# Thurza Darke — The Box Office Murders character guide

> Thurza Darke in The Box Office Murders by Freeman Wills Crofts.

**Role:** supporting

**Also known as:** Miss Darke, Thurza, Miss Thurza Darke, poor Thurza Darke

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

## Snapshot

A cinema box-office attendant whose certainty that her friend Eileen was murdered sets French on the trail—before she herself vanishes from her post.

## Who they are

Miss Darke comes to French with a story no one else believes: that Eileen Tucker, found drowned with a forged suicide letter, was not the suicidal type and had been frightened over money, not love. Her distress at the inquest and her refusal to accept the convenient verdict make her the human conscience of the early case. When she fails to appear at her box office and her body is later recovered from the sea, her own death confirms everything she warned French about.

## In the story

### [I: The Purple Sickle](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_box_office_murders_se/chapters/i-the-purple-sickle)

Thurza visits Scotland Yard at Mr. Arrowsmith's suggestion. She is visibly nervous but recounts her involvement in a Monte Carlo gambling scheme and the story of her friend Eileen Tucker, who died after being involved with a man bearing a purple sickle scar.

### [II: French Makes an Assignation](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_box_office_murders_se/chapters/ii-french-makes-an-assignation)

Thurza fails to appear for the meeting with French; her body is later found, and her earlier interview with French about Mr. Style is recounted.

### [III: The Inquest](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_box_office_murders_se/chapters/iii-the-inquest)

The deceased; evidence shows she was drowned in fresh water and her body placed in the sea.

### [IV: French Makes a Start](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_box_office_murders_se/chapters/iv-french-makes-a-start)

The deceased; her murder is the focus of French's initial inquiries, and he reconstructs her final movements.

### [IX: French Makes a Second Assignation](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_box_office_murders_se/chapters/ix-french-makes-a-second-assignation)

Mentioned as having met Westinghouse at Charing Cross Gardens; her murder is connected to the case.

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

French recalls her face from the Portsmouth police station, reinforcing his belief in the sinister nature of the case.

### [XII: The Car’s Freight](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_box_office_murders_se/chapters/xii-the-car-s-freight)

Her story is recounted by French as a parallel to Molly Moran's situation, highlighting the gang's modus operandi and her subsequent murder.

### [XVI: In the Net](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_box_office_murders_se/chapters/xvi-in-the-net)

Thurza Darke is mentioned as a previous victim who was drowned in a bath by Style.

## Links

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