Minor characters in chapter 3

  Mrs.Elmsley was Mrs Hayward's housemaid. She seemed suspicious to Stephen just because she has a moustache and a wart in the middle of her forehead, and she speaks very softly. Stephen had never wondered before why she looked like that, but after Keith accused her mother of being a German spy,  the children considered all the characters to whom she spoke possible accomplices.

   Another character who seemed suspicious to Stephen was Mr. Hucknall, the butcher. He sung humorously loud and tossed the sniking brass weights from hand to hand.Stephen thought his behaviour was just pretence to conceal his true nature and that the mutton chops in his orders could be a secret code.

   To conclude, Stephen was just a boy with a fertile imagination. After his friend uttered the six words, even these two minor characters, Mrs. Elmsley and  Mr. Hucknall become suspicious for him so the reader can't help doubting the reliability of his perspective.