Clarice Blackburn as Minerva Trask
Minerva Briar Trask (1850s - 1897) was the wife of Rev. Gregory Trask and the mother of Charity Trask. She was the "right hand" of her husband running Worthington Hall, a private school.
Before Collinwood
Minerva's brother, Simon Briar, was killed the night Rachel Drummond and Tim Shaw escaped from Worthington Hall and she believed they were responsible for his death, having caught them stealing money from the school (the true events surrounding Simon's death are recounted in the Big Finish audio drama The Crimson Pearl). Her husband claimed that a year later she still cried every night for him (733, 735).
The Murder of Minerva Trask
Although she would not admit it to anyone, Minerva carried around the terrible secret of Rev. Trask's infidelities. On at least 3 previous occasions, Trask has liaisons with wealthy women, accompanying them to the theatre and drinking alcohol with them (762). She became suspicious of Judith Collins being the latest of these women one night when she came to deliver a jar of plum preserves to Judith. She confronted her husband, which proved to be her undoing (762). Gregory Trask made a pact with Evan Hanley to kill Minerva in trade for his silence after catching Evan and Quentin Collins attempting to summon The Devil. Evan Hanley purchased a vial of deadly nightshade from Magda Rakosi and used his powers to cast a spell on Tim Shaw to poison Minerva when he saw the playing card, the Queen of Spades (763). It was Tim who had told Evan that both Mrs. Trask and Charity enjoyed playing cards, but that Rev. Trask considered it to be a sin.
Tim and Minerva had a fight (772) after which Minerva planned to have Tim dismissed. She told Charity she would break her engagement with Tim, then Tim came to apologize, but saw Minerva playing solitaire. When she turned up the Queen of Spades, he offered to refill her teacup, poisoning her to death. She lingered long enough to make an accusation of murder against him. Once she was dead, Evan Hanley showed up to break the spell on Tim, rendering him unknowing of what had transpired. Evan accused Tim of murdering Minerva and they fought, with Tim knocking Evan unconscious before making his escape (773). Shaw was later able to blackmail Gregory Trask into telling the police that he had sent Tim to Boston on business, providing him with an alibi.
The Ghost of Minerva Trask
After an indecently short mourning period, Gregory Trask married Judith Collins. He then decided to drive Judith insane by forcing Evan Hanley to conjure up "the black shade of Minerva Trask" (789). This shade was completely under Hanley's control, but could be seen by anyone. Evan arranged Minerva's spirit to follow Judith around Collinwood and either sit and sew, or just stare at her. Both Evan and Gregory had to pretend they did not see the spirit while keeping others away (790-791). Once Judith was sent off to a sanitarium, Evan dismissed the shade and Minerva was never seen or heard from again.
The Murder Confession
While under the spell of Count Andreas Petofi, Evan Hanley drew up a confession to Minerva's murder which he signed, then Gregory Trask signed, noticing immediately after what the document was. Trask burned the confession, but it reappeared (805), making its way first to Charity Trask, who was already unstable due to Petofi's curse (806).