Nobody's Fool

Anna Marsten is a dynamic character who disguises herself as Victoria Belmond for most of the text. Sami met Anna in Spain when they were both young adults. Sami remembers Anna as having long auburn hair and hazel eyes. Anna was sold into a trafficking ring by Radiant Allure at 16 after she escaped from her abusive aunt’s house, where she lived after her single mother died when she was 9. Anna was forced to scam tourists like Sami with her partner and drug dealer, Buzz. Anna fell in love with Sami, who made her feel “like all the bad would go away” (251), and she tried to delay the scam. Anna escaped this line of work and ended up in New York City at the women’s shelter run by the Belmonds. Anna is originally from State College, Pennsylvania. Sami learns from her autopsy that she gave birth, possibly after they were together.

Anna looks strikingly similar to Victoria Belmond, which led Archie Belmond to hire her as his daughter’s replacement. Anna’s low body weight and history of injuries helped to convince the rest of the family that she had escaped captivity. On first returning to the Belmond house, Anna pretended to be mute, and she continues to feign amnesia until her last interaction with Sami, when she finally confesses to the scheme. When Sami sees Anna again, she has short blond hair and wears glasses. The Belmonds readily absorbed Anna into the family (though believing she was Victoria) and Anna loved them in return. Before she dies, Anna asks Sami to promise to protect her family.

Even while she was being trafficked, Anna was a kind and caring girl. Anna’s care for Sami endured, and she felt compelled to right her wrong by tracking Sami down and showing him that he didn’t kill her. Anna feels guilty for how her scam shaped Sami’s life for the worse, since Sami shared all his dreams with her in Spain. Anna is initially fearful that Sami’s investigation threatens the safe life she’s grown to love, but she meets with him to pacify his curiosity. Tad Grayson shoots Anna before she can tell Sami her whole story.

Thomas Belmond is a minor, static character and antagonist. Thomas is the eldest Belmond child. When he was younger, Thomas struggled with alcohol and drug use, and he had six DUIs, some of which resulted in injuries to the other parties. Thomas never faced consequences for these crimes because of his family’s wealth, and he therefore never changed his reckless behavior. Thomas killed Victoria in a drunk driving accident on New Year’s Eve 1999, and he helped his father cover up her death so he wouldn’t go to prison. This tragedy catalyzed Thomas’s change: He got sober, became a family man, and started working at Belmond Industries, becoming a “pillar of the community” (168). Thomas is married to Madeline and has two children, Stacey and Vicki—named after Victoria. Thomas claims he needed to hit rock bottom before he could turn his life around, and he acted on his promise to Victoria on New Year’s Eve that he would smarten up. Thomas openly lies to Sami about his alibi for the night of Victoria’s disappearance, but he can’t hide his agitation and guilt when recalling that night. His nervous behavior hints to Sami that the Belmonds aren’t being honest, prompting further investigation.

Archie Belmond is a minor, static character and antagonist. Archie is Talia’s husband and Thomas and Victoria’s father. Archie is the founder of Belmond Industries, which he created while working out of a rented janitor’s closet. Archie is now extremely wealthy and lives in a huge mansion with his family. Despite his wealth, Archie has a reputation for humility and donates to various causes without appearing to seek recognition. Sami describes Archie as having “a roly-poly quality, a little soft in the middle with a big smile and bald head” (169). Sami’s interactions with Archie are pleasant and friendly, though Archie can turn into a hardened businessman when threatened. Archie describes himself as a fixer and as someone who likes to be in control of situations. This is particularly evident in his actions on the night of Victoria’s death, when he concocted the plan of the fake kidnapping to ensure he wouldn’t lose his son to prison. Archie also tries to control how far Sami gets in his investigation by hiring him, and he completely chooses the reality his wife Talia believes in concerning Victoria’s disappearance. Archie doesn’t think he did anything wrong by having Anna pretend to be Victoria; in his mind, he was looking out for his family by protecting them from grief.

Talia Belmond is a minor, static character. Talia is Archie’s wife and Thomas and Victoria’s mother. Talia has a “regal bearing” (168), with grey hair and blue eyes. Despite her poised exterior, Talia is wracked with guilt from Victoria’s disappearance. Though she initially claims she was distracted by taking care of her father in hospice, Talia really feels guilty because she contemplated having an affair on New Year’s Eve in 1999, which drew her mind away from her daughter’s absence. Talia didn’t go through with the affair, but her absentmindedness during the critical hours of Victoria’s disappearance continues to haunt her. Talia doesn’t know the truth about Victoria’s death, so she invites Sami to continue his investigation even after Archie tells him to quit. Talia believes that the only way to heal from the family’s tragedy is to uncover the truth—a belief Sami shares, hence his decision to leak his findings to the Three Dead Hots, who will publicize the truth under the guise of a “theory” in their podcast.

