Charles Parker (detective)
| Charles Parker | |
|---|---|
| First appearance | Whose Body? |
| Last appearance | Murder Must Advertise |
| Created by | Dorothy L. Sayers |
| Portrayed by |
Mark Eden (Television) Gabriel Woolf (BBC Radio) David Quilter (Television) |
| Information | |
| Gender | Male |
| Occupation | Police Detective |
| Spouse(s) | Lady Mary Wimsey |
| Children | Charles Peter Parker Mary Lucasta Parker |
| Nationality | English |
Sergeant/Inspector/Chief Inspector Charles "Parker Bird" Parker is a fictional police detective who appears in several Lord Peter Wimsey stories by Dorothy L. Sayers, and later becomes Lord Peter's brother-in-law.
He is first introduced in Whose Body? as a Detective Inspector from Scotland Yard. In the next book, Clouds of Witness, he is summoned to assist the local police in the North Riding of Yorkshire who are investigating the death of Captain Dennis Cathcart, the fiancé of Peter's sister, Lady Mary Wimsey, apparently at the hands of Wimsey's brother, the Duke of Denver.
Parker first sees Lady Mary at the inquest into Cathcart. Travelling to Paris, where Cathcart had lived previously, he uncovers evidence which implicates Lady Mary in Cathcart's death – which makes Parker very depressed, since he is clearly in love with her. Lady Mary later confesses to killing Cathcart. Lord Peter, however, proves that Mary was lying to protect her secret lover Goyles, with whom she had been planning to elope on the night of Cathcart's death. Parker is happy to see Mary break off the relationship, as Goyles proves to be unreliable and cowardly.
At the end of the case, when Denver is proved innocent, Wimsey, Parker and another of Wimsey's friends, the financier the Hon. Freddy Arbuthnot, all become roaring drunk when celebrating the outcome.
Parker subsequently assists Wimsey in his investigations in Unnatural Death and The Unpleasantness at the Bellona Club. He has meanwhile invited Lady Mary to dinner several times but is nervous of making their relationship public, in spite of Wimsey's encouragement.
In Strong Poison, Parker has apparently made a good case against mystery writer Harriet Vane for the murder of her former lover Philip Boyes. Wimsey, who has instantly fallen in love with Harriet, forces Parker to re-examine the case. Parker's investigations are inconclusive but Wimsey, with Parker's help, discovers and unmasks the true murderer. Parker has meanwhile at last proposed to Lady Mary. The Duke and Duchess of Denver are shocked by the match, but Wimsey insists that "one of these days he'll be a big man, with a title, I shouldn't wonder, and everything handsome about him."
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