The Book in Brief
Archie Hope funds Professor Braddock's purchase of the green-wrapped mummy of Inca Caxas in exchange for permission to marry Lucy Kendal. Braddock's assistant Sidney Bolton collects the mummy at Pierside, but Bolton's strangled body arrives inside the packing case and the mummy disappears. Captain Hervey, Sir Frank Random, Don Pedro de Gayangos, and the widowed Mrs. Jasher all possess pieces of the mummy's history. When the mummy turns up in Mrs. Jasher's garden, its emeralds are missing and a Latin manuscript found with it is planted in Random's quarters.
Hervey is exposed as Gustav Vasa, the sailor who stole the mummy from Don Pedro's father decades earlier, but he did not murder Bolton. Mrs. Jasher admits trying to blackmail Random and is then fatally stabbed by Cockatoo, Braddock's servant. Her written confession reveals that Braddock learned Bolton planned to steal the emeralds and sent Cockatoo to stop him. Cockatoo murdered Bolton, recovered the mummy, and later killed Mrs. Jasher to suppress the truth. Braddock and Cockatoo try to escape with Hervey by hiding Braddock inside the mummy case; Don Pedro shoots Braddock during the river confrontation, Cockatoo is captured and later hanged, and Hervey escapes aboard his ship.
Important Characters
Archibald 'Archie' Hope: A young artist engaged to Lucy who finances the mummy purchase and becomes the principal amateur investigator.
Lucy Kendal: Professor Braddock's stepdaughter and Archie's fiancée, whose loyalty is tested by the exposure of Braddock's crimes.
Professor Braddock: An obsessive archaeologist whose desire to possess the mummy and its emeralds makes him the organizer of the underlying conspiracy.
Sidney Bolton: Braddock's assistant, found strangled inside the packing case meant to contain the mummy.
Cockatoo: Braddock's devoted Kanaka servant and the direct perpetrator of both murders.
Mrs. Jasher: A financially desperate widow angling to marry Braddock, who knows more of the night's events than she admits, attempts blackmail, and leaves the confession that breaks the case.
Sir Frank Random: A baronet and army officer who loves Donna Inez and is framed when the mummy manuscript is planted in his room.
Don Pedro de Gayangos: A Peruvian nobleman seeking the mummy and emeralds stolen from his family.
Donna Inez de Gayangos: Don Pedro's daughter and Sir Frank's eventual wife.
Captain Hervey / Gustav Vasa: The American sea captain who stole the mummy decades earlier and later helps Braddock attempt an escape.
Widow Anne Bolton: Sidney's mother, whose memories and observations help connect present events to the older theft.
Inspector Date: The police officer who organizes the final attempt to intercept the fugitives at the river.
Chapter-by-Chapter Summary
Chapter 1: The Lovers
Lucy Kendal and Archie Hope discuss the thousand pounds Archie paid Professor Braddock for permission to marry her. Their happiness is shadowed by Braddock's obsession with an incoming green mummy and by Widow Anne Bolton's ominous dream about her son Sidney.
Chapter 2: Professor Braddock
The narrative introduces Braddock's museum-filled home, the Pyramids, and his complete absorption in archaeology. Mrs. Jasher's interest in the widowed professor is also established, although Braddock notices specimens far more readily than courtship.
Chapter 3: A Mysterious Tomb
Braddock's servant Cockatoo and the household gather around a discussion of Egyptian and Peruvian burials. Braddock explains the importance of the mummy being brought from Malta, while Lucy makes clear that she will marry Archie regardless of her stepfather's wishes.
Chapter 4: The Unexpected
Archie confesses his financial worries to Lucy, who forgives his earlier silence. Their plans are interrupted when the long-awaited packing case arrives and is opened, revealing Sidney Bolton's corpse instead of the mummy.
Chapter 5: Mystery
Widow Anne grieves over Sidney while Braddock fumes over the loss of his specimen and the money spent acquiring it. The household confronts the central puzzle: Bolton has been murdered, and both the mummy and its packing materials have been deliberately rearranged.
Chapter 6: The Inquest
Gartley becomes briefly famous as the coroner questions Braddock, Archie, and the people connected with the delivery. The testimony establishes that many collectors wanted the mummy but produces no proof against a particular suspect, leaving the police inquiry open.
Chapter 7: The Captain of the Diver
After Bolton's funeral, Captain Hervey of the Diver visits Braddock and demands money before helping search for the missing mummy. His aggressive manner, knowledge of the voyage, and willingness to bargain make him immediately suspicious.
