Night Probe Trivia Quiz

Answer: Charles Sarveux

'Sarveux looked upon himself as another Lincoln, fighting to preserve unity and keep his house from dividing'.

As this quote suggests, Canada is a nation in turmoil at the beginning of the novel, with Quebec on the verge of a split from the rest of the country. Charles Sarveux tries to prevent this. He is described as having sharp cut facial features and blue eyes in the novel.

Answer: Navy Lieutenant Commander

'The neatly tailored uniform of a navy lieutenant commander adorned a svelte body measuring six feet from manicured toenails to the roots of her naturally ash-blonde hair'.

Heidi is central to the early plot taking shape in the novel. She happens upon mention of the North American Treaty through her own study and this introduces Dirk Pitt, the main protagonist, to the plot. Heidi finds herself intimate with both Pitt and a man known now as Brian Shaw in the novel.

Answer: Helicopter

The Sky Hook is described as, 'a helicopter capable of transporting bulky equipment to the tops of high buildings and heavy equipment across rivers and mountains'.

The Sky Hook was intended to use on a project to find the wreck of a train in the novel. We find out later in the novel that they are searching in the wrong place, thanks to a crafty ploy by a character named Massey more than seventy years previous.

Answer: St. Lawrence

The luxury liner sank after a collision with a Norwegian collier called the Storstad. This is a factual event and on the 29th May 1914, 1,012 people lost their lives in what was the darkest day in Canadian maritime history. A character named Harvey Shields had a package containing a copy of the North American Treaty in the novel.

Answer: Smothered by Foss Gly

Foss Gly is actually disguised as Henri Villon when he smothers the Premier of Quebec with a pillow. He also tampered with the body to make it look like Guerrier died of natural causes. This wasn't spotted on the first post-mortem yet was on a second one, after pressure from Prime Minister Sarveux. Gly is a savage murderer throughout the novel.

Answer: They are buried alive

Danielle is the wife of Prime Minister Sarveux in the novel. Foss Gly buries them alive in a car under payment from, yes, Prime Minister Sarveux! Henri Villon was the head of an underground freedom sect that wanted an independent Quebec. Foss Gly ended up being double crossed by the Prime Minister and seemingly died in an airplane 'accident' in the novel.

Answer: Danielle

The description in the question is quite different from that of her in her last moments in the novel. Her face is bloody and she is begging for her life; a far cry from the former description. Danielle unwittingly sleeps with the murderer Foss Gly in the novel, thinking that he is Henri Villon.

Answer: British

Brian Shaw is the name we are given for the character, not his real name due to his younger work days as a British secret agent. When we first meet him in the novel he is happily retired but is later convinced to take a dangerous spy job involving the possible existence of the North American Treaty on behave of Britain. This leads him to trail of Heidi Milligan, and of course Dirk Pitt.

Answer: The Manhattan Limited

Not to be confused with a real train of the same name, the Manhattan Limited in the novel supposedly crashed through a bridge and into a river on the same night as the Empress of Ireland sunk. In the novel, a character named Richard Essex was carrying a copy of the North American Treaty with him.

The train was not in the river but eventually found in an old disused underground mine that had caved in on itself.

Answer: He drives away in his car

Pitt says farewell to Heidi in the last chapter as she is in love with Brian Shaw, and not him. Shaw, it is presumed, gets on a plane with Heidi. Pitt simply drives away in a classic convertible car called a Cobra.

'Pitt tightened his grip on the wheel, pressed the accelerator to the floor and watched the tachometer needle as it crept slowly into the red'.