Spinsters in Jeopardy Trivia Quiz

Answer: P.E. Garbel

Troy says she P.E. Garbel has been writing to her for some time and that she has never met this person before. The Alleyns explain to their son Ricky (who makes his debut in this novel) that Garbel clearly has an obsession with Troy. Although they are suspicious of Garbel, the Alleyns travel to Roqueville in France to visit Garbel.

This is a good excuse for Alleyn because he is investigating an international drug ring that seems to be operating from the Chateau de Chevre d'Argent nearby Roqueville.

Answer: Drugs are discovered in a passenger's luggage

From their separate rooms and out of the train window, both Alleyn and his wife witness a woman being murdered in a chateau as the train is passing by. The murderer is not identifiable but the woman is. Alleyn learns the building where this happened is the Chateau de Chevre d'Argent. Alleyn was already planning different ways to visit the chateau without revealing his true intentions. Miss Truebody's burst appendix provides the perfect cover as the only doctor nearby is Dr. Baradi who is staying at the Chateau de Chevre d'Argent. The Alleyns transport Miss Truebody there for surgery and recovery and can use her as a reason to visit repeatedly.

Ricky has a mild panic attack while on the train during the commotion. It is revealed that Ricky sometimes has these when he is left alone though he can be easily calmed down.

No drugs are discovered anywhere on the train.

Answer: Carbury Glande

Carbury Glande is a somewhat famous artist who has met Agatha Troy at several different art events. Troy does not know him well but is worried Carbury knows Alleyn is a really a policeman. The Chateau de Chevre d'Argent is owned by a M. Oberon who is a dangerous man running both a cult and a drug ring. Any blow to Alleyn's identity could be fatal. Alleyn must also worry about another guest, Annabella Wells, whom he has met before and who has a crush on him.

She knows Alleyn is a policeman and he begs her to keep silent which she does although Alleyn does not trust her.

Answer: Raoul

Raoul Milano is the Italian-French driver hired by Scotland Yard to drive the Alleyns during their stay in France. He is aware of Alleyn's identity and shares several secrets with him. Raoul's girlfriend Teresa works as a maid at the Chateau de Chevre d'Argent and she seems to be under the control of Oberon, much to Raoul's dismay. Ricky forms a strong attachment to Raoul during his vacation.

Answer: The Alleyns' hotel suite

Ricky was very tired after the train journey and the ride to the Chateau de Chevre d'Argent. Troy put him to sleep when she and he arrived back at the hotel. Ricky was kidnapped when Troy was distracted by a decoy.

Answer: P.E. Garbel's apartment

Alleyn and Troy, using binoculars, spot Ricky on the balcony of a somewhat close apartment building. Raoul tells them that that building is actually where P.E. Garbel lives. Troy had tried to visit Garbel previously but he was not home, and she left a note.

When Alleyn goes to the location, Ricky has been moved. Alleyn finds Ricky's silver goat that he carried with him after receiving it from the Marie at the Chateau de Chevre d'Argent.

Answer: Teresa

Teresa, Raoul's girlfriend, was told to go to the Alleyns' hotel room and take Ricky and bring him to P.E. Garbel's vacant apartment. Teresa was under the belief that she was to be Ricky's nanny while his parents were otherwise engaged. She didn't realize until it was too late that she was actually kidnapping him and, at that point, was too afraid to not go along with it. Raoul was aware Teresa was involved as he had seen Ricky in a car with Teresa after the kidnapping.

He related the direction the car was heading to Alleyn but kept Teresa's identity a secret until Ricky was found safe at the chemical factory.

Answer: To distract Alleyn from his task

Roqueville had been experiencing a string of kidnappings in which the culprits would demand a ransom in exchange for returning the child. However, as M. Dupont of the Surete explains those kidnappers had been arrested the morning before Ricky disappeared and the arrest was not yet announced. Thus, Ricky had to have been kidnapped by someone else who was trying to recreate those kidnappings. Alleyn explains later the whole kidnapping scheme was just a ploy to distract him from investigating the Chateau de Chevre d'Argent.

Answer: Grizel Locke

Robin had fallen in love with Ginny and was beginning to despise Oberon and his cult. He tricked Ginny into leaving the chateau before her initiation ceremony. He also worked with Alleyn and Raoul to help them infiltrate the ceremony. Robin provided the necessary robes with hoods that covered their faces and told them vague instructions. Alleyn was to take the place of Robin while Raoul was to take Ginny's place. Raoul was short with small feet so he could pass for a woman if the rest of him was covered with a robe and gloves.

During the pre-initiation meditation, Grizel Locke entered Robin's room and begged Robin (not knowing yet it was Alleyn in Robin's robe) to not let Ginny go through with it. Locke was Ginny's aunt and she did not want Ginny to suffer under the control of Oberon and his drugs. It wasn't until deep into the conversation that Grizel realized she was talking to Alleyn not Robin. She agreed to keep it a secret so as to bring Oberon and Dr. Baradi to an end.

Answer: The real Grizel Locke

Not much is said of the woman Alleyn and Troy saw murdered from the train at the beginning of the story until the end of the novel. Before Alleyn's ploy during the initiation ceremony, he was told that Miss Truebody had not recovered from her appendicitis and died. He is even shown the body by Dr. Baradi. However, Alleyn notices the dead woman has clearly been stabbed and is not Miss Truebody, despite what Baradi says.

Alleyn figures out that the dead woman is actually the real Grizel Locke. Troy saw a picture of Locke in a magazine and it was not that of the woman who claimed to be Grizel Locke at the Chateau de Chevre d'Argent. The woman pretending to be Grizel Locke is actually P.E. Garbel. The Alleyns were under the impression Garbel was a man. Garbel did not correct them in any of her letters because it made a convenient cover up. She had written to her distant cousin Agatha Troy hoping to convince her and her policeman husband to travel to France and investigate Oberon. Garbel used a secret code Alleyn did not crack until he was already in France to communicate about the drug ring run by Oberon and Baradi.

Garbel was a chemist who innocently started working at the chemical factory although she gradually became entrapped with the goings on of the Chateau de Chevre d'Argent and wanted out. The real Grizel Locke was also involved and started objecting when Oberon was trying to bring in her niece Ginny. Dr. Baradi killed Grizel Locke to keep her from exposing the drug ring which she had threatened to do if Ginny was initiated into the cult.