Larches is a lonely house on Hangman’s Lane, associated with open views over the Heath and with Dr. Charles Bower’s attempt to protect secret papers from intruders. When a fraudulent summons gives him reason to believe that another search is imminent, he proposes that Tommy Beresford meet him at the house after dark. The rendezvous turns the country setting into a point of uncertainty: Inspector Dymchurch expects Tommy to go elsewhere and warns him not to go at all.

Setting and Identification

Dr. Charles Bower gives the address as The Larches, on Hangman’s Lane, describing it as a rather lonely part of the district while noting its magnificent views over the Heath. The combination makes the house sound both exposed to the surrounding landscape and removed from ordinary activity. The supplied passages establish it as Bower’s address and the location he selects for his proposed investigation; they do not describe its rooms or grounds in further detail.

The house is identified again during the evening’s preparations. Inspector Dymchurch asks whether Bower arranged to meet Tommy at 16 Westerham Road, Finsbury Park. Tommy rejects that address and names The Larches, Hampstead instead. Dymchurch is genuinely taken aback and repeats the name as though the arrangement represents a new layout. The exchange makes the location more than a destination: it is a test of whether the parties share the same understanding of where the meeting is to occur.

Bower’s Plan

Bower’s concern begins with papers kept in a secret drawer in his desk. He says that only he knows the drawer’s position and that the papers have so far resisted searches. He then receives a telegram supposedly sent by a patient he had ordered to Bournemouth. It reports that the patient is critically ill and begs Bower to come immediately, but Bower checks the story by sending a prepaid telegram of his own. The patient replies that he is well and sent no summons.

Suspecting that the false message is designed to draw him away, Bower proposes to pretend that he has been deceived and to leave for Bournemouth. He expects the intruder or intruders to wait until the household has retired before searching. His plan is to return in effect to the scene of the anticipated crime with Tommy and catch the culprits at work. He asks Tommy to meet him outside The Larches at eleven that night, settling on five minutes to eleven as a precaution.

The Disputed Rendezvous

Tommy accepts Bower’s proposal as an excellent plan and confirms the appointment. Later, Inspector Dymchurch arrives with knowledge of the afternoon visitor and says that Inspector Marriot, away in South Wales, had asked him to keep an eye on Tommy and on the office. Dymchurch says he knows that the visitor made an appointment, although he does not know the name the man used or his real identity.

The crucial discrepancy emerges when Dymchurch supplies 16 Westerham Road, Finsbury Park as the expected meeting place. Tommy corrects him: the agreed destination is The Larches, Hampstead, where he is to meet Bower at eleven. Dymchurch appears honestly surprised and urges Tommy not to go. The passages leave the reason for his warning unresolved, but the mismatch makes the house the center of a concealed uncertainty: the rendezvous Tommy believes he has arranged is not the one Dymchurch expected.

Narrative Significance

The Larches serves as the proposed scene of an ambush in reverse. Bower intends to turn a ruse meant to remove him from his home into an opportunity to expose those searching his desk; the secret drawer gives that plan a concrete object and motive. Yet the later disagreement over the address unsettles the apparent logic of the trap before the meeting takes place. The house is therefore defined not by a completed confrontation in the available evidence, but by expectation, surveillance, and conflicting information about where danger lies.