# The Old Man in the Corner — Character guide

> Key figures in The Old Man in the Corner by Baroness Orczy.

- [Polly Burton](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_old_man_in_the_corner_se/characters/polly_burton.md): A sharp-eyed young journalist for the Evening Observer who trades her lunch hour for the Old Man's uncanny theories, and finds herself caught between a jealous suitor and a stranger's genius.
- [The Old Man in the Corner](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_old_man_in_the_corner_se/characters/old_man_in_the_corner.md): A pale, string-fidgeting stranger in an A.B.C. teashop who insists no crime is a mystery once intelligence is applied, and unravels Scotland Yard's failures knot by knot.
- [Percival Brooks](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_old_man_in_the_corner_se/characters/percival_brooks.md): The wealthy son whose name surfaces on a forged will after his father's death, and whose acquittal leaves a fortune and a family name under a cloud.
- [Mr. Francis Morton](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_old_man_in_the_corner_se/characters/mr_francis_morton.md): A prosperous Brighton businessman of clockwork habits whose sudden disappearance and refusal to prosecute his attacker turn a scandal into something far stranger.
- [Lord Arthur Skelmerton](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_old_man_in_the_corner_se/characters/lord_arthur_skelmerton.md): A titled gentleman cornered by a blackmailer over a forged signature, whose quiet threats on a racecourse lawn echo long after the tea grows cold.
- [Lady Donaldson](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_old_man_in_the_corner_se/characters/lady_donaldson.md): An elderly society woman found dead behind a locked bedroom door, whose promised diamonds and tangled family affections leave a household under suspicion.
- [William Kershaw](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_old_man_in_the_corner_se/characters/william_kershaw.md): A blackmailer whose unrecognizable corpse drags a Siberian millionaire into the dock, leaving the amateur in the corner to wonder if the police have arrested the wrong man entirely.
- [Mr. Schwarz](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_old_man_in_the_corner_se/characters/mr_schwarz.md): A young jeweller whose bag of banknotes vanishes into the hands of a man posing as a Russian police officer, teaching him the price of trusting a title.
- [Mrs. Owen](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_old_man_in_the_corner_se/characters/mrs_owen.md): A woman whose husband's death raises suspicion.
- [David Graham](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_old_man_in_the_corner_se/characters/david_graham.md): A morose Edinburgh younger son transformed by an arranged marriage worth £50,000, until a ball, a necklace, and a murder drag his bride into the dock.
- [Robert Ireland](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_old_man_in_the_corner_se/characters/robert_ireland.md): A man involved in a forgery case.
- [Charles Lavender](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_old_man_in_the_corner_se/characters/charles_lavender.md): An old man whose death is investigated.
- [John Ashley](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_old_man_in_the_corner_se/characters/john_ashley.md): A young man suspected in a mysterious death.
- [Edith Crawford](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_old_man_in_the_corner_se/characters/edith_crawford.md): A woman whose father's death is a mystery.
- [Lewis Ireland](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_old_man_in_the_corner_se/characters/lewis_ireland.md): A man involved in a financial crime.
- [James Fairbairn](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_old_man_in_the_corner_se/characters/james_fairbairn.md): A man accused of murdering his wife.
- [Timothy Beddingfield](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_old_man_in_the_corner_se/characters/timothy_beddingfield.md): A man suspected of a brutal murder.
- [Mr. Knopf](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_old_man_in_the_corner_se/characters/mr_knopf.md): A businessman involved in a theft case.
- [Aaron Cohen](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_old_man_in_the_corner_se/characters/aaron_cohen.md): A jeweler involved in a robbery case.
- [Mr. Winslow](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_old_man_in_the_corner_se/characters/mr_winslow.md): A lawyer involved in several cases.
- [Francis Smethurst](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_old_man_in_the_corner_se/characters/francis_smethurst.md): A man suspected of poisoning his wife.
- [Robertson](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_old_man_in_the_corner_se/characters/robertson.md): An old man who dies under suspicious circumstances.
- [Murray Brooks](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_old_man_in_the_corner_se/characters/murray_brooks.md): The murdered millionaire father of Percival Brooks.
