The Cask · Characters
Character guide
Key figures in The Cask by Freeman Wills Crofts.
Skim names here — open a free preview to see character cards and Character Web beside the page as you read.
Mr. Georges La Touche
major
Also known as La Touche, Georges, Mr. La Touche, Touche, Georges La Touche, M. La Touche
La Touche works the margins of the investigation, paying porters for descriptions and staking his dwindling funds on hunches the official police overlook. His restless night produces the insight that the reward notices have been aimed at the wrong man entirely, and he drafts a circular under a false name to reach the carter's employers. His willingness to spend and dissemble for an accused man's sake makes him the story's quiet engine of alternative inquiry.
Mr. Felix
major
Also known as Felix, Mr. Léon Felix, Léon, Léon Felix, M. Léon Felix, M. Felix
Felix is the consignee whose name is stencilled on the cask, a designer with a housekeeper conveniently away on holiday when the body travelled. He produces envelopes to prove his identity, signs for the shipment, and disappears for twenty-two hours that the police cannot account for. Whether he is a grieving man, a fugitive, or something stranger, his absence shapes every question the detectives ask in the early and middle chapters.
M. Boirac
major
Also known as Raoul, M. Raoul Boirac, Armande, M. Armande Boirac
Boirac sits at the centre of the case's most obvious motive: a husband who may or may not have known his wife was leaving him for another man. The discovery of a matching cask unpacked in his study briefly hardens suspicion, then dissolves into an explanation that leaves the Chief doubting again. His love, or lack of it, for Annette becomes the pivot on which the whole theory of the crime turns.
M. Lefarge
supporting
Also known as Lefarge
Lefarge is the steady, methodical half of the investigative pair, the one who remembers that the cask's weight was extraordinary and that the carter's description might be worth fifty francs. He is not afraid to challenge the Chief's narrowing focus, suggesting that someone entirely outside the Felix-Boirac triangle may be responsible. His patient reconstruction of the cask's movements gives the middle chapters their spine.
Inspector Burnley
major
Also known as Burnley, Mr. Burnley
Burnley is the official mind of the case, cautious with his suspicions and careful with his evidence, refusing to commit himself even to Felix on the walk to the Yard. He supervises the unpacking himself, sifting sawdust through his fingers until the sovereigns give way to something far worse. His disciplined, almost reticent method contrasts with La Touche's gambits and sets the tone for the investigation's slow, granular progress.
Annette Boirac
major
Also known as Madame Annette Boirac, Madame, Madame Boirac, Annette Humbert
Annette is known to the reader first as a dress sold in February, then as a name on a hotel register, and only gradually as a woman with a life the detectives must reconstruct from fragments. Her marriage to Boirac, her connection to Felix, and the question of whether she left willingly or was taken become the case's central ambiguity. She never speaks in the passages, yet her choices — or the choices attributed to her — determine who is suspected and why.
Clifford
supporting
Also known as Mr. Clifford
The solicitor who takes on the suspected man's defence, drawn less by duty than by his private delight in the uncommon and bizarre.
Mr. Broughton
supporting
Also known as Broughton, Tom Broughton
A shipping clerk with salt in his veins and romance in his head, he longs for far-off ports while tallying wine casks in a London hold.
Dr. William Martin
minor
Also known as Dr. Martin, Martin
A medical professional who examines the body.
M. Le Gautier
minor
Also known as Le Gautier, Alphonse Le Gautier, M. Alphonse Le Gautier
A French contact or suspect in the investigation.
Mr. Avery
minor
Also known as Avery
A minor character who provides information.
Constable Walker
minor
Also known as Walker
A police constable assisting Burnley.
François
minor
Also known as M. François
A servant or employee in the Boirac household.
Pierre Bonchose
minor
Also known as Bonchose, Mr. Pierre Bonchose, Mr. Bonchose
A witness or minor figure in the case.
Mr. Harkness
minor
Also known as Harkness
A minor character who appears in the investigation.
Watty
minor
A minor character, possibly a servant or worker.
M. Chauvet
minor
Also known as Chauvet
A French character involved in the plot.
Jean Dubois
minor
Also known as Dubois, M. Jean Dubois
A minor French character.
M. Mallet
minor
Also known as Mallet
A minor French character.
Lucius Heppenstall
minor
Also known as Heppenstall, Mr. Lucius Heppenstall, Mr. Heppenstall
A minor character, possibly a friend or associate.
M. Dumarchez
minor
Also known as Dumarchez
A minor French character.
Henri François
minor
Also known as François
A minor character, possibly a servant.
Suzanne Lemaître
minor
Also known as Suzanne
A minor female character.
M. Paul Thévenet
minor
Also known as M. Thévenet
A minor French character.
Mrs. Bridget Murphy
minor
Also known as Mrs. Murphy
A minor character, possibly a housekeeper.
Sergeant Hastings
minor
Also known as Hastings
A police sergeant assisting the investigation.
Sergeant Kelvin
minor
Also known as Kelvin
A police sergeant.
John Hill
minor
Also known as Hill
A minor character, possibly a witness.
M. Thomas
minor
Also known as Thomas
A minor character in the story.
Walter Palmer
minor
Also known as Palmer
A minor character mentioned in the investigation.
Mr. Henry Gordon
minor
Also known as Henry Gordon, Mr. Gordon
A minor character, possibly a business contact.
Messrs. Dupierre
minor
Also known as Dupierre, MM. Dupierre
A firm or individuals involved in shipping.
Mlle. Lambert
minor
Also known as Éloise Lambert, Lambert, Mlle. Éloise Lambert
A young woman connected to the case.
Jim Brown
minor
Also known as Jim
A minor character.
Mr. Huston
minor
Also known as Huston
A minor character.
Jules Fouchard
minor
Also known as Jules, Fouchard
A minor character.
Farol
minor
A minor character.
M. Pascot
minor
A minor French character.
Miss Gladys Devine
minor
Also known as Miss Devine
A celebrated actress mentioned in the story.
M. Jaques de Belleville
minor
Also known as M. de Belleville, Jaques de Belleville
A minor French aristocrat.
Emmie
minor
A minor character, possibly a child.
Mlle. Blaise
minor
Also known as Blaise
A minor female character.
M. Dufresne
minor
A minor French character.
Jean Duval
minor
Also known as Jean, Duval
A minor character.
Suzanne Daudet
minor
Also known as Suzanne
A minor female character.
Mr. Wilcox
minor
Also known as Wilcox
A minor character.
John Lyons
minor
Also known as John
A minor character.
M. Humbert
minor
Also known as André Humbert
The late father of Annette Boirac.
Captain M'Nabb
minor
A minor character, possibly a sea captain.
M. Guillaume Leblanc
minor
Also known as M. Leblanc
A minor French character.
M. Guillaume Faneuil
minor
Also known as M. Faneuil
A minor French character.