Otis Amber Character Analysis

Otis is a hapless aging delivery boy who, at 62, lives in the basement of a greengrocer and makes local deliveries on his bicycle. He’s one of Sam Westing’s 16 potential heirs. Otis and Berthe Erica Crow have been friends for many years, and together, they run a small soup kitchen on Skid Row. They are also paired together in the Westing game. Though Otis isn’t particularly bright, he is a gregarious and kind person. Eventually, Otis is revealed to be a private investigator in the service of three different people: Sam Westing, Barney Northrup, and Judge Ford. Westing initially hired Otis to keep tabs on Crow and make sure she never used the Westing name—but over the course of their friendship, Otis and Crow have become close, and Otis has developed real affection for her. Toward the end of the novel, the two marry in a ceremony at James Hoo’s restaurant.