who were the main characters and what were their roles in the story?

Burnham and the architectsDaniel Burnham: the chief architect behind the World's Columbian Exposition (also known as the Chicago World's Fair)

George Washington Gale Ferris, Jr.: creator of the Ferris wheel

Richard Morris Hunt

Charles McKim

Frederick Law Olmsted: landscape architect in charge of the World's Fair landscape (who also designed New York City's Central Park)

George B. Post

John Root: co-architect with Burnham

Holmes and associates

1895 newspaper image of Dr. Henry Howard HolmesHerman Webster Mudgett (aka Dr. H. H. Holmes): a serial killer who used the fair to lure his victims to their deaths. Dr. Holmes had built his "World's Fair Hotel" complete with a gas chamber, dissection table, and a crematorium to dispose of the bodies. Holmes would remove the skeletons of his victims and sell them for medical and scientific study.

Clara A. Lovering: Holmes's first wife

Myrta Z. Belknap: Holmes's second wife

Lucy Holmes: Holmes's daughter with Myrta

Georgiana Yoke: Holmes's third wife

Julia Smythe: employee and lover of Holmes; wife of Ned Connor

Ned Connor: employee of Holmes; husband of Julia Smythe

Benjamin Pitezel: business associate (and murder victim) of Holmes

Howard Pitezel: son of Benjamin Pitezel, kidnapped and murdered by Holmes

Frank Geyer: detective in charge of finding Pitezel's children after Holmes was jailed for fraud

Thomas W. Barlow: assistant district attorney who prosecuted Holmes

Other figuresMayor Carter Harrison, Sr.: Mayor of Chicago who was assassinated on the last day of the fair.

Patrick Prendergast: assassin who killed Mayor Harrison over his delusional belief that he helped Harrison win re-election

Richard Morris Hunt

Charles McKim

Frederick Law Olmsted: landscape architect in charge of the World's Fair landscape (who also designed New York City's Central Park)

George B. Post

John Root: co-architect with Burnham

Holmes and associates

1895 newspaper image of Dr. Henry Howard HolmesHerman Webster Mudgett (aka Dr. H. H. Holmes): a serial killer who used the fair to lure his victims to their deaths. Dr. Holmes had built his "World's Fair Hotel" complete with a gas chamber, dissection table, and a crematorium to dispose of the bodies. Holmes would remove the skeletons of his victims and sell them for medical and scientific study.

Clara A. Lovering: Holmes's first wife

Myrta Z. Belknap: Holmes's second wife

Lucy Holmes: Holmes's daughter with Myrta

Georgiana Yoke: Holmes's third wife

Julia Smythe: employee and lover of Holmes; wife of Ned Connor

Ned Connor: employee of Holmes; husband of Julia Smythe

Benjamin Pitezel: business associate (and murder victim) of Holmes

Howard Pitezel: son of Benjamin Pitezel, kidnapped and murdered by Holmes

Frank Geyer: detective in charge of finding Pitezel's children after Holmes was jailed for fraud

Thomas W. Barlow: assistant district attorney who prosecuted Holmes

Other figuresMayor Carter Harrison, Sr.: Mayor of Chicago who was assassinated on the last day of the fair.

Patrick Prendergast: assassin who killed Mayor Harrison over his delusional belief that he helped Harrison win re-election