# Walter Hornby — The Red Thumbmark character guide

> Walter Hornby in The Red Thumbmark by R. Austin Freeman.

**Role:** supporting

**Also known as:** Mr. Hornby, Walter, Mr. Walter Hornby

**First appearance:** 0001-the-red-thumbmark

## Snapshot

Reuben's cousin and fellow key-holder at the diamond works, Walter is the other man the police would have liked to fingerprint, had his uncle permitted it.

## Who they are

Walter shares with Reuben the two things that made them both suspects: access to the keys and a place in their uncle's confidence. The police wanted prints from both young men, but John Hornby refused to subject his nephews to the indignity, a quixotic gesture that left the comparison to chance and Mrs. Hornby's Thumbograph. He matters because the investigation must account for him as surely as it accounts for Reuben, and the question of what Walter was doing while the safe was opened lingers beneath the surface of every interview.

## Relationships

### [Juliet Gibson](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_red_thumbmark_se/characters/juliet_gibson)

_family_

Juliet is engaged to Walter's brother Reuben, and she interacts with Walter as a future sister-in-law.

### [Mrs. Hornby](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_red_thumbmark_se/characters/mrs_hornby)

_family_

Mrs. Hornby is Walter's mother, and their relationship is strained due to Walter's suspicious behavior.

### [Reuben Hornby](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_red_thumbmark_se/characters/reuben_hornby)

_family_

Reuben and Walter are brothers, but their relationship is marked by suspicion and rivalry over the family business.

### [Juliet Gibson](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_red_thumbmark_se/characters/juliet_gibson)

_family_

Juliet is engaged to Walter's brother Reuben, and she interacts with Walter as a future sister-in-law.

### [Mrs. Hornby](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_red_thumbmark_se/characters/mrs_hornby)

_family_

Mrs. Hornby is Walter's mother, and their relationship is strained due to Walter's suspicious behavior.

### [Juliet Gibson](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_red_thumbmark_se/characters/juliet_gibson)

_family_

Juliet is engaged to Walter's brother Reuben, and she interacts with Walter as a future sister-in-law.

### [Reuben Hornby](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_red_thumbmark_se/characters/reuben_hornby)

_family_

Reuben and Walter are brothers, but their relationship is marked by suspicion and rivalry over the family business.

### [Reuben Hornby](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_red_thumbmark_se/characters/reuben_hornby)

_family_

Reuben and Walter are brothers, but their relationship is marked by suspicion and rivalry over the family business.

## In the story

### [III: A Lady in the Case](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_red_thumbmark_se/chapters/iii-a-lady-in-the-case)

Mentioned as having proposed to Miss Gibson; described as keen on money and success.

### [Committed for Trial](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_red_thumbmark_se/chapters/vi-committed-for-trial)

Reveals his uncle John Hornby's financial troubles and the diamond loss; expresses bewilderment at Reuben's case.

### [Shoals and Quicksands](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_red_thumbmark_se/chapters/vii-shoals-and-quicksands)

Sent a telegram that prompted Mrs. Hornby to visit Mr. Lawley; Jervis begins to suspect him as a possible thief.

### [A Suspicious Accident](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_red_thumbmark_se/chapters/viii-a-suspicious-accident)

Jervis recounts a conversation with him about John Hornby's financial troubles.

### [X: Polton Is Mystified](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_red_thumbmark_se/chapters/x-polton-is-mystified)

Mentioned as having sold his mining shares before a slump, raising questions about his financial dealings.

### [XII: It Might Have Been](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_red_thumbmark_se/chapters/xii-it-might-have-been)

Mentioned as the recipient of the Trichinopoly cheroots.

### [A Startling Discovery](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_red_thumbmark_se/chapters/xiv-a-startling-discovery)

Suspected by Jervis as the mysterious X due to the typewriter coincidence; mentioned as having purchased a secondhand Blickensderfer.

### [XV: The Fingerprint Experts](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_red_thumbmark_se/chapters/xv-the-fingerprint-experts)

Enters the court and takes a position near the bench.

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_red_thumbmark_se/characters/walter_hornby
- Book: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_red_thumbmark_se
- All characters: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_red_thumbmark_se/characters