# Lane Fleming — Murder in the Gunroom character guide

> Lane Fleming in Murder in the Gunroom by H. Beam Piper.

**Role:** major

**Also known as:** Fleming, the late Lane Fleming

**First appearance:** 0001-murder-in-the-gunroom

## Snapshot

A wealthy collector whose life's work was twenty-five hundred pistols, and whose convenient death by an old revolver nobody quite believes.

## Who they are

Fleming spent decades building one of the country's finest pistol collections, systematically replacing inferior pieces until the twenty-five hundred he left behind were a genuine asset for his widow and stepdaughters. The official story is that he died cleaning an old revolver, but the lawyer Goode is already defensive about rumors of suicide, and Rand finds the accident theory thin from the start. His death is the hinge on which everything turns: the collection must be appraised, the estate settled, and somewhere in that gunroom is the answer to whether he was careless or killed.

## Relationships

### [Jeff Rand](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/murder_in_the_gunroom_se/characters/jeff_rand)

_professional_

Jeff Rand is hired to investigate the murder of Lane Fleming, a gun collector, making Lane the central victim of the case.

### [Arnold Rivers](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/murder_in_the_gunroom_se/characters/arnold_rivers)

_friendship_

Arnold Rivers and Lane Fleming were close friends and fellow gun collectors, with Rivers deeply affected by Fleming's murder.

### [Jeff Rand](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/murder_in_the_gunroom_se/characters/jeff_rand)

_professional_

Jeff Rand is hired to investigate the murder of Lane Fleming, a gun collector, making Lane the central victim of the case.

## In the story

### [I](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/murder_in_the_gunroom_se/chapters/i)

Deceased collector; died in a firearms accident while cleaning a Confederate revolver.

### [II](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/murder_in_the_gunroom_se/chapters/ii)

The deceased, whose death Rand concludes was murder based on the condition of the revolver and cleaning process.

### [III](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/murder_in_the_gunroom_se/chapters/iii)

Deceased collector; his death is discussed as accidental, though rumors of suicide are mentioned.

### [IV](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/murder_in_the_gunroom_se/chapters/iv)

Deceased collector; Gresham suspects his death was a suicide, possibly due to losing control of his company.

### [VII](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/murder_in_the_gunroom_se/chapters/vii)

His collection is being cataloged; his memory and organizational system are discussed.

### [Chapter X](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/murder_in_the_gunroom_se/chapters/x)

Mentioned as having been killed under suspicious circumstances; his collection was looted after his death.

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/murder_in_the_gunroom_se/characters/lane_fleming
- Book: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/murder_in_the_gunroom_se
- All characters: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/murder_in_the_gunroom_se/characters