# M. Dangle — The Cheyne Mystery character guide

> M. Dangle in The Cheyne Mystery by Freeman Wills Crofts.

**Role:** supporting

**Also known as:** Dangle

**First appearance:** 0005-vi-the-house-in-hopefield-avenue

## Snapshot

A genial, calculating schemer who offers Cheyne partnership over a disputed tracing with the easy confidence of a man used to winning tricks.

## Who they are

Dangle presides over a family enterprise that photographs documents, trades in propositions, and treats crime as a business to be negotiated rather than a line to be feared. He can be disarmingly fair, even charming, admitting his own luck and praising Cheyne's scheme, yet his cheerfulness carries an implicit threat whenever Joan Merrill's safety is on the table. He matters because he converts the mystery from a chase into a bargain, forcing Cheyne to weigh principle against profit and to wonder whether his enemies might make better partners than his friends.

## In the story

### [X: The New Firm Gets Busy](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_cheyne_mystery_se/chapters/x-the-new-firm-gets-busy)

Arrives at Earlswood during the burglary and pursues Cheyne.

### [XII: In the Enemy's Lair](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_cheyne_mystery_se/chapters/xii-in-the-enemy-s-lair)

Threatens Cheyne with Joan's safety, forces him to swear an oath of loyalty, and reveals the gang's inability to decode the cipher.

### [XIII: Inspector French Takes Charge](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_cheyne_mystery_se/chapters/xiii-inspector-french-takes-charge)

Another gang member; has fled from Earlswood along with Sime.

### [XV: The Torn Hotel Bill](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_cheyne_mystery_se/chapters/xv-the-torn-hotel-bill)

His waistcoat yields a torn hotel bill with a cryptic list of items.

### [XVII: On the Flood Tide](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_cheyne_mystery_se/chapters/xvii-on-the-flood-tide)

Also rowed out to the L'Escaut; claimed to be a writer by Merkel.

### [XVIII: A Visitor from India](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_cheyne_mystery_se/chapters/xviii-a-visitor-from-india)

Dangle is mentioned as having invented the story of hard copper to mislead Cheyne about the cipher's contents.

### [XIX: The Message of the Tracing](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_cheyne_mystery_se/chapters/xix-the-message-of-the-tracing)

Revealed as the one who overheard Schulz's dying story and stole the cipher, leading to the conspiracy.

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_cheyne_mystery_se/characters/m_dangle
- Book: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_cheyne_mystery_se
- All characters: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_cheyne_mystery_se/characters