Character guide

Inspector French

major

Also known as Mr. French, French, Inspector French, Night Watchman French, Joe

French steps off the London train into a local force already bristling at outside interference, and disarms Sergeant Nield not with authority but with easy collegiality and a genuine appetite for the case. He believes ninety-nine men in a hundred are led better than driven, and his pleasantness is a calculated method as much as a temperament. His early walk round the scene, the body, and the crate sets the investigative machinery turning while everyone else is still guessing.

Mrs. Berlyn

major

Also known as Berlyn, Phyllis Berlyn, Phyllis, Mrs. Phyllis Berlyn

She sits at the intersection of the dead partner, the surviving firm, and a marriage that may or may not have been happy, and French glimpses in her the raw shape of a triangle drama without any of the drama itself. She meets his investigation with polite cooperation and careful reservations, bowing to his duty to investigate while plainly hoping he will not weight what she has to say. Her poise and her proximity to both victims make her the quiet pressure point in the case's middle stretch.

Stanley Pyke

major

Also known as Mr. Pyke, Stanley Pyke, Mr. Stanley, Mr. Stanley Pyke, poor Stanley, Stanley

Pyke lodged in Ashburton, was well liked, easy to please, and not stingy, the sort of man whose absence leaves a landlord puzzled rather than alarmed. He dined early the night he vanished, gave his usual instructions about the door and his supper, and walked out into a story that would consume the town. French keeps circling the possibility that Pyke and Berlyn were rivals in more than business, and the question of why a murderer would bother to crate a body rather than sink it in a mire becomes one of his sharpest tests of the case.

Jefferson Pyke

major

Also known as Mr. Jefferson Pyke, the late Mr. Pyke, Mr. Jefferson, Jefferson Pyke, Pyke, Jefferson, Jeff

Jefferson visits Ashburton before the tragedy, explores the moor with Stanley, and is driven about by Mrs. Berlyn, leaving a warm impression on the landlady and a useful resemblance to his cousin. After the death he returns, takes charge of Stanley's effects, and disposes of what he does not want, all with the brisk competence of a man who knows how to handle business. His convenient presence, his foreign ranch, and his striking likeness to the deceased make him a figure French cannot afford to leave unexamined.

Colonel Domlio

supporting

Also known as Domlio, Colonel

Domlio protests the waste of his time as French drains his well, then watches the dripping bundle of Pyke's clothes come up with what looks like genuine amazement. His sardonic calm breaks when French lays out the theory that he drove into Ashburton that night to collect and dispose of the dead man's things, and his earlier lie about not going out returns to haunt him. He is the case's most visible suspect in the middle act, a man whose composure and whose contradictions both demand explanation.

John Gurney

supporting

Also known as Gurney, John, XI John Gurney

Gurney's rheumatism cost him his working life until Berlyn and Pyke found him a job and let him the house cheap, and his gratitude is the real thing, not the union pamphlet version. When French presses him, his hesitation and self-consciousness betray a secret before his words do, and he finally admits he slept the whole night through, something he had never done before or since. His small, human failure is the hinge on which the crate's dispatch turns, and his shame gives the investigation its first honest witness.

Mr. Berlyn

supporting

Also known as Berlyn, Of Mr. Berlyn, a Mr. Berlyn of Ashburton, Ashburton

Berlyn belongs to the Veda Works at Ashburton, a firm that employs a hundred hands and keeps the town alive, and he vanishes one August night with Pyke, the travelling representative, while crossing the moor. The coroner's story is a broken-down car and a fatal mire; the crate that later surfaces at Burry Port suggests something colder. Daw refuses to hear a word against him, which is precisely why French keeps circling back to the name.

Mr. Morgan

supporting

Also known as this Mr. Morgan

Morgan rows out with his fourteen-year-old son Evan, his best pal, for the ordinary pleasure of an autumn tide and two undersized mackerel. He is a man of small freedoms — the worn suit his wife detests, the office left behind on shore — and the Inlet's twenty-five-foot tides are a fact he respects without fearing. What he hauls up instead of fish turns a family idyll into the opening of Inspector French's case.

Sergeant Daw

supporting

Also known as Daw, Sergeant

Daw knows the Veda Works, its hundred employees, and the reputations of the gentlemen who run it, and he is flattered enough by French's confiding manner to help freely. But when French proposes that Berlyn and Pyke may not have died in the mire at all, the sergeant's loyalty to their memory hardens into open scepticism. His resistance gives the investigation its friction: the man who knows the ground refuses to believe what the ground implies.

Mr. Fogden

minor

Also known as this Mr. Fogden, Fogden

A shipping clerk involved in the dispatch of the crate.

