Match the Hercule Poirot Case to the Culprit Quiz

Answer: Jane Wilkinson

Jane Wilkinson was an American actress and second wife to Lord Edgware. However, his harsh personality led to them being estranged. Jane fell in love with the Duke of Merton but could not marry him, since he was a devout Roman Catholic and would not agree to wed a divorcee. Thus, when she sees another American actress parodying her she crafts a devious plan to murder her husband by offering the other actress a huge monetary reward if she agreed to play her part at a dinner party.

The other actress did as she was bidden and Jane, having prepared her alibi, murdered Lord Edgware. Later, she went on to meet her ignorant partner, seemingly to give her the promised reward, but with the intention to kill her as well, something she accomplished with the use of Veronal.

Answer: Dr. James Sheppard

James Sheppard was the village doctor at King's Abbot. A year before the titular murder, Sheppard had attended Ashley Ferrars and came to suspect that his wife had poisoned him, an assumption in which he was correct. Eager to use his knowledge to gain money, he started blackmailing the widow, ultimately causing her to commit suicide. Yet, just before taking her own life, Mrs. Ferrars had told her love interest, Roger Ackroyd, about her blackmailer, prompting Sheppard to assassinate the man.

Answer: Elsa Greer

Elsa Greer was a young lady who posed as a model for painter Amyas Crale and, for a short while, became his mistress. Being madly in love with the painter, Elsa hoped that he would set his wife aside and marry her. However, the man had a habit of taking women to his bed and discarding them as soon as they did not serve his artisitc inspirations anymore. Unable to stand the thought of losing him, Elsa murdered Amyas.

Initially, she managed to walk away free, since the evidence seemed to implicate the painter's wife, Caroline, who was sent to prison and died there. Yet, sixteen years later, Hercule Poirot manages to find the truth.

Answer: Robin Upward

Robin's true name was Evelyn Hope, a unisex name in England. His real mother was Eva Kane, a woman who had an affair with a married man and inspired him to brutally kill his wife. Evelyn was adopted by Mrs. Upward and given the name Robin. It seemed that his identity would never be revealed, but Mrs McGinty saw a photo of his real mother at a time she was in the Upward house and Robin killed her, so that she would not tell anyone.

He also stole Mrs. McGinty's savings, hoping to frame her lodger, James Bentley.

His adoptive mother planned to confront him, which prompted him to murder her as well.

Answer: Nigel Chapman

Nigel Chapman had, years before the events of the main story, poisoned his own mother using medinal and later, when he settled at the hostel in Hickory Road, got involved with a smuggling ring led by the hosteller, Mrs. Nicoletis. In his smuggling endeavours he cooperated with another student who resided in the same hostel, Valerie Hobhouse. Unfortunately for him, the girl Celia Austin had some knowledge about his past, prompting him to murder her.

He also murdered Mrs. Nicoletis, because she would tell everything to the police about the smuggling operations if she was caught, thus enraging his partner, since Valerie was, in fact, Mrs. Nicoletis' daughter.

Answer: Ann Shapland

Ann Shapland was a ruthless spy and mercenary known with the codename "Angelica". While at the Middle Eastern kingdom of Ramat, which was torn apart by a rebellion, she saw the pilot of Prince Ali Yusuf, Bob Rawlinson, hide some precious gems in a tennis racket, which he found in his sister's luggage and which belonged to his niece.

However, Bob's sister sends her daughter in the prep school Meadowbank, where Shapland is employed as a secretary by the headmistress and where the Prince's cousin is studying. Subsequently, while attempting to find the jewels, Shapland kills the gym teacher Grace Springer, who was closely examining the locker rooms of the girls, as well as the French teacher, because she attempted to blackmail her.

Answer: Charles Cartwright

When he was young, Charles Cartwright had been married, but his wife was later sent to a mental asylum, meaning that Charles could not divorce her. Thus, when he fell in love with Hermione "Egg" Lytton Gore, he could not marry her, because he would violate the law. Yet, Charles was aware that only his childhood friend, Dr. Strange, knew about his marriage. Thus, he conceived a devious plot to kill him by poison and then switch the glass without being observed. But, since he had been a theater actor, he would not feel sure unless committing a dress rehearsal, which he did at a dinner party in his house, killing Reverend Babbington, who was completely innocent.

After a time span, he succeeds in murdering Strange with the same method and later kills Mrs. De Rushbridger, a patient in Strange's clinic, because she had sent a telegram to Hercule Poirot and Cartwright feared that the information she was about to give the great detective would ruin his scheme.

Answer: Superintendent Sugden

Superintendent Sugden was an illegitimate child of Simeon Lee, fathered when the latter was still in South Africa. Sugden hated his father for abandoning his mother. Thus, years later, when Simeon Lee summons all his family members in his home, Sugden manages to get his vengeance, by slitting his father's throat.

Answer: Nurse Jessie Hopkins

Jessie Hopkins was an alias of Mary Riley, whose married name was Mary Draper. Mary Riley had been told by her sister, Eliza Gerrard, that Mary Gerrard was actually the illegitimate daughter of the rich widow Laura Welman. Laura had taken Mary Gerrard as her protegee, but decided to leave her estate to her niece, Elinor Carlisle. Elinor provides a substantial amount of money for Mary Gerrard and Mary Riley, under the name of Jessie Hopkins, persuades Mary to make a will, in which the young girl leaves as beneficiary the woman she thinks that is her aunt, Mary Riley herself. Subsequently, Riley poisons Mary Gerrard, making it seem that Elinor was the perpetrator, in order to take all the money for herself.

Answer: Jacqueline de Bellefort

Jacqueline de Bellefort was a close friend of the wealthy heiress Linnet Ridgeway, but was poor herself. Jacqueline fell in love with a young man named Simon Doyle and took him with her the next time she visted her friend. Linnet was attracted to Simon, and Jacqueline conceived a plan that would lead in her obtaining Linnet's fortune. Simon pretended to fall madly in love with Linnet and ended up marrying her. Subsequently, when they embarked on a voyage to Egypt for their honeymoon, Jacqueline stalked them all the way to their destination and boarded the same ship with them. One night on board, she proceeded to tell another passenger, Cornelia Robson, about her romance with Simon.

He then attempted to calm her down and she drew her pistol, shooting him in the leg. (In fact, Simon just pretended to be shot and sprayed red ink on his leg, so that it would seem that he was bleeding.) After that, she broke down in hysterics and a nurse escorted her to her cabin, staying with her all night.

As soon as everyone had left, Simon rushed to his wife's cabin and shot her in the head. Then, he returned to the main hall and really shoot himself in the leg, so that, when the doctor came, he would really be incapacitated. Unfortunately, Linnet's maid had seen Simon rushing to Linnet's cabin and blackmailed the conspirators. Jacqueline pretended to be eager to give money to the blackmailer, but then she fatally stabbed the other woman. Yet, in another strike of fate, Jacqueline was seen entering the maid's room by another passenger, Mrs. Otterbourne. Otterbourne ran to Simon Doyle's cabin, believing that Simon would want to know who killed his wife, but as she was about to reveal what she saw, she was shot dead by Jacqueline.