# Dr. White Whitby — The Crime at Black Dudley character guide

> Dr. White Whitby in The Crime at Black Dudley by Margery Allingham.

**Role:** supporting

**Also known as:** Dr. Whitby, Whitby, Old Whitby

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

## Snapshot

A timid, garrulous country doctor whose nervous manner conceals a far shrewder grasp of the Black Dudley affair than he first lets on.

## Who they are

Whitby is the physician who attended Colonel Coombe and who, with Abbershaw, signed the certificates that smoothed the old man's death into respectable paperwork. When the young men corner him on a saltmarsh at four in the morning, he is at first all fluster and apology, yet he coolly warns Martin to keep his gun out and steers the interrogation with a cunning that belies his timid air. He is the story's most disquieting kind of witness: a small, frightened man who knows exactly how much he is not telling, and whose cheerful admissions keep opening doors the investigators would rather have kept shut.

## Relationships

### [Martin Watt](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_crime_at_black_dudley_se/characters/martin_watt)

_professional_

Whitby and Watt are medical colleagues, working together professionally during the crisis.

### [Martin Watt](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_crime_at_black_dudley_se/characters/martin_watt)

_professional_

Whitby and Watt are medical colleagues, working together professionally during the crisis.

### [Martin Watt](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_crime_at_black_dudley_se/characters/martin_watt)

_professional_

Whitby and Watt are medical colleagues, working together professionally during the crisis.

## In the story

### [In the Garage](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_crime_at_black_dudley_se/chapters/iii-in-the-garage)

Finds Colonel Coombe after the attack and carries him upstairs with Gideon.

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

Whitby, the Colonel's private physician, is visibly nervous and attempts to secure Abbershaw's signature on the cremation certificate. He is complicit in the cover-up.

### [XVI: The Militant Mrs. Meade](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_crime_at_black_dudley_se/chapters/xvi-the-militant-mrs-meade)

Mentioned as present at the secret meeting, where he spoke of an 'opportunity' and murder.

### [XXVI: Cherchez la Femme](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_crime_at_black_dudley_se/chapters/xxvi-cherchez-la-femme)

Spotted entering the garage with nervous steps, confirming he is involved with the disguised car.

### [XXVII: A Journey by Night](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_crime_at_black_dudley_se/chapters/xxvii-a-journey-by-night)

Occupant of the Rolls; fires a shot at the pursuers and later signals surrender with a white handkerchief.

### [XXVIII: Should a Doctor Tell?](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_crime_at_black_dudley_se/chapters/xxviii-should-a-doctor-tell)

The fugitive doctor, reveals details of the cremation and the robbery plot, denies involvement in the murder, and escapes via a Fokker monoplane.

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_crime_at_black_dudley_se/characters/dr_white_whitby
- 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