# Sergeant Ormsby — The Box Office Murders character guide

> Sergeant Ormsby in The Box Office Murders by Freeman Wills Crofts.

**Role:** supporting

**Also known as:** Ormsby, Eagerly Ormsby

**First appearance:** 0000-i-the-purple-sickle

## Snapshot

French's steady-handed sergeant, whose skill with putty knives and doorkeys turns a silent midnight garage break-in into the case's first real breakthrough.

## Who they are

Ormsby is the quiet professional beside French — the man who cuts away putty, lifts out a pane, and picks a lock while the returning policeman's footsteps ring sharp on the street outside. His competence under pressure gives French the freedom to search the Mercury saloon inch by inch until the hidden steel pocket behind the petrol tank reveals itself. Without Ormsby's nerve and craft, the girls' sinister errands would have remained a baffling pattern of innocent-looking drives.

## In the story

### [X: Mr. Cracksman French](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_box_office_murders_se/chapters/x-mr-cracksman-french)

Assists French in the burglary, uses his carpentry skills to remove the window pane and cut a key for the garage door.

### [XI: The Happy Paterfamilias](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_box_office_murders_se/chapters/xi-the-happy-paterfamilias)

Provides his son Freddie to assist in French's plan.

### [The Property Adjoining](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_box_office_murders_se/chapters/xiv-the-property-adjoining)

Accompanies French to the silversmiths' yard and assists in the search.

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_box_office_murders_se/characters/sergeant_ormsby
- Book: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_box_office_murders_se
- All characters: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_box_office_murders_se/characters