Franklin Blake’s father, whose principal obsession in life is proving that he is the rightful heir to a dukedom. In pursuit of this goal, he involves himself with “the wicked Colonel” John Herncastle, who offers him important legal documents so long as Blake agrees to help guard the Moonstone and become the executor of Herncastle’s will (which means delivering the Diamond appropriately after Herncastle’s death, and ultimately leads Blake to send his son to bring Rachel Verinder the Diamond on her birthday). He dies the year after the Moonstone’s theft, which propels Franklin Blake to return to England and take back up his investigation.