- [Mr. Vassall](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_old_man_in_the_corner_se/characters/mr_vassall.md): A man involved in a mysterious disappearance.
- [John O'Neill](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_old_man_in_the_corner_se/characters/john_oneill.md): A man accused of a crime in Dublin.
- [Mr. Shipman](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_old_man_in_the_corner_se/characters/mr_shipman.md): A man involved in a forgery case.
- [Emile Knopf](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_old_man_in_the_corner_se/characters/emile_knopf.md): A relative of Mr. Knopf involved in a robbery.
- [Edward Skinner](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_old_man_in_the_corner_se/characters/edward_skinner.md): A man suspected of murdering his wife.
- [Earl of Brockelsby](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_old_man_in_the_corner_se/characters/earl_of_brockelsby.md): A young nobleman involved in a scandal.
- [Constable D 21](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_old_man_in_the_corner_se/characters/constable_d_21.md): A police constable who gives evidence in a case.
- [Sir Arthur Inglewood](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_old_man_in_the_corner_se/characters/sir_arthur_inglewood.md): A baronet whose death is investigated.
- [Mrs. Ireland](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_old_man_in_the_corner_se/characters/mrs_ireland.md): The wife of Robert Ireland, involved in a forgery case.
- [Mrs. Morton](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_old_man_in_the_corner_se/characters/mrs_morton.md): The wife of Francis Morton, involved in a death mystery.
- [Edward Hazeldene](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_old_man_in_the_corner_se/characters/edward_hazeldene.md): A man whose wife is suspected of murder.
- [Prince Semionicz](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_old_man_in_the_corner_se/characters/prince_semionicz.md): A Russian prince involved in a theft case.
- [Patrick Wethered](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_old_man_in_the_corner_se/characters/patrick_wethered.md): A man accused of murdering his uncle.
- [Richard Frobisher](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_old_man_in_the_corner_se/characters/richard_frobisher.md): A man whose mysterious death is investigated.
- [Sir James Fenwick](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_old_man_in_the_corner_se/characters/sir_james_fenwick.md): A baronet whose death is a mystery.
- [Lady Arthur Skelmerton](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_old_man_in_the_corner_se/characters/lady_arthur_skelmerton.md): The wife of Lord Arthur Skelmerton.
- [Walter Hatherell](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_old_man_in_the_corner_se/characters/walter_hatherell.md): A young man suspected of murder.
- [Mr. Francis Howard](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_old_man_in_the_corner_se/characters/mr_francis_howard.md): A detective involved in several investigations.
- [Mrs. Hazeldene](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_old_man_in_the_corner_se/characters/mrs_hazeldene.md): The wife of Edward Hazeldene, suspected of murder.
- [Karl Müller](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_old_man_in_the_corner_se/characters/karl_muller.md): A German man suspected of a crime.
- [George Higgins](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_old_man_in_the_corner_se/characters/george_higgins.md): A man involved in a robbery case.
- [Robert Ingram de Genneville](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_old_man_in_the_corner_se/characters/robert_ingram_de_genneville.md): A claimant to a peerage involved in a legal battle.
- [Henry Oranmore](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_old_man_in_the_corner_se/characters/henry_oranmore.md): A man suspected of murder in Ireland.
- [Mrs. Kershaw](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_old_man_in_the_corner_se/characters/mrs_kershaw.md): The wife of William Kershaw.
- [Comte Armand de la Tremouille](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_old_man_in_the_corner_se/characters/comte_armand_de_la_tremouille.md): A French count involved in a peerage case.
- [Dr. Mulligan](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_old_man_in_the_corner_se/characters/dr_mulligan.md): A doctor involved in a murder case.
- [Tremlett](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_old_man_in_the_corner_se/characters/tremlett.md): A maid involved in a murder case.
- [Constable James Funnell](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_old_man_in_the_corner_se/characters/constable_james_funnell.md): A police constable who gives evidence.

HTML index: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_old_man_in_the_corner_se/characters