Mr Dacres

In the novel The Sittaford Mystery, Mr Dacres is the solicitor who had been engaged to undertake the defence of James Pearson after he was arrested and charged for the murder of Captain Trevelyan.

Mr Dacres had known Emily Trefusis, Pearson's fiancee, since childhood and had managed her affairs since she had come of age. This suggests that it was Emily who engaged Mr Dacres for Pearson. From Mr Dacres' point of view, the case against Pearson was very strong. He had discovered that Pearson had embezzled some money from the company he worked for and invested it. Apparently he had done this before. This time, because of an impending audit, Pearson needed to quickly return the money and so it was plausible that he journeyed to Exhampton to approach his uncle Captain Trevelyan for a loan. When Trevelyan refused, as he was likely to, Pearson might have reacted angrily and killed him. His hurried departure from Exhampton also pointed to his guilt. Dacres told Emily that these facts which he had discovered could not be hidden from the police. There was only one other defence, which was that Pearson did not know the terms of his uncle's will but Emily said that would not work as all the relatives knew about the will. All this made Pearson's case very bleak indeed and Dacres recommened to Emily that they engage the barrister Lorimer K.C. for the trial. He had a reputation for defending forlorn hopes.