James Hendricks III

*This article is about James Hendricks III, the character from The Smoke Room. You may be looking for his father, James Hendricks II, or his grandfather James Hendricks I from Echo.*

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## Physical Description

### Sprite Artist

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**James Hendricks III** is a character in The Smoke Room. He is the grandson of Echo's founder, James Hendricks I, and is the current head of the family. As such, he is the owner of the Hendricks Mining Company. He is married to Cordelia.

## Appearance

James is a tall and muscular ram with large horns and emerald green eyes, one of which is usually behind a custom-fitted monocle. He wears an expensive black three-piece suit and a red tie. James also carries a cane.

## Personality

James is described by William as "frivolous and neglectful," and he appears chiefly interested in using his wealth and influence in Echo to indulge himself, monopolize the adulation of the town's residents, and further his various ambitions.

James is affable and cheerful in nearly all his interactions, but with an edge of overbearing entitlement that often hints at an ulterior, self-enriching motive. He is largely self-serving and frequently makes decisions for his own benefit with little regard for other peoples' needs or desires. He also demonstrate a more threatening side in regards to his business deals, particularly when dealing with members of the union.

### Prior to The Smoke Room

James Hendricks III was born into the wealthy Hendricks family, who founded the town of Echo and owned its first mines. James' grandfather died in 1891 and his father died in 1913, both from unusual bug bites, leaving James to inherit their wealth and their mining company, which he co-owns along with Briggs.

At some point, James met and married his wife Cordelia. The two have a young son named Noah. James and Cordelia reside in a richly decorated mansion, inherited from James I, that overlooks the town and is staffed with domestic workers and guarded by armed security. The Hendricks' Mansion is sometimes referred to as a castle, and James has made a hobby out of attempting to map its layout due to its sprawling size and the countless areas added across the generations making it so that not even he knows all of its secrets.

James greatly desires to live up to his family's legacy and makes frequent business ventures in an attempt to further the Hendricks' influence and his own standing in particular. This has ironically made him largely unpopular with many of Echo's residents, particularly Briggs and his direct staff, the mine's union members, and sheriff William Adler. James is bisexual and has various "dalliances" with prostitutes, with an eye on Samuel Ayers in particular.

### Cliff's Route

As the benefactor bankrolling Cliff's expedition to the Meseta settlement near Echo, James is closely tied to the route's events.

The day after the riot, James stops Sam in front of town hall and, in a manner that seems rehearsed, introduces himself. After dismissing his security detail, James openly brings up Sam's work as a prostitute. Sam feigns ignorance and James excuses himself, but Sam can tell by the 'glint in his eye' that James knows he is lying.

When Sam later returns to the Saguaro's Hip, James is waiting in The Smoke Room for his services and the two have sex. James is cheerful throughout their encounter, but immediately afterward his tone shifts sharply, and as leverage to ensure discretion from Sam he reveals that he is aware of Sam's close, secretive relationship with Nikolai, one of the miners that James employs. After Sam leaves Echo to accompany Cliff, he worries that his absence could mean a reprisal from James against Nik.

Once Cliff finally arrives at the Meseta settlement, two weeks later than anticipated, he grapples with his instructions to cajole the tribe into becoming a workforce for James, who plans to use Meseta labor to construct a railway connecting their community to Echo.

James eventually takes Will along with him to visit the settlement, and they arrive in James' automobile a day after Cliff's group. This occurs shortly after the mysterious violent death of Caldwell, the reverend of the settlement and James' local business contact, but it is currently unclear what exactly drew James to the reservation and why the sheriff accompanied him.

### Murdoch's Route

At some point just prior to the miner's strike, James discovered that a girl had become trapped in the mine somewhere near his property by speaking to her through a hole in the cavern's ceiling. Fearing that a story breaking about a child being trapped in his mine would add to the already poor publicity regarding the situation with the union and amplify tensions with the striking miners even further, James chose to cover up her presence by having her stay in the cavern until tensions blew over. James continued to feed and check on the girl throughout the week and learned her name was Melissa Boike, though he seemingly made no effort to actually rescue her.

