The Agatha Christie Spoiler Quiz 2

Answer: Dr Quimper

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In "4.50 from Paddington", the murderer is the Crackenthorpe family's physician, Dr Quimper (the author did not give him a first name). He wants to marry Emma Crackenthorpe with a view to financial gain via her future inheritance. Unfortunately, he has a wife who refuses to divorce him as she is a devout Catholic. He murders his wife and then begins to eliminate the other heirs to the Crackenthorpe estate. He manages to kill two of Emma's siblings before Miss Marple unmasks him.

It is interesting that quite a few of Agatha Christie's killers happen to be doctors. According to the British Medical Journal (14.12.2010), an analysis of her works reveals that "where the occupation of the murderer is known, doctors make up the largest group".

Answer: Jane Wilkinson

***SPOILER ALERT***

Jane Wilkinson sees the potential for ridding herself of her husband, Lord Edgware, after witnessing an extraordinarily talented impressionist, Carlotta Adams, do an impersonation of her. She enlists the aid of Carlotta to allegedly play a prank by impersonating her at a dinner party. In reality she is providing herself with a seemingly cast-iron alibi for the murder of her husband. She arranges things to appear as if Carlotta Adams murdered Lord Edgware while disguised as Jane Wilkinson, then murders Carlotta to prevent her revealing her role in the deception to anyone else. Circumstances necessitate a third murder - that of Donald Ross, a guest at the dinner party.

The character of Carlotta Adams was inspired by an American actress, Ruth Draper. In her autobiography, Agatha Christie stated, "I thought how clever she was and how good her impersonations were; the wonderful way she could transform herself from a nagging wife to a peasant girl kneeling in a cathedral. Thinking about her led me to the book 'Lord Edgware Dies'."

Answer: Ann Shapland and Miss Chadwick

***SPOILER ALERT***

Although there are two murderers in this novel, Ann Shapland is the real villain. Three school teachers are murdered at Meadowbank, a prestigious girls' school. The first and third murders are committed by Ann Shapland in her hunt for a fortune in jewels which went missing three months earlier during a revolution in the fictional country of Ramat. On the surface, she appears to be a very efficient secretary with excellent credentials. In reality, she is a very dangerous intelligence agent and killer, code-named Angelica. However, she had a cast iron alibi for the second murder, the killing of Miss Vansittart. That murder was committed by Miss Chadwick and was not premeditated. She was jealous of Miss Vansittart and gave in to an impulse when the opportunity presented itself.

Answer: Nigel Chapman

***SPOILER ALERT***

Nigel Chapman resides at a student hostel in Hickory Road. He is involved in an international smuggling ring, along with Mrs Nicoletis, his landlady/owner of the hostel, and fellow resident, Valerie Hobhouse. When a series of bizarre and petty thefts threatens the smuggling operation, Nigel murders Celia Austin to prevent her revealing that she had seen him cutting up a rucksack and the fact that she knew who he really was - Nigel Stanley, son of Sir Arthur Stanley, a famous research chemist. He subsequently murdered Mrs Nicoletis when he discovered that she drank--he was afraid that she could not be trusted to keep her mouth shut if placed under pressure. He murdered Patricia Lane for meddling in his affairs. Nigel's father was dying and Patricia was insisting that Nigel should be reconciled with his father before it was too late. What Patricia did not know was that the estrangement between Nigel and his father was because his father knew that Nigel had murdered his mother.

Answer: Nevile Strange

***SPOILER ALERT***

Nevile Strange was a man who appeared to have it all -- he excelled at sport, "had magnificent health, good looks, plenty of money, an extremely beautiful wife...and, to all appearances, no cares or worries." But beneath his calm and pleasant demeanour, he was a bitter, mentally unstable man who wanted revenge on the wife who had left him for another man. He intended to set her up for a murder she did not commit in order to see her hang. Superintendent Battle realised he did not have enough evidence against Nevile, but managed to goad him into a confession.

Nevile was responsible for a number of deaths. In addition to the murder of Lady Camilla Tressilian, it is hinted that Nevile may have been responsible for the death of Adrian Royle, the man his wife was going to run away with. When Mr Treves told a story after dinner about a child killer, thus letting Nevile know that he had recognised him, Nevile also arranged his death by placing an "out of order" sign on the hotel lift. This caused Mr Treves to have a heart attack when he climbed the stairs to his room.

