Sheriff (3.04)

"It has to be the same man that has taken your son."

The sheriff is the unnamed sheriff who told Rumplestiltskin of the pied piper in "Nasty Habits".

Before the Curse
"No one saw his face. O-only a figure, hidden by a pied cloak of multicolored patches. "

The sheriff of the town of Hamelin is seen standing on top of a rock pedestal, delivering a speech to a gathered mass of people in front of him, out on the streets. He is heard telling them that they will start organizing search parties immediately, but he is interrupted by the voice of Rumplestiltskin, who asks if the villagers think that they can hide Baelfire, his son who's gone missing, from him. The sight of the Dark One appearing before them horrifies the villagers, who start to look down, as he asks them where his son is. The sheriff swears that he isn't there, and Rumple orders him - quite loudly - not to lie to him, frightening the sheriff. The Dark One then explains that magic has led him there, to that rathole of a town. Bae's trail ends there, in Hamelin. He says he knows they're hiding Bae from him, and the sheriff steps down from his pedestal and denies this, claiming that many of their children went missing the night before, lured from their beds by some unholy music. Rumple asks what kind of music, and the sheriff explains that it came from a pipe, and only the children could hear it. Some of them tried telling their parents, but no one believed them. They were sent back to bed, and that morning they were gone. Cries are heard among the villagers. Rumple asks who was playing the pipe, and the sheriff recounts that no one saw his face, only a figure, hidden by a pied coat of multicolored patches, leading the children from their homes and into the forest. Rumple, intrigued, approaches the sheriff, who tells him it has to be the same that's taken his son. Rumple then says that, whoever this pied piper is, he's about to play his last note.