# Walters — Murder in the Gunroom character guide

> Walters in Murder in the Gunroom by H. Beam Piper.

**Role:** supporting

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

## Snapshot

The Fleming butler whose class-conscious bearing and discovery of the body make him both a witness and an unlikely suspect in the Rivers killing.

## Who they are

Walters serves the Fleming household with the polished reserve of a man who knows his place and expects others to know theirs, which is precisely why Rand rules him out as Rivers's drinking companion. Rivers was too much of a snob to share a bottle with a butler, and Rand's General Semantics reading of class-labels turns that snobbery into an alibi. As the man who found the body and later stands bail hearings with the police, Walters anchors the early investigation in the mundane routines of the house.

## Relationships

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

_professional_

Walters, Lane Fleming's butler, provides Jeff Rand with household information and serves as a quiet, reliable source.

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

_professional_

Walters, Lane Fleming's butler, provides Jeff Rand with household information and serves as a quiet, reliable source.

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

_professional_

Walters, Lane Fleming's butler, provides Jeff Rand with household information and serves as a quiet, reliable source.

## In the story

### [VI](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/murder_in_the_gunroom_se/chapters/vi)

The butler who meets Rand at the garage, unpacks his bags, and serves drinks. He is noted to have been in the gunroom daily cleaning the pistols.

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

Assists Rand in the gunroom, explains the collection's arrangement, and recounts the circumstances of Lane Fleming's death.

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

Identified as the butler suspected of stealing from the Fleming collection and possibly murdering Rivers.

### [XIII](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/murder_in_the_gunroom_se/chapters/xiii)

Butler suspected of stealing pistols; Rand asks Gladys to keep him away from the gunroom.

### [XIV](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/murder_in_the_gunroom_se/chapters/xiv)

Suspect in the pistol thefts; Rand believes he stole from the collection and sold the pistols to Rivers.

### [XV](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/murder_in_the_gunroom_se/chapters/xv)

Assists Rand in the gunroom and demonstrates deep knowledge of the collection by fetching a rare Walch revolver without hesitation.

### [XVII](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/murder_in_the_gunroom_se/chapters/xvii)

Confesses to stealing and selling pistols to Carl Gwinnett, clearing himself of murder but admitting to larceny.

### [XVIII](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/murder_in_the_gunroom_se/chapters/xviii)

Former Fleming butler who leads the police to the hidden pistols in Gwinnett's garret and identifies each weapon.

### [XXI](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/murder_in_the_gunroom_se/chapters/xxi)

Stole pistols from the collection after Fleming's death, planning to leave his butler job.

## Links

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