The Riddle of the Third Mile
Colin Dexter
 The novel is divided into three books - the first mile, the second mile and the third mile. The title is a reference to the biblical sentence "And whosoever shall compel thee to go a mile, go with him twain" as in St Matthew, Chapter Five, Verse Forty-One. The third mile could also indirectly refer to a particularly elaborate scheme used in the book to lure three of the college staff to London. There are three main narratives in this book. During the world war, there are three brothers Albert, Alfred and Johnny Gilbert serving as tank officers in the army. Albert and Alfred are said to be lookalike twins. The youngest brother is trapped in his tank during an offensive and is burnt to death. The two elder brothers are unable to help due to a direct order from the lieutenant Browne-Smith. They develop a hatred to Browne-Smith (mistakenly) believing that he was a coward not to try and save a fellow officer. At the present time, Browne-Smith is a Professor at Oxford. He departs on a mysterious trip to London where he visit a topless bar and then proceeds to a brothel. There he is served drugged drinks and he collapses on the floor. A few days later, the Master of Lonsdale college invites Morse and voices suspicion about the disappearance of Browne-Smith. He has left the college without any communication or forwarding address. Morse promises to keep an eye out for any information that comes his way. It is revealed that Morse was a student of Browne-Smith in his college days and the reason Morse picked up his obsession for grammar and spelling. We also see a short flashback into Morse's college days and his breakup with his college sweetheart. Then, the police discover a dismembered corpse in the water at Trupp. The corpse is missing the head, arms and legs. This makes identification difficult but Morse believes that the corpse could be that of Browne-Smith. It is also found that Browne-Smith was suffering from brain tumour and had only a few more weeks left to live. As more evidence accumulates, suspicion seems to fall on Prof.Westerby who was antagonistic towards Browne-Smith at college and is supposedly on a vacation to Greece after his recent retirement. But Morse speculates that the body is not that of Browne-Smith but probably Westerby thereby the need to dismember the corpse to confuse the police. During a visit to Browne-Smith's room at the college, Morse meets one of the Gilbert twins who is running a packers and movers business engaged to shift the retired Westerby's effects. Thereby Morse, gains the address of Westerby's new flat in London. On travelling there, he finds another corpse, this time stabbed with a screw driver. In a moment of forgivable lapse brought about his fear of corpses, Morse does not recognize the murderer and allows him to walk free. The second mile concludes with three more deaths - one being murder, one suicide and one general causes, thereby leaving none of the suspects alive. Morse largely guesses how things happened. His theory goes as follows: The Gilbert twins wanted to kill Browne-Smith in order to avenge the death of Johnny Gilbert and set up an elaborate scheme to lure him to London. They realize that Johnny actually committed suicide so let Browne-Smith go. Browne-Smith in turn uses the same scheme to lure Westerby and confronts him. Browne-Smith in turn, realizes that he was mistaken in his antagonism. He has always assumed (wrongly) that Westerby had voted against him in the election for Master of the college. Westerby and Browne-Smith both realize that the current Master had voted against both of them in their previous elections. So they use the same scheme for the third time to lure the Master to London and kill him. Browne-Smith was, however, guilt-ridden and tried to steer Morse to the culprits. It is suggested that he was mentally not in control due to side-effects of the tumor. Morse further guesses that the corpse found in Trupp was the Master. Westerby killed Alfred in his London flat and in turn, Albert killed Westerby and then committed suicide. Browne-smith died of his tumor.