Makepeace

minor

Also known as young Makepeace, Mr. Makepeace

A young man who works at the shipping office and provides testimony.

Mrs. Burt

minor

Also known as Burt

A housekeeper or landlady who gives evidence about the Pyke household.

Lizzie Johnston

minor

Also known as Lizzie, Miss Johnston

A maid or servant in the Berlyn household who gives key testimony.

Sergeant Carter

minor

Also known as Carter

A police sergeant who assists French during the investigation.

Charles Berlyn

minor

Also known as Charles, Poor old Charles, Berlyn

The son of Mr. Berlyn, who has a troubled relationship with his family.

Dr. Lancaster

minor

Also known as Dr. and Mrs. Lancaster, Mrs. Lancaster, a Dr. Lancaster

A doctor who examines the body and provides medical evidence.

Evan Morgan

minor

Also known as Evan, Evan Morgan

A relative or associate of Mr. Morgan who becomes involved in the case.

Sergeant Nield

minor

Also known as Nield

A police sergeant working under French on the investigation.

Tom Manners

minor

Also known as Tom, Manners, III Experimental Detection Tom Manners, Thomas, Mr. Manners

A detective or assistant who helps French with experimental detection.

Mrs. Welsh

minor

Also known as Vera Welsh, Vera, Miss Welsh

A woman connected to the Pyke family who provides key information.

Mr. Illingworth

minor

Also known as Illingworth

A solicitor or businessman involved in the Berlyn & Pyke affairs.

Superintendent Howells

minor

Also known as Howells, Superintendent

A senior police officer overseeing the investigation.

Dr. Crowth

minor

A doctor who provides medical expertise during the investigation.

Coombe

minor

A local resident or worker who provides information about the area.

John Burt

minor

Also known as Burt

A relative of Mrs. Burt who provides additional testimony.

Mrs. Billing

minor

A neighbor or acquaintance who provides background on the Berlyn family.

Alfred Beer

minor

Also known as Mr. Alfred Beer, Alfred Beer, Beer, Alf, Alf Beer

A local man who helps with the crate and becomes a suspect.

Phyllis Considine

minor

Also known as Phyllis

A young woman connected to the Berlyn family and the mystery.

Mr. Evans

minor

Also known as Evans

A local resident who provides information about the crate's journey.

Inspector Tanner

minor

Also known as Tanner, Inspector

A police inspector who collaborates with French on the case.

Mr. Shrubsole

minor

A minor character who appears in connection with the case.

Mr. Ganope

minor

Also known as Ganope, Thomas Ganope

A businessman or associate of the Pyke family.

William Service

minor

Also known as Service

A railway or shipping employee involved in the crate's transport.

Peter Swann

minor

Also known as Swann

A minor character who appears in the later stages of the investigation.

Mr. Hawkins

minor

A minor witness or resident questioned by French.

Constable David Jenkins

minor

Also known as Jenkins

A local constable who assists with the investigation on Dartmoor.

Mr. Cooke

minor

A minor character who appears in connection with the shipping firm.

Mr. Cowls

minor

Also known as Cowls, Leacock, Mr. Leacock

A business associate or employee of the Berlyn & Pyke firm.

Mr. James S. Stephenson

minor

Also known as Stephenson, a Mr. James S. Stephenson, James S. Stephenson, James

A businessman who provides information about the Pyke family.

Sergeant Harvey

minor

Also known as Harvey

A police sergeant who assists French during the investigation.

Mr. William Wright

minor

Also known as Mr. Wright, William

A minor witness or resident questioned by the police.

Mr. Daw

minor

Also known as Daw

A relative or associate of Sergeant Daw, possibly a witness.

Mee

minor

A minor character who appears briefly in the narrative.

Mr. James Hurley

minor

Also known as Mr. Hurley, Hurley

A minor character who appears in connection with the case.

Molesworth

minor

Also known as a Molesworth, A Molesworth, the Molesworth

A minor character mentioned in relation to the Berlyn family.

Mr. John F. Stewart

minor

Also known as Stewart, Mr. Stewart, Mr. John F. Stewart, the mysterious Mr. John F. Stewart, John F. Stewart

A mysterious figure whose identity becomes important to the plot.

Superintendent Griffiths

minor

A senior police officer who appears briefly in the investigation.

Major Lloyd

minor

A military man who provides information about the Dartmoor area.

Sergeant Jefferies

minor

Also known as Jefferies

A police sergeant who assists French during the investigation.

Mr. Nankivell

minor

A minor character who appears in connection with the shipping firm.

Sergeant Deane

minor

Also known as Deane

A police sergeant who appears briefly in the investigation.