# Mr. Vane — Inspector French’s Greatest Case character guide

> Mr. Vane in Inspector French’s Greatest Case by Freeman Wills Crofts.

**Role:** supporting

**Also known as:** Mrs. Vane, Mr. and Mrs. Vane

**First appearance:** 0014-xv-the-house-in-st-john-s-wood

## Snapshot

Tenant of a house rented from the murdered man, whose ordinary domestic arrangements may conceal more than the police first assume.

## Who they are

Mr. and Mrs. Vane occupy a property tied to the Duke estate, placing them at the quiet edge of a case that keeps reaching into unexpected addresses. Their tenancy makes them persons of interest less for what they say than for what their situation implies about access, timing, and the movements around the murdered clerk. As French works outward from the firm, the Vanes represent the kind of ordinary-seeming thread that in a Crofts novel often proves to be anything but ordinary.

## In the story

### [A Deal in Stocks](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/inspector_french_s_greatest_case_se/chapters/xvii-a-deal-in-stocks)

Presumed sender of the cipher message and suspected murderer.

### [The S.S. Enoch](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/inspector_french_s_greatest_case_se/chapters/xviii-the-s-s-enoch)

Fugitive who boarded the Enoch with Mrs. Vane but disembarked before sailing, leaving dummy luggage.

### [French Propounds a Riddle](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/inspector_french_s_greatest_case_se/chapters/xix-french-propounds-a-riddle)

Believed to be still on board in disguise with his wife.

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/inspector_french_s_greatest_case_se/characters/vane
- Book: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/inspector_french_s_greatest_case_se
- All characters: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/inspector_french_s_greatest_case_se/characters