The Fifteen Suspects
Deanna Harris
An attorney and Secretary of the Sunrise Press. She is the fifth suspect to be cleared of suspicion.- Amoral Attorney: Subverted. Despite being one of the suspects presented at the beginning, she's eventually cleared of suspicion. That said, she does take enjoyment in helping Lambert kick Frank out of his newspaper business.
- Hello, Attorney!
Drew Chambers
Operator of the Sunset Club, a nightclub in Sunrise. He is the fourth suspect cleared of suspicion.- Jerkass Has a Point: In the first episode everyone calls him out for claiming Carmen might have killed her own family, but he retorts that at that point they don't even know where she is.
- Wrong Genre Savvy: He at first thinks Carmen's disappearence means she might be the killer. He's quickly proven wrong later that night when Thibodeaux finds Carmen's body.
Dudley Duncan
The police chief of Sunrise. He's the first suspect to be cleared.- Friend on the Force: Always willing to work with the investigators.
- Detective Mole: Averted. Despite being one of the fifteen presented suspects, he's the first to be cleared of suspicion in the very first episode.
Emerson Bowden
The mayor of Sunrise.- Expert Consultant: He knows everything there is about the town, so he's often spoken to about its history should it come up in the investigation. He's also an expert on taxidermy, which comes in handy when the investigators find some of Nate's fingers presevered in a sardine can in a manner similar to taxidermy.
Frank Kovick
A newspaper reporter.- Be as Unhelpful as Possible: Averted and defied. Once he spots some of the investigators performing a stakeout, he confronts them with not only his abili, but any possible motive he might have had to kill Nate and his family in hopes they'll cut him off the suspect list.
- Happily Adopted: He was abandoned by his biological mother and he never knew his biological dad. Instead he considers the couple who adopted him to be his real parents, since they made his childhood "golden".
- Jerkass: He's quite abrasive and quick-tempered.
- Wrong Genre Savvy: Granted he hedged his bets by saying no one in Sunrise likes people spying on them, but he still had the wrong idea that the stakeout he spotted was for him (it was actually for Jimmy).
G.D. Thibodeaux
A Vietnam War Veteran turned ferryboat captain. He is the sixth suspect to be cleared of suspicion, and the second suspect to be murdered by the real killer.- Jerkass: One of the reasons he garnered suspicion so quickly.
- Red Herring: He was one of the main suspects in the first half of the series, but got killed off around the halfway point by the real killer.
- Stalker Shrine: For Connor.
- Stalker with a Crush: Has a creepy obsession with Prudence Connor.
Hayden DeBeck
A former general and leader of the Mind and Science Society. He is the eighth suspect to be cleared of suspicion, and the third suspect to be killed by the real killer.- Arch-Enemy: He's the one most against William in regards to his hotel idea.
- First Love: He was this for Leita before she was swept away by Oscar, her late husband.
- Wrong Genre Savvy: He was convinced Connor might have killed Nate since he knows she had money from Nate that supposed to go to him. In his final moments, he realizes he was way off the mark.
Jimmy Tinker
Boyfriend of the deceased Abby Flint.- Heroic BSoD: Starts to undergo this after Abby's car is fished up from the nearby water. The fact that he's not the killer prevents this trope from being a subversion.
- My God, What Have I Done?: His brief tryst with Mary-Elizabeth comes back to haunt him when Abby's car is found. That's because he had gotten into a fight with Nate the evening the family was murdered, ran off, then came back in a drunken frenzy to wreck the car in order to get attention, not knowing there was a crime scene in the house. He tried to hide the car and later have it disposed of.
Leita Rose-Blodgett
Mail center operator and widow. She is the third suspect cleared, and also the first suspect to be murdered by the real killer.- Sacrificial Lamb: The first townsperson to be killed after the initial murders, and dies right when the mystery starts to get deeper.
Mary-Elizabeth Merchant
Best friend of the deceased Abby Flint.- Abhorrent Admirer: She starts to become this for Jimmy when he realizes she's serious about wanting to be the new Abby.
- I Just Want to Be You: Mary-Elizabeth is obsessed with Abby Flint and tries to be just like her. She sleeps with Jimmy Tinker (Abby’s boyfriend). Most creepily she gets C.R. Flint to call her “Abby” right before Mary-Elizabeth is abducted and killed.
Prudence Connor
A garage owner and mistress of the late Nate Flint.- A Deadly Affair: It's quickly revealed that she was sleeping with Nate, though he's the one to die. Subverted in that the motive for murder had nothing to do with the affair.
- Last-Name Basis: Almost always referred to by her last name.
- Wrench Wench
Rusty Crandall
Pastor of the First Church of Sunrise.- Sinister Minister: His behavior during the Flint family's memorial, especially towards Abby, sets off red flags for the investigators. He's not actually the killer, but the trope still fits given information later on.
