Trent’s Last Case characters

Appears from the start

A successful portrait painter who also investigates exceptional crimes for a newspaper. Trent is imaginative, personable, and proud of reasoning from small physical details. He approaches Manderson's death with confidence in both observation and inference.

Appears from the start

A powerful American financier found shot on the grounds of his English country house. Manderson inspired fear rather than affection in business and at home, and his unusual actions during his last night provide the central mystery Trent must reconstruct.

First appears in chapter 2

Manderson's young widow. Mabel is composed under scrutiny but plainly suffered within her marriage. Her intelligence and reserve attract Trent, complicating his effort to interpret evidence that may touch her private life.

Appears from the start

Mabel Manderson's uncle and a friend of Trent. Cupples is an elderly man with a dry, analytical manner and close knowledge of the Manderson household. He assists Trent's inquiries while remaining more observant than his unassuming presence suggests.

First appears in chapter 3

Manderson's capable private secretary. Marlowe handled confidential work and received a series of peculiar instructions from his employer on the night of the death. His access, movements, and closeness to the household place him near the center of Trent's suspicions.

First appears in chapter 3

Manderson's American associate and secretary, whose business knowledge helps establish the dead man's habits and recent state of mind. Bunner offers Trent a view of Manderson's professional life and domineering temperament.

First appears in chapter 3

Manderson's valet, responsible for his clothes and familiar with his routines. Martin's account of the final evening and of the way the body is dressed supplies Trent with evidence that the night did not proceed normally.

First appears in chapter 2

The police inspector leading the official inquiry into Manderson's death. Murch respects Trent's abilities and shares information with him, though the artist-investigator follows a more speculative line than the police can safely adopt.

Appears from the start

The newspaper proprietor who asks Trent to investigate Manderson's death. Molloy values Trent's unusual combination of artistic observation and detective reasoning and expects a publishable account of the case.