Eventually Blithe comes to rescue Melissa and happens to reach the cavern just as James arrives. He is surprised to find a second girl in the mines and defends his actions thus far to her, recognizing Blithe as the daughter of one of his workers. James attempts to convince Blithe to stay put as well before he hears her offer to portray him as a hero who rescued the girls should he lower a rope to help them escape the mine. Before James can make a decision however, he seemingly witnesses his mansion catching fire and departs hastily, apologizing to the girls for leaving them as he covers up the hole and flees.

### William's Route

Will decides not to arrest Sam for Jack's murder, believing that providing James Hendricks with an easy way to defuse the miners' anger over Jack's death would lead inevitably to James having Sam hanged, just so he could rehabilitate his own image and stabilize his business.

William remains suspicious of James throughout the route, and conjectures that he is involved in at least some of the unusual incidents happening in Echo, which include Huxley Greene's disappearance, the attempted murder of James' employee Cliff by a hired hand, the body that Murdoch witnesses being dumped in Lake Emma, and the sudden presence of Will's estranged ex-wife Hattie in Echo.

The day after Cliff's foiled assassination, James picks up both Will and Sam from the streets of Echo in his car, with the promise of information about Hattie. Before revealing to Will that she has come to Echo, which sends the sheriff into a panic, James gives Will a list of individuals in town who he believes are working against his business, under the pretense that they may be responsible for Jack's murder. James insinuates that he expects the sheriff to investigate his enemies in exchange for news about Hattie, but once Will learns his ex-wife is in town he immediately departs to confront her and leaves the list behind. James is frustrated and gives it to Sam, in the hopes that he can convince Will to do his bidding.

When Will goes to speak with Mayor Testerman, he encounters James on his way out of the mayor's office. Will offers to share information, and James proposes that they meet up later at Echo's library. Once there, James concedes under Will's accusation that he was partly responsible for relocating Hattie to Echo, although he insists that she reached out to him and he has no idea how she got his contact initially. James also appears to know nothing about the hit placed on Cliff, but vaguely implicates his own business partner Gregory Briggs.

After James speaks patronizingly about Will's Native ancestry, the sheriff flicks a pebble at his cheek with enough force to draw blood. James manages to compose himself and smiles at Will with his characteristic practiced affability before departing. If it is evening, Porter Moore then emerges from the bookstacks and offers Will the name of a mole loyal to James who works among the prostitutes at the Hip, but Will declines to trade information with Porter to learn more.
Later, if he questions her at the Hip with this information, William may discover that Ethel has indeed been leaking confidential information about the Hip's clientele to James.

Over the course of Will's investigation, several clues direct him back to James: on the Greenes' property a gum wrapper was found to be from a type that was last purchased by Hattie for James, Huxley's decapitated body was partially frozen and likely dumped by an automobile moving at high speed, and according to Murdoch there was a party held at the Hendricks mansion on the same night that Huxley disappeared.

When Will arrives at the mansion to follow these leads, James greets him warmly at the front gate and invites him inside. After introducing Noah, James rudely brings up Will's estranged relationship with his own son Andy, and Will cannot tell if James' insensitivity is the result of cruelty or simple stupidity.

James is delighted when Will says he has come to talk about the list of James' enemies, and informs him that one of the targets on it is currently in the mansion. They go into the parlor, where Nikolai is having tea with Cordelia. James prompts Will to admit that he is friends with Nik, and then says that he is a friend to Nik as well, although he calls him Nicholas.

Will asks about a cardboard replica of the Hendricks house on a table, and James explains that he is planning renovations for the mansion that will bring it closer to James I's ambitious vision. He admits that the scale model is necessary because James I never left a complete floor plan for his descendants, so the house is full of odd passages that are still being discovered.

