# John Marbury — The Middle Temple Murder character guide

> John Marbury in The Middle Temple Murder by J. S. Fletcher.

**Role:** major

**Also known as:** Mr. Marbury, the late Mr. John Marbury

**First appearance:** 0000-i-the-scrap-of-grey-paper

## Snapshot

A quiet, well-to-do stranger who checks into a hotel, rents a safe, and is found dead in Middle Temple Lane the same night he arrives in London.

## Who they are

Known in death as John Marbury, he is in fact John Maitland, a man who went to prison decades ago in a small country town and returned from Australia wealthy and unrecognized. He carried rare stamps, a silver ticket, and an errand to find a boy — and within hours of his arrival someone silenced him. The gap between his careful anonymity and the violence of his death is the mystery every character in the book is trying to close.

## Relationships

### [Frank Spargo](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_middle_temple_murder_se/characters/frank_spargo)

_professional_

John Marbury is a senior journalist and Frank's editor or mentor at the newspaper.

### [Ronald Breton](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_middle_temple_murder_se/characters/ronald_breton)

_professional_

John Marbury is a senior colleague to Ronald Breton at the newspaper.

### [Frank Spargo](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_middle_temple_murder_se/characters/frank_spargo)

_professional_

John Marbury is a senior journalist and Frank's editor or mentor at the newspaper.

### [Ronald Breton](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_middle_temple_murder_se/characters/ronald_breton)

_professional_

John Marbury is a senior colleague to Ronald Breton at the newspaper.

## In the story

### [I: The Scrap of Grey Paper](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_middle_temple_murder_se/chapters/i-the-scrap-of-grey-paper)

The unidentified victim, later known as John Marbury, found dead in Middle Temple Lane.

### [His First Brief](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_middle_temple_murder_se/chapters/ii-his-first-brief)

The murdered man, unidentified at this point; his body is viewed by Breton.

### [IV: The Anglo-Orient Hotel](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_middle_temple_murder_se/chapters/iv-the-anglo-orient-hotel)

The deceased; had checked into the hotel under that name, went out late with a companion, and never returned.

### [VI: Witness to a Meeting](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_middle_temple_murder_se/chapters/vi-witness-to-a-meeting)

Marbury is the murder victim; Webster describes seeing him alive at the House of Commons, where he exclaimed 'Good God!' and approached Aylmore.

### [The Man from the Safe Deposit](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_middle_temple_murder_se/chapters/viii-the-man-from-the-safe-deposit)

The murder victim; his actions before death are detailed, including depositing a leather box at the safe deposit company.

### [IX: The Dealer in Rare Stamps](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_middle_temple_murder_se/chapters/ix-the-dealer-in-rare-stamps)

The murdered man; visited Criedir's shop to sell rare stamps and was given Cardlestone's address before his death.

### [X: The Leather Box](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_middle_temple_murder_se/chapters/x-the-leather-box)

Deceased; his deposited leather box is opened and found empty.

### [XII: The New Witness](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_middle_temple_murder_se/chapters/xii-the-new-witness)

Marbury is the deceased; Lyell identifies him as the man he saw with Aylmore on the night of the murder.

### [XIII: Under Suspicion](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_middle_temple_murder_se/chapters/xiii-under-suspicion)

Referenced as the deceased who accompanied Aylmore to his chambers to retrieve a document.

### [XVI: The “Yellow Dragon”](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_middle_temple_murder_se/chapters/xvi-the-yellow-dragon)

The deceased man who deposited the leather box containing the silver ticket, which Spargo is now tracing in Market Milcaster.

### [XX: Maitland Alias Marbury](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_middle_temple_murder_se/chapters/xx-maitland-alias-marbury)

Identified by Spargo as being the same person as John Maitland; his murder is the central mystery.

### [Arrested](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_middle_temple_murder_se/chapters/xxi-arrested)

Identified as John Maitland, ex-bank manager and ex-convict, through the telegram from Australia.

### [XXII: The Blank Past](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_middle_temple_murder_se/chapters/xxii-the-blank-past)

Revealed to be John Maitland, an ex-convict from Market Milcaster.

### [XXIII: Miss Baylis](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_middle_temple_murder_se/chapters/xxiii-miss-baylis)

Identified by Spargo as the murdered man who was actually John Maitland.

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_middle_temple_murder_se/characters/john_marbury
- Book: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_middle_temple_murder_se
- All characters: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_middle_temple_murder_se/characters