# John Gurney — The Sea Mystery character guide

> John Gurney in The Sea Mystery by Freeman Wills Crofts.

**Role:** supporting

**Also known as:** Gurney, John, XI John Gurney

**First appearance:** 0010-xi-john-gurney-night-watchman

## Snapshot

The lame night watchman at the works, grateful to his employers and quietly tormented by the one night he slept through his shift.

## Who they are

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.

## In the story

### [The Despatch of the Crate](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_sea_mystery_se/chapters/vi-the-despatch-of-the-crate)

Night watchman who insists no one entered the works during his shift, though French senses a slight dissatisfaction.

### [XI: John Gurney, Night Watchman](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_sea_mystery_se/chapters/xi-john-gurney-night-watchman)

The night watchman at Veda Works, Gurney admits he fell asleep on the crucial night after eating his supper, which French believes was drugged. He recalls a mysterious ring at the office door around ten o'clock.

### [XIII: The Accomplice?](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_sea_mystery_se/chapters/xiii-the-accomplice)

Mentioned in French's theory as having been drugged by Domlio on the night of the murder.

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_sea_mystery_se/characters/gurney
- Book: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_sea_mystery_se
- All characters: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_sea_mystery_se/characters