Chapter 8: The Baronet
Braddock questions Sir Frank Random about events at Pierside and about Don Pedro's interest in the mummy. Random denies involvement, but his private photograph of Donna Inez reveals that recovering the relic may help him win her father's approval.
Chapter 9: Mrs. Jasher's Luck
Weeks after the murder, Lucy visits Mrs. Jasher and learns more about the widow's financial insecurity and hopes of marrying Braddock. Their conversation also confirms Lucy's commitment to Archie and Mrs. Jasher's unusual curiosity about the mummy case.
Chapter 10: The Don and His Daughter
Don Pedro de Gayangos arrives with Donna Inez and explains that his family has a prior claim to the missing object. Archie and Random are startled when Don Pedro says the mummy was stolen from his father rather than legitimately sold.
Chapter 11: The Manuscript
At Mrs. Jasher's house, Don Pedro recounts the older theft and identifies the sailor Gustav Vasa as the man who carried off the mummy. He explains that a manuscript and precious emeralds were connected with the burial, making the relic valuable for reasons beyond scholarship.
Chapter 12: A Discovery
While Braddock remains in London pursuing leads, Archie and Lucy continue their marriage plans. The case abruptly revives when a distinctive coffin is discovered in Mrs. Jasher's garden and Braddock recognizes it as the missing green mummy.
Chapter 13: More Mystery
Archie questions Mrs. Jasher about how the mummy could have entered her garden during a narrow window of time, but she denies seeing or hearing the delivery. Braddock is delighted to regain the specimen and largely ignores the implication that someone selected the widow's property for concealment.
Chapter 14: The Unexpected Happens
Don Pedro confronts Braddock over ownership, and the mummy is opened in front of witnesses. Its green wrappings have been cut and the emeralds formerly held in its hands have been removed, proving that theft of the jewels motivated at least part of the crime.
Chapter 15: An Accusation
Braddock and Don Pedro trade accusations while Captain Hervey suggests that the old thief Vasa could have killed Bolton and hidden the mummy. The theories expose everyone's financial and personal motives without yet identifying how the relic moved from Pierside to Gartley.
Chapter 16: The Manuscript Again
A Latin manuscript associated with the mummy appears in Sir Frank Random's quarters, prompting Braddock to accuse him of murder and theft. Random's apparent possession of evidence from the missing case creates a strong but suspiciously convenient case against him.
Chapter 17: Circumstantial Evidence
Random explains that he briefly picked up the manuscript after seeing it among papers on the Diver but did not knowingly carry it home. Because it later appeared in his room, he and Archie conclude that an enemy deliberately planted it to direct suspicion toward him.
Chapter 18: Recognition
Lucy attempts to reconcile Braddock and Mrs. Jasher while Widow Anne supplies a decisive memory about the older sailor. When Don Pedro addresses Captain Hervey as Vasa, Hervey's reaction confirms that the American captain is the man who stole the mummy years earlier.
Chapter 19: Nearer the Truth
Hervey admits that, as Gustav Vasa, he was the sailor who stole the mummy from Don Pedro's father in Lima decades earlier, and that he later arranged its new shipment, but he denies killing Bolton. He turns suspicion back on Random by claiming that the baronet placed the manuscript in his own room.
Chapter 20: The Letter
The group judges that Hervey had little reason to murder Bolton on land when he controlled the ship. A blackmail letter then threatens Random with evidence capable of hanging him unless he follows instructions placed through a newspaper advertisement.
Chapter 21: A Story of the Past
Random confronts Mrs. Jasher and discovers that she wrote the threatening letter after hearing he had been accused. She admits her secret attachment to Sidney and her need for money but insists she neither murdered him nor stole the emeralds; Random prevents her from fleeing.
Chapter 22: A Wedding Present
Random and Archie examine Mrs. Jasher's story and the possibility that she helped Sidney plan a theft. A huge emerald is anonymously thrown into the Fort's sentry box with a note calling it a wedding gift for Random, proving that someone is redistributing the missing jewels.
Chapter 23: Just in Time
Random decides to return the emerald to Don Pedro and joins Archie in seeking a fuller explanation from Mrs. Jasher. They reach her cottage during an attack, see a dark intruder escape through the window, and find the widow critically wounded.
Chapter 24: A Confession
The dying Mrs. Jasher says that she wrote down everything she knew and that her attacker sought both the confession and the second emerald. Before dying, she identifies Cockatoo as the man who killed both Sidney Bolton and her.
