The Agatha Christie Spoiler Quiz 3

Answer: Marina Gregg

In this novel, Heather Badcock boasts to famous actress Marina Gregg that she had met Marina in Bermuda years ago when, despite having German measles (rubella), she got out of her sick bed in order to meet Marina and get her autograph. Marina had contracted rubella during her pregnancy, resulting in the birth of a mentally disabled child. When Marina realises that it was Heather who was the cause of this tragedy, she poisons her own drink, which she then gave to Heather to replace Heather's spilled drink.

According to a number of websites, part of this novel's plot is based on an incident in the life of the actress, Gene Tierney, who contracted rubella during her pregnancy in 1943 and as a result gave birth to a daughter who was intellectually and physically handicapped. Gene Tierney did not know how she contracted rubella until years later, when she met a female fan who told her that, during the World War II, she (the fan) was a Marine. Even though she was under quarantine, she had sneaked out in order to meet the actress.

There is actually no firm evidence that Agatha Christie knew about this particular incident or that she based the novel on it. The only "evidence" is how closely the story parallels real life events. Agatha Christie never referred to it and her literary agent denied a connection. However, the name of the main character, Marina Gregg, is likely a nod to Sir Norman Gregg (1892-1966), an Australian ophthalmologist, who discovered the link between maternal rubella in early pregnancy and subsequent birth defects in babies.

Answer: Nick Buckley

As is often the case, it is an innocent remark by Hastings that is the catalyst for Poirot realising that Nick Buckley is the killer and that her alleged escapes from death were a set-up. Nick shot her cousin Maggie in order to inherit the vast estate of Sir Matthew Seton, via his nephew Michael Seton.

Michael was secretly engaged to Maggie and left a will in her favour. When Sir Matthew died, and Michael went missing (presumed dead) on his round-the-world flight, Nick realises that, since she and Maggie were both named Magdala, she could lay claim to the Seton estate if Maggie was out of the way. Her motivation is her extreme attachment to End House, which is heavily mortgaged, and the need for money to retain and maintain her home.

Answer: Mark Gaskell and Josie Turner

Josie Turner and her cousin, Ruby Keene, are dancers at the Majestic Hotel. Conway Jefferson and his family are visitors to the hotel. Conway Jefferson takes a liking to Ruby Keene, decides to adopt her and changes his will to make Ruby his beneficiary to the tune of 50,000 pounds. Previously his beneficiaries were Adelaide Jefferson (the widow of his son, Frank) and Mark Gaskell (the widower of his daughter, Rosamund).

Mark and Josie, who are secretly married, murder Ruby in order to prevent Ruby from inheriting the money that Mark is counting on to clear his debts. They also murder a local schoolgirl, Pamela Reeves. Josie identifies Pamela's body as being that of Ruby Keene in order to confuse the issue of time of death and to provide herself and Mark with an alibi. The real body in the library is Pamela, not Ruby. Ruby's body was disposed of by placing it in a stolen car and setting it alight.

Answer: Lance Fortescue

Lance Fortescue masquerades as "Albert Evans" in order to romance the gullible Gladys Martin, parlourmaid at Yewtree Lodge. His intention is to use her to murder his father while he himself has an alibi, being overseas at the time. Although technically true that Gladys murdered Rex Fortescue by administering poison in his marmalade, she did not know it was poison. Lance/Albert told her that Rex Fortescue had swindled him and that the substance he gave her to administer to Rex was a "truth drug" that would cause Rex to admit his guilt.

Poor Gladys is distraught when Rex dies but she still believes it must have been some kind of mistake. Lance subsequently murders both his stepmother, Adele, and Gladys Martin.

Answer: Kirsten (Kirsty) Lindstrom

When Jacko Argyle was convicted of murdering his adoptive mother, Rachel, no red flags were raised. Jacko had motive, means and opportunity. His alibi could not be substantiated. It fitted in with his known criminal tendencies. It was a neat and tidy solution and none of the family doubted his guilt.

However, when Arthur Calgary is able to prove Jacko's innocence, the other members of the family and household come under suspicion. The police re-open the case. Philip Durrant conducts his own investigation out of boredom. Arthur Calgary also conducts an investigation prompted by his personal anguish at bringing the family additional grief instead of relief that Jacko was innocent.

It is Arthur Calgary who cracks the case. He realises that although Jacko did not actually commit the murder, he was responsible for instigating it. He had charmed Kirsten (Kirsty) Lindstrom into committing the murder on his behalf. Kirsten realised too late that Jacko did not love her and was using her.

Answer: Alistair Blunt and Gerda Grant

Gerda Grant and Alistair Blunt were married in India. Later on, Blunt entered into a bigamous marriage with Rebecca Arnholt, a very wealthy and powerful woman. Gerda was complicit in this deception. After Rebecca died, Gerda and Alistair could have "married" but by then they were enjoying the thrill of their secret life and saw no need to change the status quo.

Unfortunately, Mabelle Sainsbury Seale, who had known them in India, and was aware of their marriage, crossed paths with Blunt in London. Mabelle in turn unwittingly revealed Blunt's secret to Mr Amberiotis, who was quick to recognise an opportunity for blackmail.

