# Captain Denis Cathcart — Clouds of Witness character guide > Captain Denis Cathcart in Clouds of Witness by Dorothy L. Sayers. **Role:** major **Also known as:** Denis Cathcart, Cathcart, Denis, Captain Cathcart, the late Captain Cathcart **First appearance:** 0002-clouds-of-witness ## Snapshot The murdered man: a penniless ex-officer engaged to Lady Mary, whose debts, mistress, and desperate schemes made him a walking motive for his own death. ## Who they are Cathcart was a man of good family and no money, reduced by degrees to the final deep of dishonor — keeping a mistress in Paris while courting a duke's daughter for her fortune. He understood the transaction perfectly: he could pay for Simone Vonderaa's beauty and good humor only so long as he had money, and money he must have by hook or by crook. His engagement to Lady Mary was a business arrangement on both sides, and the question of who killed him is inseparable from the question of who he had wronged. ## Relationships ### [Viscount St. George](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/clouds_of_witness_se/characters/viscount_st_george) _social_ Acquaintances linked through aristocratic circles and the murder case, with underlying tension due to Cathcart's death. ### [Lady Mary Wimsey](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/clouds_of_witness_se/characters/lady_mary_wimsey) _romantic_ Former fiancés, with a strained relationship ending in Cathcart's death and Mary's subsequent suspicion. ### [Sir Impey Biggs](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/clouds_of_witness_se/characters/sir_impey_biggs) _professional_ Lawyer and deceased client, with Biggs representing Cathcart's interests posthumously during the trial. ### [Lord Peter Wimsey](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/clouds_of_witness_se/characters/lord_peter_wimsey) _social_ Brother-in-law and suspect, with Peter investigating Cathcart's death and his connection to the family. ### [Lord Peter Wimsey](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/clouds_of_witness_se/characters/lord_peter_wimsey) _social_ Brother-in-law and suspect, with Peter investigating Cathcart's death and his connection to the family. ### [Lady Mary Wimsey](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/clouds_of_witness_se/characters/lady_mary_wimsey) _romantic_ Former fiancés, with a strained relationship ending in Cathcart's death and Mary's subsequent suspicion. ### [Viscount St. George](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/clouds_of_witness_se/characters/viscount_st_george) _social_ Acquaintances linked through aristocratic circles and the murder case, with underlying tension due to Cathcart's death. ### [Sir Impey Biggs](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/clouds_of_witness_se/characters/sir_impey_biggs) _professional_ Lawyer and deceased client, with Biggs representing Cathcart's interests posthumously during the trial. ### [Lady Mary Wimsey](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/clouds_of_witness_se/characters/lady_mary_wimsey) _romantic_ Former fiancés, with a strained relationship ending in Cathcart's death and Mary's subsequent suspicion. ### [Lord Peter Wimsey](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/clouds_of_witness_se/characters/lord_peter_wimsey) _social_ Brother-in-law and suspect, with Peter investigating Cathcart's death and his connection to the family. ### [Viscount St. George](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/clouds_of_witness_se/characters/viscount_st_george) _social_ Acquaintances linked through aristocratic circles and the murder case, with underlying tension due to Cathcart's death. ## In the story ### [Clouds of Witness](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/clouds_of_witness_se/chapters/clouds-of-witness) The victim, whose murder sets the plot in motion. ### [I: Of His Malice Aforethought](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/clouds_of_witness_se/chapters/i-of-his-malice-aforethought) The deceased; found shot outside the conservatory door at Riddlesdale Lodge; engaged to Lady Mary Wimsey. ### [II: The Green-Eyed Cat](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/clouds_of_witness_se/chapters/ii-the-green-eyed-cat) The deceased; Freddy Arbuthnot recalls that Cathcart was in good spirits the night before his death, planning to propose to Mary and move to Paris. ### [III: Mudstains and Bloodstains](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/clouds_of_witness_se/chapters/iii-mudstains-and-bloodstains) Subject of Parker's investigations; known for poker and visits to a beauty specialist; his death is discussed as mysterious. ### [V: The Rue St. Honoré and the Rue de la Paix](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/clouds_of_witness_se/chapters/v-the-rue-st-honor-and-the-rue-de-la-paix) The deceased; his financial records reveal a once-rich man who lost his fortune during the war and resorted to gambling and mysterious cash receipts. ### [XVIII: The Speech for the Defense](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/clouds_of_witness_se/chapters/xviii-the-speech-for-the-defense) The deceased, whose letter is read in court, revealing his suicide and the depths of his dishonor and despair. ## Links - HTML: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/clouds_of_witness_se/characters/captain_denis_cathcart - Book: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/clouds_of_witness_se - All characters: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/clouds_of_witness_se/characters