# Miss Dinmont — The Man in the Queue character guide

> Miss Dinmont in The Man in the Queue by Josephine Tey.

**Role:** supporting

**First appearance:** 0001-ii-inspector-grant

## Snapshot

A nurse in a white overall, half surgeon and half religieuse, who tends Grant's wounded suspect on the west coast while quietly withholding what passed between them.

## Who they are

Miss Dinmont presides over a sickroom on the west coast, calm, capable, and serenely unbothered by the fact that her patient is wanted for murder. She brews tea by the open window and judges a man guilty simply because the police want him, a certainty Grant finds both useful and faintly unsettling. Her quiet authority over the patient's recovery shapes how soon the investigation can move south.

## In the story

### [Capture](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_man_in_the_queue_se/chapters/xii-capture)

Learns the truth about Lamont's identity and crime but chooses to nurse him out of professional duty and Highland hospitality.

### [XIII: Marking Time](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_man_in_the_queue_se/chapters/xiii-marking-time)

Miss Dinmont nurses Lamont with calm professionalism; she accepts the evidence against him without emotional denial.

### [XIV: The Statement](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_man_in_the_queue_se/chapters/xiv-the-statement)

Briefly mentioned; Lamont reacts to her leaving the room, and she avoids a second goodbye due to superstition.

### [XVI: Miss Dinmont Assists](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_man_in_the_queue_se/chapters/xvi-miss-dinmont-assists)

Provides candid assessment of Mrs. Ratcliffe as a 'shallow fool' without 'guts' for murder; unexpectedly attends Lamont's court hearing; declines Grant's invitation to Eastbourne.

### [Solution](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_man_in_the_queue_se/chapters/xvii-solution)

Present in court, softened and gracious toward Grant, her hope in Lamont's innocence giving her a radiant charm.

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_man_in_the_queue_se/characters/miss_dinmont
- Book: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_man_in_the_queue_se
- All characters: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_man_in_the_queue_se/characters