Blunt realised that to keep his secret safe, he had to dispose of both Mabelle and Mr Amberiotis. In order to gain access to Mr Amberiotis, it was necessary to kill Mr Morley, the dentist.

Blunt felt that, because of his importance to the economic stability of the nation, his actions were justified and that Poirot should overlook the murders he committed. In his eyes, all his victims were expendable - because Mabelle Sainsbury Seal was a stupid woman, Mr Amberiotis an evil blackmailer, and Mr Morley was "just" a dentist and "there are other dentists". Poirot did not agree.

Answer: Frances Cary

Mary and Andrew Restarick are not who they claim to be. "Andrew Restarick" is really Robert Orwell, Andrew Restarick's former partner. Orwell may or may not have been responsible for Restarick's death overseas. His accomplice is Frances Cary who leads a double life as both Mary Restarick and Frances Cary (the second girl in the flat). The pair plan to defraud Norma Restarick of her rightful inheritance. They also dabbled in drug smuggling and art forgery.

"They used her - deliberately - worked upon her, drugged her, made her
believe that she had murdered two people. Why?" asked Ariadne Oliver. "They wanted a victim..." said Poirot.

Mary Restarick/Frances Cary carries out the murders of Louise Carpenter (also known as Louise Charpentier) and David Baker. Louise is killed because she is the only person who could have recognised that the man claiming to be Andrew Restarick is an imposter. David Baker created a fake portrait of Andrew Restarick to lend authenticity to Robert Orwell's impersonation. Baker is killed when he attempts to blackmail Orwell over the painting.

Answer: Norman Gale

Norman Gale, a dentist, is a passenger on a flight from France to England. During the flight, he murders a French money-lender, Madame Giselle, with a dart dipped in the poison of the South African boomslang snake. The suspect pool is limited to two airline stewards and ten passengers, one of whom is Hercule Poirot. But nobody saw a thing and Poirot was asleep at the time. Gale has no apparent connection to the victim, nor any obvious motive. In fact, quite the opposite - being associated with the murder is detrimental to his dental practice with many patients cancelling their appointments.

Despite this, Poirot suspects Gale fairly early on. Poirot discovers that Norman Gale is an alias. His real name is James Richards and he had secretly married Madame Giselle's daughter. His plan was to murder Madame Giselle so that her fortune would pass to his wife, then rid himself of his wife so he would inherit, leaving him free to marry fellow passenger Jane Grey. He had obtained the poison when he worked on a snake farm in South Africa.

Answer: Yahmose

This story is set in Egypt around 2000 BCE and is centred around the family of Imhotep, a mortuary or ka-priest. Yahmose is his eldest son. He wants his father to make him a partner in the family business but Imhotep is what we today call a control freak. Imhotep is unwilling to relinquish any control to his sons. The final straw came when Imhotep brings home a concubine and disinherits his sons. Yahmose rids the family of the malicious concubine, Nofret. Next to go is his wife, Satipy, who nags him endlessly about approaching his father for a partnership in the family business. Satipy goes too far when she tells him that he is a worm and she is a better man than him.

Yahmose's brother, Sobek, is the third victim, then Yamose's servant, the herd boy, because Yahmose is afraid that, if pressured, the boy would give Yahmose away. The youngest brother, Ipy, is the fifth victim. Esa, Yahmose's grandmother, suspects him and provokes him into confirming her suspicions, so she becomes the sixth victim. Victim number seven is Henet. She realises Yahmose is the killer and is foolish enough to attempt to blackmail him. She also conspires with him to kill Renisenb. After dispensing with Henet, Yahmose attempts to kill his sister, Renisenb, but Hori shoots him with an arrow to stop him, thus ending the killing spree.

This novel is second only to "And Then There Were None" in terms of body count, with eight deaths.

Answer: Letitia/Charlotte Blacklock

Before the story begins, Letitia Blacklock had been a private secretary to millionaire financier Randall Goedler, who made her the heir to his fortune, should his sickly wife predecease Letitia. However, Letitia had died unexpectedly and her sister Charlotte took her place in order to inherit.

Three murders are committed by Charlotte to try to preserve her secret and to prevent her real identity being revealed. The first to die is Rudi Scherz, a Swiss national, who had known both sisters. The second is their childhood friend, Dora Bunner, known as Bunny. Bunny knows that "Letitia" is really Charlotte but agrees that she deserves the inheritance. She promises to keep the secret but her careless tongue is too much of a danger. She keeps calling Miss Blacklock Lotty instead of Letty and Charlotte reluctantly kills Bunny to silence her. (Interestingly, this slip of the tongue is a vital clue to the mystery and is often dismissed by readers who think it is just a typographical error).

Amy Murgatroyd is the third victim when Charlotte overhears Amy telling Miss Hinchliffe that "she wasn't there". Miss Marple solves the case but realises there is no proof, so Sergeant Fletcher and Miss Marple set Charlotte up. Mitzi pretends to blackmail Charlotte, who attempts to silence Mitzi by drowning her in the kitchen sink and is thus caught red-handed.