Will tells James and Cordelia about a mafioso that he apprehended back in The Windy City, but in doing so he seems to insinuate that, like the mobster, James is using a network of proxies to do violence on his behalf and maintaining a popular public image. Cordelia is so shaken when Will tells her that there may be organized crime hiding in Echo that she allows him to search the mansion, despite James' blustering insistence that the picketing workers should be investigated first. Much to James' consternation, this remark causes Nik to speak up and remind James that he is still in the room. Suddenly, there is a loud knock at the door and James excuses himself to meet with Briggs elsewhere in the mansion.

While James is busy, Will investigates his office and makes several alarming discoveries. In a filing cabinet, there is a prototype for a form of company scrip with James' face on it that he apparently intends to use to try and replace money in Echo. Will marvels at the depth of James' ego-fueled delusion, and speculates that if the plan is successful it would destroy the town's economy. Will also finds several dossiers containing photographs and brief profiles of various CSCG miners, including Nik. In James' wastebasket, there is a note instructing James to give Hattie a job as "a favor" that once included her address; this is later possibly implied to have come from Harlan, although it is unsigned and so it is unclear if James knows this.

Later, James reappears outside the mansion as Will and Nik are leaving and learns that Andy nearly shot his father, apparently accidentally, while firing a gun at a can for fun. James takes Andy's side and excuses his behavior, then leads him and Noah back into his home for dinner. He touches both boys' shoulders fondly as he walks with them, and Will speculates that it may be an attempt to make him jealous.

### Nikolai's Route

James arrives at the mines in his automobile and sees two of his employees, Nikolai and Yao, being questioned by Sheriff Adler along with Samuel. He intercedes, asking William to leave his workers alone, and Yao speaks up to assure James that he is showing Sam, an aspiring miner, around the premises to get him acquainted with their work. James is delighted by the prospect of hiring Sam, and departs after telling him to visit his office the next day for an interview.

James and Briggs arrange to both interview Sam, likely because they want to use him to surveil Nik or dissuade from associating with the miners' union. By the time Samuel arrives, James seems to have learned his name without him mentioning it, possibly from Sam's previous employment records with the mine. In contrast to Brigg's stern questioning, James is cheerful throughout his conversation with Sam, but asks one targeted question about Sam's close relationship with Nik that catches Sam by surprise, because it reveals that James has sources inside Saguaro's Hip. James also volunteers to cover the costs of Sam's equipment, which most miners must pay for themselves.

After learning from Porter that James lusts after him, Sam plans to use seduction to get preferential treatment from James. He enters James' office in time to catch the end of an argument James is having with Briggs about how to treat the striking miners: James calls for a more lenient approach, but an impatient Briggs insists they should be considering violence to keep their workers in line.

James is delighted to see Sam, and forthright about his desire for sex. During the deed, James is teasing and jovial, praising Sam for his loyalty, and Sam suspects he might be a bit delusional. Sam asks to be placed on the same shift as several other miners he is close to, and James acquiesces.

James and his wife Cordelia come to the Hip several days later to attend a performance given by Madam Dora. Cordelia asks Nik to introduce himself, and James pressures him to answer her. Upon learning he is a union miner Cordelia invites Nik and Sam to the Hendricks manor to discuss the striking workers' concerns, overruling James' objections.

In his dining room with Nik and Sam, James begins explaining the rich history of his home's furnishings. Sam spots a suit of armor and James offers to let him try it on, but Sam demurs. James then requests to talk with Nik alone, and Cordelia takes Sam upstairs. When Sam returns, James and Nik are sitting in silence and do not appear to have spoken much, but James' grip has bent his fork out of shape. Cordelia takes Sam and Nik down to the basement to show them how ice cream is made, but finds the door to the icebox left ajar and some of her ingredients contaminated. She blames James and rushes upstairs to confront him, but Hattie says that he has left to run some errands.

## Relationships

### Hendricks Family

The Hendricks name has significant prestige in Echo, and James likely feels pressure to live up to his ancestors' success. During an argument in Nik's route about how to deal with their striking workers, Briggs tells James that his father James II was better at running the mine, indicating that James III's management style differs significantly from that of his father, and that he may be insecure about this. James is also in the process of renovating his home to bring it closer to his grandfather's original vision.