Answer: Miss Gilchrist

***SPOILER ALERT***

Miss Gilchrist was Cora Lansquenet's paid companion and housekeeper. (The author did not give her a first name). She dreamed of leaving her life of servitude and owning a tea-shop. Cora had acquired a valuable Vermeer painting but did not recognise it as such. Miss Gilchrist knew that selling that painting would finance her dream but she realised that, if she murdered Cora, she would be the most obvious suspect. When Cora's brother, Richard, died, Miss Gilchrist saw it as a unique opportunity to kill Cora where she could divert suspicion away from herself and towards the members of the Abernethie family.

Answer: Dr Eric Leidner

***SPOILER ALERT***

Dr Eric Leidner murdered his wife, Louise, and his assistant, Anne Johnson. Dr Leidner was passionately devoted to Louise but became aware of her growing feelings for Richard Carey. He decided that he would kill her rather than risk losing her to another man. Dr Leidner appeared to have a water-tight alibi for the time of the murder but Anne Johnson realised how he had accomplished it and, in doing so, signed her own death warrant. Dr Leidner replaced the glass of water by her bedside with hydrochloric acid, resulting in a horribly painful death.

Answer: Nurse Jessie Hopkins

***SPOILER ALERT***

Nurse Jessie Hopkins is revealed by Poirot to be Mary Gerrard's aunt, Mary Riley. Mary Gerrard was unaware of who Nurse Hopkins really was. Nurse Hopkins's motivation was money. She knew that Mary Gerrard was actually the illegitimate daughter of Laura Welman, the result of an affair with a married man. Mary Gerrard was unaware of her parentage. Nurse Hopkins murdered Laura Welman and framed Elinor Carlisle, who had inherited her aunt's fortune. Nurse Hopkins then persuaded Mary Gerrard to make a will in favour of her aunt, Mary Riley (herself). She then killed Mary Gerrard and planned to reveal Mary's parentage so that she would in turn inherit Laura's estate.

Answer: Lady Westholme

***SPOILER ALERT***

Lady Westholme, a well-known English politician, murdered the evil Mrs Boynton to prevent details of her criminal past coming to light and thereby ruining her career and social status. Lady Westholme, previously Mrs Vansittart in America, had been incarcerated in the prison in which Mrs Boynton was a wardress.

In his book "The Life and Crimes of Agatha Christie", Charles Osborne postulates that Lady Westholme, a character described as "much respected and almost universally disliked", is based on Lady Astor, Britain's first female MP in the House of Commons. Both were Americans who married into British aristocracy and were elected to the British Parliament. Furthermore, Dr Gerard, the French psychologist, commented that Lady Westholme deserved to be poisoned and said "It is incredible to me that she has had a husband for many years and that he has not already done so". This may be an oblique reference to a popular but unverifiable story whereby Lady Astor allegedly said to Winston Churchill, "If I were your wife, I would put poison in your coffee/tea", to which Churchill replied, "If I were your husband, I would drink it".

Answer: Rowena Drake and Michael Garfield

***SPOILER ALERT***.

During the preparations for a Hallowe'en party organised by Rowena Drake, 13-year-old Joyce Reynolds boasts that she witnessed a murder but claims that, at the time, she did not realise it was a murder. Joyce was lying and had no way of knowing that she had effectively signed her own death warrant. She was drowned in a bucket of water by Rowena Drake at the party. Her brother Leopold is also drowned when he attempts to blackmail Rowena.

The murder that Joyce claimed she witnessed was that of Olga Seminoff, Mrs Llewellyn-Smythe's au pair. The motive was the wealth that Rowena stood to inherit upon Mrs Llewellyn-Smythe's death. Michael "cultivated" both Rowena and Olga in the hopes of accessing the money to fund his wish to purchase a Greek island to transform into a beautiful garden.

Leslie Ferrier, a solicitor's clerk, is also murdered for the role he played in forging a codicil to Mrs Llewellyn-Smythe's will, indicating that Olga was to inherit her estate.

Rowena and Michael were working together but, apart from the murder of Joyce, it is not revealed whether it was Michael or Rowena who actually murdered Leopold, Lesley Ferrier or Olga Seminoff.

In addition, although it is not explicitly stated, there is the suggestion that Michael and Rowena may also have been responsible for the death of Rowena's husband, Hugo, and her aunt, Mrs Llewellyn-Smythe, as neither of their deaths are explained in the novel.