Character Relationship Map: The Ruby in the Smoke

Characters

• Sally Lockhart (played by Billie Piper) — protagonist

  Determined young investigator who uncovers the truth behind her father's death and the mysterious ruby while confronting escalating danger.

• Jim Taylor (played by Matt Smith) — supporting

  A resourceful sailor who protects Sally, helps decipher crucial clues, and becomes her trusted partner in the investigation.

• Mrs. Holland (played by Julie Walters) — supporting

  Sally's guardian and maternal figure, offers wisdom and emotional stability.

• Frederick Garland (played by JJ Feild) — supporting

  Protective brother of Sally, contributes to family dynamics and investigations.

• Rosa Garland (played by Hayley Atwell) — supporting

  A helpful ally who assists Sally's investigation and safeguards the deciphered message connected to the hidden ruby.

• Samuel Selby (played by Robert Glenister) — supporting

  Local figure connected to the opium trade and Ruby of Agrapur mystery.

• Major Marchbanks (played by Miles Anderson) — supporting

  Authoritative military figure who intersects with Sally's criminal investigations.

• Mr Higgs (played by Trevor Cooper) — supporting

  Local official or witness providing critical evidence in the opium mystery.

• Matthew Bedwell (played by David Harewood) — minor

  Associate of Nicholas Bedwell, involved in minor corporate or social dealings.

• Henry Hopkins (played by Don Gilet) — minor

  Witness or informant supplying brief but useful investigative details.

• Voice of Capt. Lockhart (voice) (played by Martin Jarvis) — minor

  Sally's deceased father, whose recorded message initiates the central mystery.

• Mr. Berry (played by Tony Maudsley) — minor

  Minor contact providing brief assistance or contextual information.

Canonical Relationships

Family, romantic, and professional connections based on plot evidence.

• Sally Lockhart → Mr Higgs (Professional Questioner And Witness) — Higgs is an important but endangered source of information for Sally.

  Sally questions Mr. Higgs about her father’s last voyage, Marchbanks, and the Seven Blessings. Higgs is attacked before he can fully explain what he k...

Story Dynamics

Alliances, conflicts, and narrative interactions that evolve throughout the story.

• Sally Lockhart → Jim Taylor (alliance)

  Jim helps Sally escape danger and joins her investigation into the ruby and her father's death.

• Sally Lockhart → Rosa Garland (alliance)

  Rosa helps Sally examine evidence and reveals information needed to continue the investigation.

• Jim Taylor → Sally Lockhart (social)

  Jim and Sally develop a close cooperative bond while facing danger during the investigation.

• Jim Taylor → Rosa Garland (social)

  Jim entrusts the deciphered message to Rosa for safekeeping.

• Matthew Bedwell → Samuel Selby (Unknown Secret-Linked Associate) — Both men are linked to the commercial and criminal mystery surrounding the ruby.

  Bedwell possesses knowledge of the secret and is connected to papers examined during an investigation that also exposes suspicious dealings involving...

• Jim Taylor → Voice of Capt. Lockhart (voice) (Narrative Voyage Witness) — Jim’s maritime knowledge connects him to the unresolved circumstances of the captain’s final voyage.

  Jim is a sailor who knows that the Lavinia went down with all hands, directly confirming the fate of Sally’s father’s ship.

• Jim Taylor → Rosa Garland (Alliance Trusted Messenger) — Jim relies on Rosa to preserve and communicate a crucial deciphered message.

  Rosa reveals that Jim Taylor deciphered the message and entrusted it to her for safekeeping.

• Mrs. Holland → Mr. Berry (Alliance Pursuit Partner) — They operate together as pursuers in the hostile force surrounding Sally.

  The plot states that Mrs. Holland and Mr. Berry pursue Sally and Adelaide together, using threats and murder to recover the ruby’s secret.

• Sally Lockhart → Mr. Berry (Conflict Pursuer) — Berry participates in the effort to recover the secret and silence its possessors.

  Mr. Berry joins Mrs. Holland in pursuing Sally and Adelaide while trying to recover the secret of the ruby.

• Sally Lockhart → Henry Hopkins (Conflict Target And Attacker) — Hopkins directly threatens Sally but ultimately hesitates to carry out the killing.

  Henry Hopkins is sent to steal from Sally and kill her, although he proves unwilling to become a murderer.

• Sally Lockhart → Matthew Bedwell (Narrative Memory Investigation) — Bedwell’s damaged mind, papers, and opium become instruments in Sally’s discovery of the truth.

  Sally examines Bedwell’s papers and inhales his opium fumes to recover the truth buried in her memory.

• Sally Lockhart → Major Marchbanks (Narrative Investigative Link) — Marchbanks’s account gives Sally historical evidence about the ruby and her father’s past.

  A recovered account by Major Marchbanks describes the ruby of Agrapur and links it to the military expedition in which Sally’s father participated.

• Sally Lockhart → Samuel Selby (Conflict Investigative Adversary) — Selby is connected to the suspicious commercial network surrounding the mystery.

  Sally questions Mr. Higgs at Selby’s shipping office, while the investigation exposes suspicious business dealings connected with Samuel Selby.

• Sally Lockhart → Rosa Garland (Alliance Investigation Ally) — Rosa provides practical assistance and preserves crucial information for Sally.

  Rosa helps Sally examine Bedwell’s papers and later reveals that Jim entrusted the deciphered message to her for safekeeping.

Story Analysis

Sally Lockhart follows a dangerous trail from her father's shipwreck to the hidden ruby of Agrapur while hostile pursuers close in.

Plot Progression

1. A Letter From the Past — Sally grieves her father and receives a letter that sends her to Samuel Selby's shipping office. Higgs's attack suggests that the Lavinia's sinking concealed a dangerous secret.
2. The Ruby's Bloody Trail — Jim joins Sally after confirming the fate of the Lavinia. Marchbanks's account connects the ruby of Agrapur to violence, death, and Sally's father's expedition.
3. Secrets Among the Papers — Sally and Jim pursue coded clues through shipping agents and investigate Matthew Bedwell's damaged testimony. Frederick and Rosa help examine Bedwell's papers and decode the riddle.
4. Murderous Pursuit — Suspicion falls on financial dealings connected to the Lavinia as the pursuers close in. Hopkins refuses to become a murderer but is killed, sharply increasing the danger.
5. Memory Reveals Swaleness — Sally uses Bedwell's opium fumes to recover the truth buried in her memory. She learns that the ruby was hidden in a pub in Swaleness and prepares to find it.