Pete Orford is a lecturer in English, and Course Director of the MA in Charles Dickens Studies run by the University of Buckingham in partnership with the Charles Dickens Museum in London. He has written several articles on Drood in addition to numerous conference papers, public talks and a special exhibition at the Charles Dickens Museum. On top of all this he runs The Drood Inquiry (www.droodinquiry.com), an interactive exploration of Drood and the numerous possibilities for its end that asks the public to vote for their preferred conclusion.