Leslie Faulkener

In the short story The Affair at the Bungalow, Leslie Faulkener is a struggling young playwright who features in the story related by Jane Helier. Faulkener had written many plays but none of them had ever been taken. In the story, he sent a play for Jane Helier to read. Subsequently he received a letter from Jane inviting him to a certain bungalow to discuss the play. Faulkener arrived at the bungalow and was admitted by a maid and led to a drawing-room to meet Jane Helier. While discussing the play, the maid brought in cocktails and Faulkener took one. This knocked him out and when he woke up he found himself on the road by a hedge. Shortly thereafter he was arrested by the police because a robbery had taken place at the bungalow.

In following up on his explanation, the police brought Jane Helier to meet him but he said that is not the woman he met. Moreover, Jane stated that the letter was not in her handwriting so he must have been duped. Faulkener was subsequently released because the police could not make out a case against him.

In her story, Jane Helier used fake names for most of the characters so Faulkener's could have been fake as well. However there are reasons to think it might be real. In every other case, Jane struggled to find a suitable fake name and Sir Henry Clithering helpfully supplied one for her. Faulkener was the first character to be named in the story and in this case she did not hesitate in uttering the name.