Glimpsed Again: Recurring Supporting Characters Quiz

Answer: Nemesis

Jason Rafiel is a rather eccentric millionaire who spends his holidays on the island of St. Honoré at the same time as Miss Marple. When a murder occurs, he and Miss Marple team up to solve the case.
Mr. Rafiel is rude and abrasive but has a sharp mind and highly respects Miss Marple. Years after the events in the Caribbean he dies and leaves Miss Marple a substantial sum of money, on the condition that she embarks on a quest for him and proves once again that she is indeed "Nemesis" - the Greek goddess of revenge.
The fact that Miss Marple comes into money at the end of "Nemesis" and the entire atmosphere of the novel support the impression that "Nemesis" is the real conclusion of the Miss Marple series, rather than "Sleeping Murder", which was written much earlier but deliberately withheld from publication until after Agatha Christie's death.

Answer: "The Moving Finger" and "The Pale Horse"

"The Pale Horse" is unique insofar that there are four characters in it who previously appeared in a Christie series: Mrs. Dane Calthrop, who met Miss Marple in "The Moving Finger"; Rhoda and Major Despard, who worked with Poirot in "Cards on the Table"; and Mrs. Ariadne Oliver in one of her two non-Poirot books (the other being "Parker Pyne Investigates").
Mrs. Dane Calthrop is described as quite an original person whose trains of thought are sometimes hard to follow. But she inspires trust and can provide unusual insights. Both Jerry Burton (in "The Moving Finger") and Mark Easterbrook (in "The Pale Horse") turn to her for help at some point.
Other Christie characters who appear both in a series and in standalone books include Superintendent Battle ("The Secret of Chimneys", "The Seven Dials Mystery", "Murder Is Easy", "Toward Zero", and "Cards on the Table" with Poirot); Colonel Johnny Race ("The Man in the Brown Suit", "Sparkling Cynanide", and twice with Poirot in "Death on the Nile" and "Cards on the Table); and Miss Felicity Lemon (who worked for Parker Pyne before she became Poirot's secretary). The sleepy Colonel Pikeaway, a high-ranking secret service agent, takes it even one step further: he appears in a Poirot novel ("Cat Among the Pigeons"), a Miss Marple novel ("At Bertram's Hotel"), a Tommy and Tuppence novel ("Postern of Fate"), and a standalone novel ("Passenger to Frankfurt"), often accompanied by his trusted colleague, the enigmatic Mr. Robinson (who is described in "Cat Among the Pigeons" as not having the looks of a "Mr. Robinson" at all).

Answer: Cat Among the Pigeons

Julia Upjohn, a schoolgirl, is the one to bring Poirot into the investigation of the events at her school, Meadowbank. In the scene described above, she and Poirot commiserate over Maureen's cooking, but Julia points out that Maureen makes a wonderful omelette. Poirot proudly tells her that it was he who taught Maureen how to make it.

Answer: Carrie Gardener

Mrs. Gardener, who likes to talk a lot, chats with Poirot about the "Death on the Nile" case, mentioning that she and her husband visited Cornelia and Dr. Bessner in Austria before they came to England. Cornelia told her all about the murder of Linnet Doyle and Poirot's successful investigation of it.

Answer: Hallowe'en Party

After Joyce Reynolds has been murdered, Poirot tries to find out more about the girl. This turns out to be not an easy task, as Joyce was a rather unpleasant child, but people are naturally reluctant to say so, seeing as she is dead.
In the course of his investigation, Poirot talks to Miss Emlyn, the headmistress of Joyce's school, and a brief exchange about Mrs. Bulstrode and Meadowbanks serves to open their conversation.

Answer: The Mystery of the Blue Train

Rufus van Aldin is the father of the murder victim in this novel.
"The Mystery of the Blue Train" is an extension of the earlier Poirot story "The Plymouth Express" (although names and details have been changed). It also marks the first appearance of both Mr. Goby (the private investigator whose help Poirot sometimes enlists) and George, Poirot's valet.
Agatha Christie was very unhappy with this book.

Answer: The Pale Horse

In "Cards on the Table", Rhoda is best friends with one of the four murder suspects. She falls in love with Major Despard (another of the four suspects), and obviously got married to him between the two books in which she appears.
In "The Pale Horse", we learn that she is the cousin of Mark Easterbrook, the narrator, and still on friendly terms with Mrs. Oliver, whom she met in "Cards on the Table".

Answer: "A Caribbean Affair" and "Nemesis"

Esther Walters is the private secretary of Jason Rafiel. He leaves her some money when he dies, and she meets Miss Marple again in "Nemesis", while Miss Marple is on a quest for Mr. Rafiel.
They have a slightly uneasy conversation, carefully avoiding any details about the events in the Caribbean, but they part on friendly terms.

Answer: Lord Caterham and Eileen "Bundle" Brent

Lord Caterham is probably one of the funniest creations of the Queen of Crime: stoic, wry, scatterbrained and seemingly permanently miserable about everything while in reality quite happy and content with his life. Lord Caterham's antics are a constant source of amusement especially in "The Seven Dials Mystery", where the exchanges between him and his daughter as well as him and George "Codders" Lomax ( who also appears in "Chimneys") are among the comical highlights of that book.
Bundle, on the other hand, is witty and impulsive and is a Christie heroine in the tradition of Anne Beddingfeld ("The Man in the Brown Suit"), Emily Trefusis ("The Sittaford Mystery"), Frankie Derwent ("Why Didn't They Ask Evans?") or, indeed, Tuppence Beresford.
Another character who makes an appearance in both novels is Bill Eversleigh, whom Bundle eventually marries.

Answer: She implies that she knows what really happened on the Orient Express

Nadine asks Poirot if he could possibly tell the authorities that Mrs. Boynton's death was an accident, thus sparing her family the scandal and suspicion of murder. When Poirot refuses, she argues that she heard Poirot accepted the official version of what happened on the Orient Express. Given that only the people on the train knew the truth, one of the passengers must have trusted her enough to tell her.
Poirot responds to her comment by wondering aloud who it was who told her that. Nadine does not mention a name, though.