Bridge Cardplay
The card game at which the narrator comes to meet the murderous couple and the lackadaisical police chief is subtly established as a metaphor for the investigation into their crime. What seems like the kind of quick sketchy character description you would find at the beginning of any story reveals its hidden layer of meaning only when given the context of what comes later. Mrs. Cartwright is described as charmingly chatty who plays quickly and intelligently and knows the gameplay of the police chief well enough to outwit him. Mr. and Mrs. Cartwright are then described as being a perfect match for a card game dependent on teamwork like bridge. And, finally, the policeman Gaze plays with a misplaced optimism that opponents won’t take the risk of capitalizing upon his errors. The exact same description could be equally applied to how the investigation into the murder of Mrs. Cartwright’s first husband was conducted.
The Nameless Chinaman
Everyone else in the story (aside from the narrator who would have no real reason to call himself by name) has a name. Except for the Chinese man who is instrumental in the police chief’s “solving” of the murder. He is given no name and is known only by the racist appellation, “The Chinaman.” If he really were a lurid criminal that would be pretty cool, actually, but he’s just a guy walking through the jungle who lucks upon a watch. Without that luck, the real story might forever remain unknown and yet he isn’t even worthy of a name. The decision of the police chief not to call him by name seems to make him a metaphor for all the nameless, faceless, cyphers of humanity that make up the overwhelming majority in those areas where England extends its empire.
"straight as a die"
This simile used by the police inspector to describe the first husband of the future Mrs. Cartwright may give some readers trouble. A die, of course, is the singular former of dice, but that hardly clears up the matter since no matter how many dies you have, none of them seem especially straight. The “straight” here refers not so much to geometry as to balance. A die must be equally balanced on all sides in order to land randomly. Think of straight here in opposition to what is probably a more familiar phrase: “crooked dice.”
"like a brick"
The police chief now uses another similar to describe the second husband of the recently widowed Mrs. Bronson. Following the murder, the police chief notes that Mr. Cartwright moved into the police of taking over the business almost instantly. And he was always there for her; in fact, he was as steady as a brick. Rather than taking this somewhat questionable behavior as strong evidence supporting collusion to kill between the two, however, it just seems to be ever so much proof that the newly married couple are really fine and pleasant people whose future just should not be complicated
Tanah Merah
The Malay city in which the story takes places is situated immediately—in the story’s opening line—as a metaphorical equivalent to the marriage of the Cartwrights. The narrator insists that no other location in the entire country can match Tanah Merah for charm. He then goes on to relate imperialist history of conflicting nationalities and culture commingling to give a rather incestuous atmosphere all its own. Once a great shipping port, the city is now a mixture of sadness and romantic nostalgic for what it was once. This description sound quite like the transformation of the Bronson estate into the Cartwright estate with the illegitimate daughter everyone supposedly assumes is a step-relation to Mr. Cartwright. The charm of the city is reflected in the police chief’s justification for allowing the couple to get away with murder: they are the pleasantness people on the island.