Assuming that the other children of James Hendricks I are alive in 1915, James III may have one uncle and three aunts.

It is currently unknown whether James III knows the truth about his grandfather James I, who carried out multiple child murders in Echo in the late 1800s but preserved his reputation by framing his male Meseta lover for his crimes.

### Cordelia

James and Cordelia appear to have a frank and understanding marriage. James routinely seeks out extramarital affairs with both men and women, but Cordelia is aware and even encouraging of them. In public, James treats Cordelia with effusive praise, often calling her his 'treasure' and demanding others show her deference.

Cordelia appears to be a benevolent influence on James: in Nik's route, James resists but ultimately relents when she suggests that he invite Nik to their mansion to have an open conversation about the striking miners' concerns.

### Briggs

Despite being business partners, James and Briggs disagree starkly about how to run the mine. James considers Briggs a 'dinosaur' for favoring punitive and even violent means to control striking workers, and prefers to instead build a devoted workforce by rewarding loyal miners.

In William's route, Will considers that James may be in the process of a power grab against Briggs. The sheriff theorizes that James may want him to uncover evidence of malfeasance that can be blamed on Briggs, so that James can cut him out of the mining company, take sole control of the operation, reform it, and look like a hero to Echo by comparison. However, Will is skeptical that James actually knows anything about the day-to-day logistics of running the mine, and expects such a plan would likely backfire on him.

According to Chang, most of the miners at CSCG are either loyal to James or loyal to Briggs, and the division between the groups breeds resentment.

### Samuel

James lusts after Sam, and is very interested in pursuing him sexually. In Cliff's route James is clearly aware of Sam's reputation, and calls him perhaps one of the best male prostitutes in the country.

Dialogue between William and Madam Dora in Will's route indicates that Dora has been intentionally keeping James away from Sam, seemingly at least partly at Will's instruction.

### William

James and William appear to have a mutual disdain, but James is very interested in gaining leverage over William and aspires to use the power of the sheriff's position for his own ends.

James and William notably have very different opinions about Echo, despite being two major players in its power dynamics. James asserts the town is destined for prosperity, and seems to willfully ignore William's claim that it is an unstable, isolated backwater. During their conversation in Will's route, James speaks very highly of Echo and attributes a degree of importance to the town, and to his own role within it, that Will seems to believe borders on delusional.

### Cliff

James is the one who brought Cliff to Echo, and Cliff works for him as a cultural liaison to the Meseta. James wants Cliff to convince the tribe to accept his plans for a railroad through their territory.

James refers to Cliff in playful, infantilizing terms, calling him a 'delightful boy.'

### Ethel

James is a regular client of Ethel's and she is extremely loyal to him. As possibly revealed during Will's route, Ethel acts as a 'mole' of sorts within the Hip, gathering sensitive information about other prostitutes and clients and leaking it to James to give him leverage and influence.

### Harlan

According to Dimitri, James dislikes Harlan and the two routinely get into disagreements at the Hip.

### Andy

Andy seems to have taken up residence in the Hendricks mansion while his mother works as the family's cook. James is very permissive towards Andy, and may be positioning himself as a preferable alternative to Will as a role model for him.

### Mayor Testerman

James is a substantial donor to the city of Echo, such that Mayor Testerman feels pressured by James' threat during William's route that he will pull his funding if the issue of Jack's murder, and the resultant discontent among the miners, is not settled quickly.

James considers the Mayor useful and malleable, and tells William that being shaken down for favors is all Testerman is good for.

## Trivia

* James is an ancestor of the Echo character Carl Hendricks.
* James is seen reading *Dubliners*, a book written by James Joyce in 1914 that presents a naturalistic depiction of Irish middle class life at the time. The Hendricks family were originally immigrants from Eire, the in-universe equivalent of Ireland.
* While James is usually unable to make an appointment with Sam due to Will secretly paying Madam Dora to prevent him from doing so, he is able to book him during the events of Cliff's route due to Cliff inadvertently outbidding Will for Sam's "exclusivity" and leaving his services open the day prior to the expedition.