The Adventure of the Dancing Men characters

Also known as Mr. Sherlock Holmes

Appears from the start

A consulting detective asked to interpret rows of small dancing figures that have begun appearing around a country house. He treats the drawings as a substitution system and works from repeated symbols and word patterns to recover their meaning.

Also known as Dr. Watson

Appears from the start

Holmes's friend and the narrator of the investigation. He receives Holmes's explanations, accompanies him to Norfolk when the messages become urgent, and records the case and its solution.

Appears from the start

A Norfolk landowner of an old local family who consults Holmes because the dancing-figure messages terrify his American wife. Devoted to Elsie and protective of his family honor, he refuses to force her to break a promise made before their marriage.

Also known as Elsie Patrick

Appears from the start

Hilton Cubitt's American wife. Before marrying him she acknowledged a painful past and asked that he never question her about it. The appearance of coded figures around their home fills her with fear, but she remains unwilling to explain them.

Appears from the start

An American connected with Elsie's former life in Chicago and the person using the dancing figures to reach her. Persistent and threatening, he rejects her attempt to leave that past behind and follows her to England.

Appears from the start

The Norfolk police inspector in charge after violence erupts at the Cubitts' home. He initially works from the physical evidence available at the scene and cooperates with Holmes when the detective arrives with the decoded messages.