Chapter 25: The Mills of God
Mrs. Jasher's statement reveals that Braddock learned of Sidney's plan to steal the emeralds and sent Cockatoo to prevent it; Cockatoo strangled Sidney, recovered the mummy, and later stabbed the widow to silence her. Archie and Random reach the Pyramids only to learn that Braddock, Cockatoo, and the mummy have vanished.
Chapter 26: The Appointment
Lucy is devastated by the proof of her stepfather's involvement while the police trace the fugitives toward the river. Don Pedro receives a message arranging a nighttime meeting as Captain Hervey's new vessel passes Gartley, giving the pursuers a chance to stop the escape.
Chapter 27: By the River
At the jetty, Hervey's crew tries to smuggle Braddock aboard hidden inside the mummy case while Cockatoo assists from below. Don Pedro's gunfire kills Braddock, Cockatoo is captured and later hanged for the two murders, and Hervey escapes; Archie marries Lucy, Random marries Inez, and the mummy of Inca Caxas is returned at last to the De Gayangos family, and Don Pedro carries it home to Lima.
Ending Explained
Who killed Sidney Bolton and Mrs. Jasher? Cockatoo directly commits both murders. He strangles Bolton to recover the emeralds for Braddock and later stabs Mrs. Jasher after she writes a confession and gives one emerald to Random.
What is Professor Braddock's responsibility? Braddock discovers Bolton's intended theft and sends Cockatoo to stop him and recover the mummy. He claims he did not order murder, but he conceals the crimes, benefits from them, and joins the attempted escape.
Why was Mrs. Jasher involved? She was secretly engaged to Bolton and knew pieces of his plan. She saw Braddock and Cockatoo go down the cinderpath to the jetty that night, and the mummy afterwards turned up in her own garden. She attempts to blackmail Random for money, and ultimately records the conspiracy in writing.
What happens at the river? Braddock is concealed inside the mummy case so Hervey's crew can carry him aboard. The pursuers expose the trick, Don Pedro's shot kills Braddock, and Cockatoo is taken into custody while Hervey escapes.
Where do the emeralds end up? One is brought to Don Pedro by Sir Frank Random the day after Mrs. Jasher's death. The other is already gone: Braddock took it to Amsterdam during his supposed London trip and sold it to an Indian rajah for three thousand pounds. The treasure is never restored whole.
How do the romances conclude? Archie and Lucy marry after Braddock's death, while Sir Frank Random marries Donna Inez. The double wedding provides a deliberately conventional release after the sensational crime plot.
Themes and Motifs
Possession disguised as scholarship Braddock repeatedly treats greed as scientific dedication. His fixation on owning the mummy allows him to excuse theft, coercion, and finally complicity in murder.
Objects carrying buried histories The mummy, manuscript, and emeralds connect a decades-old colonial theft to the present crime, ensuring that no character can treat the artifact as a neutral collectible.
Evidence that can be planted or traded The manuscript and emeralds move between rooms and owners, turning physical evidence into a weapon for framing, bargaining, and blackmail.
Romance and economic dependence Nearly every proposed marriage is shaped by money. Archie buys Braddock's consent, Mrs. Jasher seeks security, and Random's pursuit of Inez becomes bound to Don Pedro's lost property.
Loyalty corrupted into servitude Cockatoo's devotion to Braddock is represented as absolute obedience, allowing the professor to distance himself from violence while continuing to benefit from it.
Content Notes
Strangulation, stabbing, gun violence, blackmail, theft, attempted framing, concealment of a corpse, and a fatal escape attempt.
The text includes colonial attitudes and racist descriptions of Indigenous, Pacific Islander, Peruvian, and other non-English characters; several terms are offensive by modern standards.
The mystery repeatedly treats human remains and culturally significant objects as private collectibles.
About the Book
Author and date: Fergus Hume; first published 1908. Genre: Edwardian mystery / archaeological crime novel. Overall assessment: 3.5/5. Best for: readers who enjoy Victorian and Edwardian sensation fiction, archaeological mysteries, stolen relics, and elaborate conspiracies. Mystery style: amateur investigation driven by interviews, hidden histories, blackmail, planted evidence, and a written confession. Structure: 27 titled chapters following the Project Gutenberg edition. Primary attractions: the corpse-in-the-mummy-case opening, the shifting ownership of the mummy, and the final river confrontation.
Primary text used for chapter verification: Fergus Hume, The Green Mummy, Project Gutenberg eBook no. 2868. The text identifies 27 titled chapters and was most recently updated January 27, 2021. Chapter titles, sequence, plot events, and ending details in this guide were checked against that complete text.