Samantha Larabee
A local diner owner. She is the seventh suspect cleared of suspicion. She was also kidnapped by the killer to be his final victim, only to be saved at the last minute.- Sleep Deprivation: She suffers from night terrors, making it difficult to get sleep. She's seeing the town doctor to try and sleep better.
William Lambert
Business Partner of the late Nate Flint.- All for Nothing: Besides finishing his father's original goal of taking out the descendants of the OSL, Lambert was making corporate waves in trying to take control of the town. But he underestimated the investigators and died before he could finish either goal, meaning everything he'd done is now likely to be undone.
- Big Bad: Revealed to be the real killer.
- Chekhov's Skill: He shows that he knows to handle a bang stick (a type of concussive rifle used for fishing). The investigation team soon finds out a bang stick was the murder weapon.
- Corrupt Corporate Executive: Comes off as this.
- Destination Defenestration: Chief Duncan shoots him out the window to his death.
- Evil Counterpart: He turns out to be this for Frank, since both were born to single mothers and ultimately given up for adoption. But Frank ultimately wound up living a happier life with his new family, while William chose to pick up where his father left off.
- Exact Words: When he confronts two of the investigators going undercover at a strip club he owns, he lets them know that his mother was driven out of Sunrise by rumors started by Leita and he did need Leita's land for a hotel he wants to build, but he would never kill Leita for either of those reasons. He killed her for a completely different reason.
- Fair-Play Villain: Overlaps with Villains Never Lie. He sticks to the rules of his game like glue and never gives out false information when clearing suspects should the investigators correctly answer his questions.
- Honor Before Reason: He was on the cusp of practically owning the town and having everyone there in his pocket. Instead he chose to finish his father's crusade in taking revenge on the descendants of those who killed the DuChamps family. It ultimately leads to his death.
- Jerkass: He's not a very likable guy.
- Serial Killer
- Villain Ball: He practically goes out of his way to be as much of a Hate Sink as possible to keep himself on the suspect list in order to maintain his game, when it could have been so much easier to act like a concerned citizen and stay under the radar.
- Walking Spoiler: It's impossible to discuss him without revealing that he's the killer the investigators are looking for.
X-Ray
A taxi cab driver that lives in Sunrise. He's the second suspect to be cleared.- Only Known by Their Nickname
- Support Party Member: Along with Moe, he provides transportation for the investigators.
Others
Nate Flint
Husband of Carmen Flint and Father of Abby Flint. Murdered at the beginning of the series.- Posthumous Character
- Sins of the Father: He and his daughter were killed because his grandfather was involved with the death of the DuChamps family.
Carmen Flint
Wife of Nate Flint and Mother of Abby Flint. Murdered at the beginning of the series.- Exact Words: The killer promised to return her to the people of Sunrise a few days after the murders. He never said she'd be alive when that happened.
- Mouth of Sauron: She was coerced to be this at the start of the game to introduce it to the investigators.
- Posthumous Character
- Pretty Little Headshots: Justified, as the murder weapon was a fishing tool known as a bang stick, which relies on concussive force to kill rather any sort of ammunition.
Abby Flint
Daughter of Nate and Carmen Flint. Murdered at the beginning of the series.- Dating What Daddy Hates: Her father didn't approve of her dating Jimmy, likely because they enjoyed making sex videos together.
- The Lost Lenore: She was Jimmy's girlfriend.
- Posthumous Character
Oscar Blodgett
Deceased husband of Leita Rose-Blodgett C.R. Flint
Patriarch of the Flint Family.- Last of His Kind: The sole surviving member of the Flint family after the initial murders.
Moe Zaleski
A local sailor that works with Thibodeaux.- Dark Is Not Evil: Looks pretty creepy, but he's on the investigator's side.
- I'm Not Here to Make Friends: Non-competitive example. He doesn't care what the investigators think about him. He only cares that the mystery gets solved.
- Support Party Member: Along with X-Ray, he provides transportation for the investigators.
The Sweepers
People in suits that constantly sweep the grounds of Sunrise.- We Are Everywhere: The investigators note the Sweepers seem to be one step ahead of them in terms of the investigation, almost always near where one of the tracks are.
Burnt Face Man
A man who appears on a series of films found by the investigators.- Driven to Suicide: Committed suicide out of guilt after killing Oscar Blodgett.
- Facial Horror: His face is badly burned.
- I Am a Monster: He says that his murder of Oscar Blodgett turned him into a monster.
- Mad Bomber: Rigged Oscar Blodgett's boat to explode.
- No Name Given: We can presume his last name is DuChamps, since he's the Sole Survivor of this family (which features heavily into the plot of the mystery), but we never learn his first name.
- Posthumous Character: Long dead by the time the investigation begins.
- Revenge Feels Empty: Killed Oscar Blodgett to avenge his family, but felt nothing but regret and shame after the act.
- Tragic Villain: His entire family was murdered, and his attempt at revenge only drove him to despair.
- Walking Spoiler
