# Thomas Johnson — The Circular Staircase character guide

> Thomas Johnson in The Circular Staircase by Mary Roberts Rinehart.

**Role:** supporting

**Also known as:** Thomas, Dear old Thomas, Poor Thomas, No Thomas, poor old Thomas, old Thomas, That old Thomas

**First appearance:** 0000-i-i-take-a-country-house

## Snapshot

The Armstrongs' white-haired colored butler, hired by Rachel at outrageous wages, who refuses to sleep under a roof where doors and windows misbehave.

## Who they are

Thomas Johnson arrives at Sunnyside with immense personal dignity and a hesitating confession that something in the house 'ain't natchal' — doors squealing, windows closing, nobody near them. He agrees to serve but draws a firm line at sleeping on the premises, retreating each night to the gardener's lodge while Rachel and Liddy barricade themselves inside. His quiet dread gives the household its first real texture of fear, and his movements around the lodge later become a thread the family pulls on.

## In the story

### [I: I Take a Country House](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_circular_staircase_se/chapters/i-i-take-a-country-house)

The Armstrongs' former butler, hired by Rachel; he warns of unnatural occurrences and refuses to sleep in the house.

### [II: A Link Cuff-Button](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_circular_staircase_se/chapters/ii-a-link-cuff-button)

The caretaker who arrives in the morning to open the house.

### [III: Mr. John Bailey Appears](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_circular_staircase_se/chapters/iii-mr-john-bailey-appears)

Expresses superstitions about omens and the stopped clock; drops a tray after a bad omen.

### [VII: A Sprained Ankle](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_circular_staircase_se/chapters/vii-a-sprained-ankle)

Reluctantly opens the lodge door; Warner claims the bag is his.

### [VIII: The Other Half of the Line](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_circular_staircase_se/chapters/viii-the-other-half-of-the-line)

Testifies about finding the other half of the pearl cufflink near the club path and identifies it as belonging to Jack Bailey.

### [XII: One Mystery for Another](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_circular_staircase_se/chapters/xii-one-mystery-for-another)

Reveals he has been hiding Louise Armstrong in the lodge at her request, and admits he saw Arnold Armstrong the night of the murder.

### [XIX: Concerning Thomas](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_circular_staircase_se/chapters/xix-concerning-thomas)

Seen dejected and sad; later found dead in a closet at the lodge after claiming to have seen a ghost.

### [XX: Doctor Walker’s Warning](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_circular_staircase_se/chapters/xx-doctor-walker-s-warning)

Thomas is found dead from fright; his pockets contain a key to the east entry and an address for Lucien Wallace.

### [Fourteen Elm Street](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_circular_staircase_se/chapters/xxi-fourteen-elm-street)

His body was found on Monday evening; his funeral is mentioned as occurring on Wednesday.

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_circular_staircase_se/characters/thomas_johnson
- Book: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_circular_staircase_se
- All characters: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_circular_staircase_se/characters