# Jesse Gideon — The Crime at Black Dudley character guide

> Jesse Gideon in The Crime at Black Dudley by Margery Allingham.

**Role:** supporting

**Also known as:** Gideon, Mr. Gideon

**First appearance:** 0003-ii-the-ritual-of-the-dagger

## Snapshot

A sneering, watchful enforcer whose polite menace keeps the Black Dudley guests in line until a foolish voice and a Webley change the odds.

## Who they are

Gideon is the cool, contemptuous presence who bars the stairs and explains, with a smile, that the party will remain until it pleases his employer to release them. He is not a brawler but a supervisor, and his suspicion is quick: a single revolver shot below stairs turns his banter to a snarl and nearly ends the escape before it begins. He matters because he embodies the gang's control of the house, and his capture by the unlikely Albert Campion is the first real crack in that control — the moment the guests stop being prisoners and start being players.

## In the story

### [II: The Ritual of the Dagger](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_crime_at_black_dudley_se/chapters/ii-the-ritual-of-the-dagger)

Listens with intense, livid interest; speaks in a deep, caressing voice, urging participation in the ritual.

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

Helps carry the Colonel upstairs and later announces the heart attack to the guests.

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

Gideon is present in the Colonel's room, suave but menacing, and ensures Abbershaw signs the certificate. His demeanor shifts from polite to threatening.

### [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 Dawlish 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)

Supports Dawlish; reveals the guests' helplessness and retrieves the decoy egg.

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

Gideon is identified as a clever fence and associate of von Faber, part of the criminal group at Black Dudley.

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

Provides background on Abbershaw to von Faber, examines the wallet.

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

Mentioned as a member of the Simister gang and witness to Coombe's plans.

### [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 with Von Faber and Whitby.

### [XIX: Mr. Campion’s Conjuring Trick](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_crime_at_black_dudley_se/chapters/xix-mr-campion-s-conjuring-trick)

Confronts the group on the landing, is forced to raise his hands at gunpoint, and is later tied to a bedpost.

## Links

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