Lord Montbarry
Lord Montbarry is an older, wealthy man who meets his demise early on in the book. He is murdered by his newly wed wife, Countess Narona, in order to cash in on his life insurance. His body was disposed of with acid, but his head was stored in one of the rooms in his large palace. Eventually, the head is discovered by his brother, Henry, who realizes that his death was not an accident.
Countess Narona
The Countess is a young and beautiful lady who catches the eye of Lord Montbarry. He beauty is so, that he leaves his fiancée to be with her. However, she does not harbor any sentiment for him and instead plots to murder him, and succeeds, in order to gain his life insurance. However, she makes the mistake of writing a ghost story based on the actual events of her committing the murder, which eventually gives her away.
Henry Westwick
Henry is the brother of the dead Lord Montbarry. He becomes suspicious of his brother’s supposed death by bronchitis and begins to investigate into his death further. He seems to sense that clues to his brother’s death lie in his house, and this is proven right when he discovers his brother’s false gold teeth and begins to put the story together.
