# Higgins — The Patient in Room 18 character guide

> Higgins in The Patient in Room 18 by Mignon G. Eberhart.

**Role:** supporting

**Also known as:** Poor Higgins, old Higgins

**First appearance:** 0001-the-patient-in-room-18

## Snapshot

An orderly whose ordinary hospital rounds put him uncomfortably close to the trouble at St. Ann's, earning him the pitying epithet 'poor Higgins.'

## Who they are

Higgins belongs to the unglamorous machinery of the hospital, the hands that move beds and carry messages while doctors and nurses keep their secrets. In a place suddenly thick with locked doors and nervous whispers, an orderly sees what no one thinks to hide. Whatever trouble finds him, it finds him because he was simply doing his job, which is exactly the kind of witness a murder case cannot afford to lose.

## Relationships

### [Corole Letheny](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_patient_in_room_18_se/characters/corole_letheny)

_professional_

Corole and Higgins have a professional relationship, possibly as employer and employee or colleague.

### [Dr. Fred Hajek](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_patient_in_room_18_se/characters/dr_fred_hajek)

_professional_

Dr. Hajek and Higgins interact in a professional context, perhaps as doctor and staff.

### [Maida Day](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_patient_in_room_18_se/characters/maida_day)

_professional_

Higgins and Maida Day interact professionally, likely in a hospital or institutional setting.

### [Jim Gainsay](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_patient_in_room_18_se/characters/jim_gainsay)

_professional_

Higgins and Jim Gainsay have a professional relationship, possibly as staff and visitor or colleague.

### [Corole Letheny](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_patient_in_room_18_se/characters/corole_letheny)

_professional_

Corole and Higgins have a professional relationship, possibly as employer and employee or colleague.

### [Maida Day](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_patient_in_room_18_se/characters/maida_day)

_professional_

Higgins and Maida Day interact professionally, likely in a hospital or institutional setting.

### [Jim Gainsay](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_patient_in_room_18_se/characters/jim_gainsay)

_professional_

Higgins and Jim Gainsay have a professional relationship, possibly as staff and visitor or colleague.

### [Dr. Fred Hajek](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_patient_in_room_18_se/characters/dr_fred_hajek)

_professional_

Dr. Hajek and Higgins interact in a professional context, perhaps as doctor and staff.

### [Jim Gainsay](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_patient_in_room_18_se/characters/jim_gainsay)

_professional_

Higgins and Jim Gainsay have a professional relationship, possibly as staff and visitor or colleague.

### [Dr. Fred Hajek](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_patient_in_room_18_se/characters/dr_fred_hajek)

_professional_

Dr. Hajek and Higgins interact in a professional context, perhaps as doctor and staff.

### [Corole Letheny](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_patient_in_room_18_se/characters/corole_letheny)

_professional_

Corole and Higgins have a professional relationship, possibly as employer and employee or colleague.

## In the story

### [The Patient in Room 18](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_patient_in_room_18_se/chapters/the-patient-in-room-18)

The orderly, who reports unusual activity near Room 18 and later meets a tragic fate.

### [VI: I Make a Discovery—and Regret It](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_patient_in_room_18_se/chapters/vi-i-make-a-discovery-and-regret-it)

Higgins is mentioned as having an opinion about the cat Morgue's kittens, and he is seen fussing over a grape basket lined with an old duster.

### [By the Light of a Match](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_patient_in_room_18_se/chapters/xi-by-the-light-of-a-match)

Reveals he saw multiple people near Room 18 on the night of June 7, including Dr. Letheny, Gainsay, Corole Letheny, and Dr. Hajek.

### [Room 18 Again](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_patient_in_room_18_se/chapters/xii-room-18-again)

Found dead, shot in Room 18.

### [The Radium Appears](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_patient_in_room_18_se/chapters/xiii-the-radium-appears)

Found dead in Room 18; his death is the latest in the series of crimes.

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_patient_in_room_18_se/characters/higgins
- Book: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_patient_in_room_18_se
- All characters: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_patient_in_room_18_se/characters