Doctor Carver

In the short story The Pearl of Price, Doctor Carver is a world renowned archaeologist. He was a member of Parker Pyne's party visiting Petra. While there, he spotted a pearl earring belonging to Carol Blundell which had come loose and had dropped onto the ground. On impulse, he picked it up and hid it in a lump of plasticine.

Parker Pyne suspected him because he had "protested a little too much" about the importance of honesty. As an archaeologist, he was also the only one of the party who keep his eyes on the ground looking for artefacts and so would have been the first to spot the earring which had fallen off. Carver explained that he hoped the earring would help fund an expedition. There was an important site in Baluchistan which he hoped to excavate. Parker Pyne told him that, in any case, the theft was useless because the pearl was false and not worth much.