Why? Trivia Quiz

Answer: His assistant/secretary Gladys was on a leave

A hoax telegram was sent to Miss Nevill stating that her aunt had a stroke. It was meant to keep her away for that day. Morley, of course, didn't know that, but guessed that the telegram was a bogus telegram so that Miss Nevill and her fiancé, Frank Carter, could spend some time and felt angry.

Answer: He had accidentally killed a patient by using an overdose of medicine

Amberiotis was a blackmailer and the likely candidate for killing Morley. When the police went to investigate him, however, they found that he was also dead. The reason for his death was given as an overdose of two anaesthetics used by dentists. The police put forward the theory that Morley committed this mistake, realized it and hence committed suicide.

Answer: Morley was offered a bribe to kill Alistair Blunt, which he refused

Mr Barnes stated that it was common knowledge that a large group of people wanted to kill Mr Blunt, and stated that he would be very vulnerable in a dentist's chair. Morley must have been offered the job, but was killed after he refused to do so. He gave three more instances of such happenings.

Answer: No; she wished to know if Howard Raikes was involved in the case

Miss Olivera had other reasons for calling on Poirot. She had arranged a meeting between Howard Raikes, the man she loved, and her uncle at Mr Morley's chamber on that fateful day. She wanted to know if Mr Raikes was involved in the case in any way. She had expected something to happen to Mr Blunt, as Mr Raikes had different political ideals than Mr Blunt and was quite violent, and not something to happen to Mr Morley.

She even remarked, "Absurd", on hearing that Mr Morley was dead.

Answer: Mrs Albert Chapman

The face of Miss Sainsbury Seale was smashed beyond recognition. This puzzled Poirot, who asked for more proof to identify the body. Coincidentally, both the flat owner, Mrs Chapman, and Miss Sainsbury Seale, went to the same dentist, Mr Morley. His successor, Dr Leatheran, compared the dental records of the two women and identified the dead woman to be Mrs Chapman, not Miss Sainsbury Seale.

Answer: True

In the penultimate chapter, while explaining the case, Poirot mentions that it was another clever move by Mr Blunt. The phone warned Poirot against accepting the proposal of Mr Blunt. It gave the idea that this whole business of murder was to get rid of Mr Blunt, and not that he was the mastermind behind it. Gerda, the wife of Mr Blunt, was an actress. To disguise her voice, she imitated the voice of Mrs Olivera during the call, which greatly puzzled Poirot until he saw the light through quite a different path.

Answer: She had a very good memory for faces

Alistair Blunt was already married when he married Rebecca Arnold, and was guilty of bigamy. When they were in India, Miss Sainsbury Seale worked with his wife, Gerda, and now recognized Alistair Blunt again. The little information given by Miss Olivera helped Poirot to realize this point.

He remembered from Miss Olivera's statement that Miss Sainsbury Seale had met Alistair Blunt a few months back. During that meeting, she had claimed to be a friend of Mr Blunt's wife, who could most certainly not be a woman of high status like Rebecca Arnold. Miss Sainsbury Seale was killed to preserve this secret.

Answer: There were two Mabelle Sainsbury Seales; one real, one fake

Poirot realized that there were two Miss Sainsbury Seales: one, the woman from Kolkata who had recognized Alistair Blunt, and the other was Mrs Chapman, real wife of Alistair Blunt, co-worker of Miss Sainsbury Seale. On Miss Sainsbury Seale's first visit to the flat of Miss Chapman, she was killed to preserve the secret and Gerda (Mrs Chapman) took her place. Poirot and Japp met her, not the real Miss Sainsbury Seale. Now the mystery of Morley's murder was clear: as he was dead, he couldn't compare the dental evidence himself; his successor gave the evidence based on switched records of the two women.

It seemed that Mrs Chapman had died, while it was the body of Miss Sainsbury Seale in the flat of Leopold Mansions all along.

Answer: Helen Montressor

In the penultimate chapter, in which Poirot explains the case, we come to know that the real Helen Montressor had died seven years ago. Alistair Blunt took advantage of this fact and kept his real wife, Gerda, disguised as her. She also played the roles of Mrs Chapman and the fake Mabelle Sainsbury Seale to perfection.

Answer: Alistair Blunt

Alistair Blunt killed Morley and pretended to be him when Amberiotis came in. Amberiotis knew about Mr Blunt's secret from Miss Sainsbury Seale, and it was necessary to kill him to stop his blackmail. Blunt killed him with the overdose. It was a perfect plan - the deaths cancelled each other out.

He would have gotten away scot free, if it wasn't for Hercule Poirot and his "little grey cells".