Sleeping Murder (1976) Trivia Quiz

Answer: Gwenda (Halliday) Reed

Newlywed Gwenda Reed buys a house and subsequently experiences a series of "worrying experiences". She thinks she is going mad and confides her fears to Miss Marple, who assists her to realise that, as a child, Gwenda witnessed a murder in the house and that the "worrying experiences" were actually childhood memories.

Answer: Miss Jane Marple

Miss Marple tries to dissuade Gwenda and Giles Reed from investigating the mysterious death that Gwenda witnessed, but to no avail. She is worried that, not only might they uncover skeletons in the family closet that would distress them, but they might also provoke a murderer to kill again.

She told Dr Haydock that she was worried about the Reeds as they were "very young and inexperienced and much too trusting and credulous".

Answer: Giles Reed

When Miss Marple advises Giles to let well alone, he tells her, "Hillside is our house, Gwenda's and mine, and someone was murdered in that house, or so we believe. I'm not going to stand for murder in my house and do nothing about it, even if it is eighteen years ago".

Answer: Dr Haydock

Miss Marple sends for Dr Haydock, claiming she is over-tired and run down. She is not very subtle in her attempts to manipulate Dr Haydock into prescribing sea air. When he discovers the reason why, he orders her to "let the whole thing alone", but he knows her well enough to know that she is unlikely to heed his advice.

Answer: Helen Spenlove (Kennedy) Halliday

Gwenda had childhood memories of seeing the murder of Helen, but didn't know who Helen was until Giles applied to Somerset House and obtained the marriage certificate for Gwenda's father, Kelvin James Halliday, and Helen Spenlove Kennedy. Thus Gwenda discovered that Helen was her stepmother.

Answer: Dr James Kennedy

Dr Kennedy was considerably older than his half-sister Helen. He raised Helen after her parents died and was quite possessive about her. He said he believed Helen ran away with someone, and told Gwenda and Giles that he had no knowledge of the circumstances regarding her disappearance. "I was always a strait-laced sort of fellow -- a believer in marital fidelity.

Helen wouldn't have wanted me to know what was going on. I'd heard rumours -- one does -- but there was no mention of any particular name."

Answer: Walter Fane

Walter Fane went to Ceylon to manage a tea plantation. Helen traveled to India to marry him but, on the boat on the way out there, she fell in love with a married man and had an affair. She realised she could not marry Walter under the circumstances. When she arrived, she terminated the engagement and wired her brother for the money to return home.

Answer: Major Richard Erskine

On the journey to India, Helen met Major Richard Erskine and they fell in love. Unfortunately, he was a married man with children and both Helen and Richard realised that their relationship did not have a future.

Major Erskine explained to Gwenda that "it wasn't - I want to make that quite clear - just the usual shipboard love-affair. It was serious. We were both - well - shattered by it. And there wasn't anything to be done. I couldn't let Janet and the children down. Helen saw it the same way as I did. If it had been only Janet - but there were the boys. It was all hopeless. We agreed to say good-bye and try and forget".

Answer: Jackie (J.J.) Afflick

The general consensus of opinion was that Helen was a cut above Jackie Afflick and that Jackie had ideas above his station in life. Some of the comments made about him by other characters include:
"A nasty pushing fellow. Always determined to get on, I imagine. Probably why he took up with Helen Kennedy in the first place. Doctor's daughter and all that -- thought it would better his social position" (Mrs Eleanor Fane).
"He wasn't any class, Jackie Afflick. And he was the kind that's too sharp by half. Cut themselves in the end, that kind do" (Mr Manning, the Reed's gardener).
"He was a miserable little rat...I thought the fellow was a wrong 'un. As he proved to be" (Dr James Kennedy).

Answer: Lily (Abbott) Kimble

Lily sees Giles and Gwenda's advertisement and wonders if there might be a financial gain if she answers it. Unfortunately, she ignores her husband's advice to "leave it be" and decides to write to Dr Kennedy for advice. Her observations regarding Helen's missing clothing ultimately leads to her murder.