Quentin Alonso Speedwell is a police technician serving in the Firearms Identification Department of the Fifth Precinct. He does not carry a gun, but is conversant on numerous types. He loathes his Christian name of Quentin; if often referred to as "Q", which he hates even more. Speedwell truly detests being called a "Ballistics" man. Is usually heard to reply "
This is Firearms identification. You want to talk ballistics, go attend a physics class."
He has a pinched face and the impatient air of a man who dislikes everyone he works with. He tends to be condescending, smug and has a tendency to reduce other peoples' suffering to mere numbers and statistics. He happens to be oddly knowledgeable on most Australian and New Zealand wildlife, because so much of it can kill you. He has been divorced three times, which is no surprise to anyone who knows him.