# Tom Fink — The Dain Curse character guide

> Tom Fink in The Dain Curse by Dashiell Hammett.

**Role:** supporting

**Also known as:** Fink

**First appearance:** 0010-viii-but-and-if

## Snapshot

A stage mechanic who once rigged illusions for famous magicians, now building the hidden pipes, cabinets, and ghost-light tricks that make the cult's miracles work.

## Who they are

Fink is the mechanical brain behind the Haldorns' racket, a man who has spent his career in the wings of other people's acts and knows how to adapt gas lines, wiring, and concealed rooms to hocus-pocus. He and his wife — a big, smith-like woman — came west with the cult and remodeled Mrs. Rodman's apartment building into a machine for producing visions. His craft is what gives the cult its eerie authority, and what the detective will eventually have to take apart piece by piece.

## In the story

### [XII: The Unholy Grail](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_dain_curse_se/chapters/xii-the-unholy-grail)

The mechanic who built the cult's trick machinery and operated the ghost effects; refuses to talk to investigators.

### [XVIII: The Pineapple](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_dain_curse_se/chapters/xviii-the-pineapple)

Former Temple helper who comes to share information; is killed by the bomb blast.

### [XX: The House in the Cove](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_dain_curse_se/chapters/xx-the-house-in-the-cove)

Awake after the bomb; reveals Harvey Whidden is his stepson.

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_dain_curse_se/characters/tom_fink
- Book: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_dain_curse_se
- All characters: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_dain_curse_se/characters