Molly Kierce is a minor, dynamic character who is Sami’s wife and the mother of his one-year-old son, Henry. Sami describes Molly as someone who lights up any room she is in due to her warmth and loving nature. Molly is caring and sympathetic, but she isn’t a pushover. She understands that Sami sometimes needs space to process his feelings, but she refuses to let him patronize her. Molly frequently shuts down Sami’s attempts to protect her from painful or frightening information because she believes in honesty and sharing their burdens. Molly’s belief in honesty is so strong that she kicks Sami out of the house when she learns that he’s been hiding an important piece of his past from her. Molly supports Sami’s desire to uncover the truth, since she believes that the past—whether it is traumatic or pleasant—shapes people into who they are. Molly “proudly and bravely” (190) endures the family’s financial troubles, but she can’t hide her relief when Sami accepts the Belmonds’ contract, since it offers Sami both the money they need and the answers he craves.

Tad Grayson is a minor character involved in the story’s subplot. Sami arrested and convicted Tad of Nicole Brett’s murder 18 years ago, but the courts overturned Tad’s conviction on a technicality concerning Sami’s unscrupulous behavior in a different case. After being in prison for so long, Tad has sparse grey hair and a sunken face, and “his walk is an old-man shuffle” (42). Sami takes pleasure in Tad’s deteriorated physical state because it indicates that he received punishment for Nicole’s death. Tad puts on a practiced air of innocence and meekness for the public to throw off suspicion. Tad cares for his sick mother, Patricia, in his family home and then in hospice. Sami sees through Tad’s performance, but Tad’s human rights lawyer Kelly Neumeier, Arthur, Marty, and even Nicole’s sister Ella are somewhat convinced by his act. Tad tries to prove his innocence to Sami, but when Sami rejects him, Tad hires his old cellmate to stalk the Kierce family. Tad shoots Sami and Victoria, and when he eventually drops his innocence act, he admits to planning to kill the entire Kierce family.

Victoria Belmond is a minor, flat character who doesn’t exist actively in the text. Victoria is the youngest Belmond child, who disappeared on New Year’s Eve in 1999. Her mysterious disappearance was thought to be a kidnapping, but Sami learns near the end of the book that Victoria was killed that night by her brother Thomas in a drunk driving accident on their property. Victoria’s family describes her as kind and bright, and Thomas thought she acted more like the older sibling, since she always took care of him. Victoria had a boyfriend, but she was in a secret relationship with her best friend Caroline Burkett. Anna takes on Victoria’s identity 11 years after Victoria’s supposed kidnapping.

Harm “Buzz” Bergkamp is a minor, flat character. Buzz was Anna’s partner in Spain, and the two ran scams on tourists like Sami. Buzz worked with three other girls at the same time. Buzz is a horror film producer and special effects artist who was tricked into going to Spain through Radiant Allure under the guise of working on a film. Buzz honed his skills as a special effects artist during the scams, when he would make Anna’s fake deaths look realistic with blood and props. When Sami knew him, Buzz had purple spiked hair and a nose ring. When Buzz and Anna’s last scam went wrong, Buzz was arrested for assault, and the mark’s mobster family permanently damaged his Achilles tendon, leaving him with a limp. Buzz is cocky, but he genuinely cares for Anna. Buzz and Anna grew close through their work and shared vulnerable circumstances, and he is happy she escaped their life of crime as he did.

Judith and Caroline Burkett are recurring, minor characters. Judith acts as an antagonist for Sami because she was involved in Sami’s last official case that got him fired. Judith lives in the family’s enormous mansion, Farnwood, out on bail for crimes of pharmaceutical malpractice. Judith is manipulative, cruel, and revels in other people’s discomfort. She toys with Sami’s dislike of her and the power she holds over him, since she has information that he wants and can’t get elsewhere. She all but forces Sami to beg for answers before she reveals what she knows. Judith has a “glamorous” exterior, but Sami knows she is “evil” and vindictive, as evidenced by her willingness to expose Talia’s false alibi as payback for Talia’s ignoring the Burketts during their time of need.

Caroline is Judith’s daughter and was Victoria Belmond’s secret girlfriend in 1999. Judith forced Caroline to withhold what she knew about Victoria’s disappearance from the police, and this secret has haunted Caroline her whole life. Caroline is frequently in and out of rehab, where Judith places her when she steps out of line. Caroline ultimately confesses what she knows to Sami, going into a trance-like state as the memory overwhelms her mind.