Murder in the Mews (1937) Trivia Quiz

Answer: a laneway featuring a row of houses which were formerly horse stables

Traditionally, terms such as street, road, avenue, etc had very precise meanings in terms of their features, although those meanings have become less defined nowadays. Historically, a mews was a yard or street lined by buildings originally used as horse stables but now converted into dwellings.

This meaning is alluded to in Chapter 2, which begins, "At the foot of the narrow flight of stairs, a door gave admission to a large sized living room - actually the converted stables".

Of the incorrect answers, a wide road, usually divided by a landscaped median strip is a boulevard, a tree-lined street is an avenue, and a dead-end street that ends in a circle is a court or cul-de-sac.

Answer: Jane Plenderleith

Jane Plenderleith is Barbara Allen's flat-mate and good friend. Jane and Barbara met in Egypt, on a Nile cruise, while travelling abroad. Both were on their way home to England. Jane was looking for someone to share a flat or small house. Barbara was alone in the world.

They thought they would get on well together. Barbara's body was discovered after Jane returned home from a visit to friends in the country.

Answer: Guy Fawkes' Day

As Japp and Poirot are walking through the Mews, Japp commented that Guy Fawkes' Day would be a "good night for a murder...nobody would hear a shot, for instance, on a night like this". Poirot answered, "It has always seemed odd to me that more criminals do not take advantage of that fact". Nobody heard the shot that killed Barbara Allen because of the fireworks.

Answer: a bit of a stuffed fish

Chief Inspector Japp described Charles Laverton-West MP as "a bit of a stuffed fish...AND a boiled owl". "A stuffed fish" would suggest he was stiff and cold, while in an old English idiom, a "boiled owl" meant someone foolish, boring or severely intoxicated. As Charles did not appear to be foolish or drunk, one assumes Japp meant he was boring.

Of the incorrect answers, Jane described Laverton-West as commonplace and slightly pompous. Poirot asked Barbara if Major Eustace was "not pukka sahib" in response to her statement that the Major "wasn't quite - quite". "Pukka sahib" is an Anglo-Indian expression to describe a true gentleman. "A detestable, bombastic, tiresome, ego-centric little creep" was Agatha Christie's famous description of Hercule Poirot after she grew tired of him.

Answer: blackmailer

Major Eustace knew Barbara when she lived in India. He was blackmailing her over an indiscretion in her youth. Jane described the Major as "not quite - quite", a "bit hairy at the heel" and "definitely not out of the top drawer", all old English expressions which indicated that his character was questionable and that he was ill-bred.

When Poirot and Japp indicated that they were aware he was blackmailing Barbara Allen, Major Eustace became abusive.

Answer: Master Frederick Hogg

Master Frederick Hogg, the son of the chauffeur and his wife, overheard the conversation between Mrs Allen and Colonel Eustace. He told Japp and Poirot, "I heard them talking. 'Think it over and let me know', the gent said. Pleasant like, you know. And then she said something and he answered, 'All right. So long'. And he got into the car--I was holding the door open but he didn't give me nothing".

Frederick is described as "an impish faced bright-eyed lad, considerably swollen with self-importance". Japp kindly gave him sixpence for the information. However, since Frederick didn't actually see or hear Mrs Allen, it was not clear whether she was actually present and hidden by the door, or whether Colonel Eustace was bluffing.

Mrs Stevens was a neighbour who lived at the other end of the mews. Mrs Hogg, the chauffeur's wife, was not very complimentary about Mrs Stevens' character.

Answer: Mrs Pierce

Mrs Pierce was Jane and Barbara's cleaning lady. She was supposed to start work at 9.00 a.m. and if she had been on time, she would have found the body. However, it was Jane Plenderleith who discovered Barbara at about 10.30 a.m. when she arrived home after being away in the country. Jane told Japp and Poirot that Mrs Pierce had been their cleaning lady for just over a month and frequently arrived late.

Of the incorrect answers, Mrs Hogg and Mrs Stevens were residents in the mews. Dr Brett was the police doctor who teased Japp by telling him that Mrs Allen died at precisely 11.33 p.m. the previous evening. "Then he grinned as he saw Japp's surprised face. 'Sorry old boy...Had to do the super doctor of fiction! As a matter of fact, eleven is about as near as I can put it--with a margin of about an hour either way'."

Answer: to dispose of evidence

Jane went to play golf as a means of disposing of evidence. She threw the attache case in the lake. She disposed of Barbara's golf clubs by breaking them and throwing them away into the undergrowth at judicious intervals around the course. The rationale was that nobody would be surprised to find the odd broken golf club as it is not uncommon for golfers to break their clubs in anger and frustration.

Answer: a pair of muddy golf shoes

The broken piece of cufflink and the ashtray full of cigarette stubes were found upstairs in Mrs Allen's bedroom. Inspector Japp found the attache case in the locked cupboard under the stairs, along with three umbrellas, four walking sticks, two tennis rackets and a set of golf clubs. But no muddy golf shoes were present.

Answer: Sherlock Holmes

While discussing the contradiction of the absence of stale cigarette smoke and the presence of an ashtray full of cigarette stubs, Poirot compares it to the famous "curious incident of the dog in the night-time" which is related in the Sherlock Holmes' story, "The Silver Blaze". Japp accuses Poirot of "always having to get at things in such a tortuous way".