In the short story The Gate of Baghdad, Flight Lieutenant O'Rourke is an R.A.F. officer travelling from Damascus to Baghdad on the same bus as Parker Pyne. He and Netta Pryce had developed an attraction for each other.
Portrayals[]
O'Rourke was played by Toby Longworth in the radio dramatization of the story on BBC Radio 4. There he is given the rank of Captain and he is not identified as an Air Force officer so his arm of service is not known. Netta called him "Dermot" once. This first name is not used in the original story.