# Benjamin Dawlish — The Crime at Black Dudley character guide

> Benjamin Dawlish in The Crime at Black Dudley by Margery Allingham.

**Role:** supporting

**Also known as:** Dawlish, Mr. Dawlish, Daddy Dawlish

**First appearance:** 0002-i-candlelight

## Snapshot

A heavy-faced older man whose quiet assumption of authority over Black Dudley after the Colonel's collapse makes him the most unsettling presence in the house.

## Who they are

Dawlish moves through the weekend party with the ease of someone who has been in the house before and expects to be obeyed, and when Colonel Coombe is taken ill he simply takes charge, shutting the guests away and answering questions with bland refusals. His calm is the calm of a man who has already decided how the night will end, and it chills the younger visitors far more than any open threat could. He is the human face of the trap that closes around the party, and his presence turns a country-house gathering into a siege.

## Relationships

### [Wyatt Petrie](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_crime_at_black_dudley_se/characters/wyatt_petrie)

_rivalry_

Dawlish and Petrie are at odds, with Dawlish distrusting Petrie's motives regarding Meggie and the events.

### [Wyatt Petrie](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_crime_at_black_dudley_se/characters/wyatt_petrie)

_rivalry_

Dawlish and Petrie are at odds, with Dawlish distrusting Petrie's motives regarding Meggie and the events.

### [Wyatt Petrie](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_crime_at_black_dudley_se/characters/wyatt_petrie)

_rivalry_

Dawlish and Petrie are at odds, with Dawlish distrusting Petrie's motives regarding Meggie and the events.

## In the story

### [IV: Murder](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_crime_at_black_dudley_se/chapters/iv-murder)

Dawlish emerges from the shadows in the Colonel's room, his menacing attitude revealing the antagonistic force Abbershaw is up against.

### [Five O'Clock in the Morning](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_crime_at_black_dudley_se/chapters/vii-five-o-clock-in-the-morning)

Seen helping Gideon and Whitby load Coombe's body into a car.

### [VIII: Open Warfare](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_crime_at_black_dudley_se/chapters/viii-open-warfare)

Demands the return of a stolen item; threatens the guests with a revolver and declares no one may leave.

### [X: The Impetuous Mr. Abbershaw](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_crime_at_black_dudley_se/chapters/x-the-impetuous-mr-abbershaw)

Implied to be behind the room searches and the siege; expected to act soon.

### [XI: One Explanation](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_crime_at_black_dudley_se/chapters/xi-one-explanation)

Dawlish is mentioned as the one who captured and interrogated Campion, acting as a henchman for von Faber.

### [XII: “Furthermore…" Said Mr. Campion](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_crime_at_black_dudley_se/chapters/xii-furthermore-said-mr-campion)

Described as a top criminal who buys criminal brains and terrorizes the group to recover the wallet.

### [XIII: Abbershaw Sees Red](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_crime_at_black_dudley_se/chapters/xiii-abbershaw-sees-red)

Leader of the gang; interrogating Meggie in Colonel Coombe's former bedchamber; uses violent methods to extract information.

### [XIV: Abbershaw Gets His Interview](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_crime_at_black_dudley_se/chapters/xiv-abbershaw-gets-his-interview)

Presides over the interrogation, remains immobile and menacing.

### [Doctor Abbershaw's Deductions](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_crime_at_black_dudley_se/chapters/xv-doctor-abbershaw-s-deductions)

Revealed as the organizer of the Simister gang, keeping Coombe prisoner.

### [XXI: The Point of View of Benjamin Dawlish](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_crime_at_black_dudley_se/chapters/xxi-the-point-of-view-of-benjamin-dawlish)

Reveals himself as the cold, calculating mastermind; he admits to concealing Coombe's murder and threatens to burn the house with the prisoners inside.

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_crime_at_black_dudley_se/characters/benjamin_dawlish
- Book: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_crime_at_black_dudley_se
- All characters: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_crime_at_black_dudley_se/characters