Characters

CHARACTER LIST 1. ** Miss Letitia "Letty" Blacklock ** is a sixty year old woman who is the head of her house, Little Paddocks. Her house is the location of the "murder announcement" early in the book. She is the victim of several attempted murders. She is also supposed to inherit a large amount of money from Sonia Goedler, a fact key to the case. She is generally calm, but tough and practical. She has a tendency to overreact randomly, but this may be attributed to her old age. She is thought of very highly among the community, though no one other than Dora Bunner knew her before she moved to Chipping Cleghorn.
 * == The Important Ones ==

2. ** Miss Dora Bunner (Bunny) ** is one of Miss Blacklock’s good friends as they had gone to school together. According to Miss Blacklock, Dora had many desirable qualities, but now has many troubles as life has been “unkind” to her. Hearing about her hardships, Miss Blacklock invited her to stay at Little Paddocks. However, Bunny is a pain to have around the house because she is extremely scatter-brained due to her age. Bunny loves Miss Blacklock as a dear friend.

3.  **Mitzi** is a cook and servant living at Little Paddocks. She is from Eastern Europe and was persecuted during the war. She watched at least one of her family members die. As a result, during the novel she is scared and wary of police, with an overall paranoia that seems to be over-the-top to the reader. To our ears, she seems more than a little bit crazy. Police/detectives tend not to trust her because she is foreign (and crazy). She is, however, a great cook, best known for the cake that Patrick dubbed “Delicious Death.”

4. **Miss Marple ** is an acquaintance of Craddock, seemingly because they had worked together on a previous case. She presents a useful piece of evidence regarding the hold-up to allow the case--which would have been closed--to remain open and, you know, give the book more than 100 pages. Also, as an older person herself, she knows a lot about the way old peoples’ minds work, a valuable set of skills for the case. Ultimately, Miss Marple is pivotal in cracking the case.

5. ** Julia Simmons ** is introduced as "looking bored," and this is a stance she maintains throughout the book (13). She is cool and collected, blase towards many responses of various kinds, mocking in her suspect interview how the guests arrived and said the same things in turn concerning the central heating and the chrysanthemums. She and her brother, Patrick Simmons, are to inherit the Goedler fortune if it is recieved by Miss Blacklock after Dora Bunner. They are living at Little Paddocks with Miss Blacklock.

6. **Patrick Simmons** is the brother of Julia Simmons and a resident of Little Paddocks. He is a jokester, he himself admitting to sending Mitzi "a postcard saying the Gestapo was on her track" (53). Patrick is known for his mischievous and malicious personality. For this reason he is the first accused for putting the murder announcement advertisement in the newspaper. He told Inspector Craddock that he "gets blamed for everything" at Little Paddocks. He also a posses a more serious, reasonable side and is later overheard fighting with Julia by Miss Dora Bunner.

7. **Phillipa Haymes** is a gardener at Dayas who lives with Miss Blacklock at Little Paddocks. She is a widow with an eight year old who is away at school and comes home for the holidays. She is overheard having a secretive conversation out by the greenhouse by Mitzi. Her husband is said to have died in the war, but turns out to have been a deserter. She swears to Edmund Swettenham after he makes advances to her that she won't marry again.

8. ** Colonel "Archie" (Archibald?) Easterbrook and Mrs. Laura Easterbrook ** are quite the dynamic duo. Colonel Easterbrook is taken with the idea of India because he once lived there. Laura Easterbrook fawns upon the colonel, seeming to think his word and judgement is law. He is several years her senior. Miss Marple compares her to another couple, saying she was "young enough to be his daughter," and there was "no idea where she came from--except what she told him, of course" (125).

9. ** Mrs. Swettenham ** is a rather gossipy woman and the mother of Edmund Swettenham. She cares very much for Edmund and is concerned for his overall well being including his career. She seems to love drama. When describing the 'murder' scene from chapter 3 she says "Oh, I've never enjoyed anything so much" (61). She seems to be a bit ditzy.

10. ** Edmund Swettenham ** is a good natured young man who claims to be "writing a book" (3). His mother is Mrs. Swettenham. He enjoys reading a communist newspaper entitled //The Daily Worker.// He is infatuated with the young widow Phillipa Haymes and tries to convince her to marry him. Towards the end of the book it is revealed he has written a play entitled //Elephants Do Forget.// Towards the end of the book, he tries to help Inspector Craddock find the murderer.

11. ** Miss Hinchliffe (Hinch) ** is closely bonded to her dear friend Miss Murgatroyd, whom she lives with. Hinch is described as a bit mannish, her hair is in a short crop, she stands in a manlike stance by the fire at the shooting, and is determined to muddle through the shooting mystery in a businesslike a straightforward manner associated with men detectives of the era.

12. **Miss Amy Murgatroyd** lives with Miss Hinchliffe in a cottage. She is "fat and amiable" with a "curly bird's-nest of gray hair" (7). She is a bit resistant in Miss Hinchcliffe's efforts to consider the 'murder' episode, insisting she can't remember much, although she was the only member of the group not dazzled by the flashlight. She was lucky enough to be standing behind the door during the incident, blocking the direct light from her eyes.

13. ** Mrs. Harmon ** is the wife of the Reverend Julian Harmon. Mrs. Harmon is the type of person who is always happy and full of energy, she describes her routine as "'I get up at half past six and light the boiler and rush round like a steam-engine, and by eight it's all done" (9). She seems intelligent enough, though she would never say it, and she is always talking, though this may be a nervous habit. She is known by close friends, and her husband as "Bunch" and is friendly to everyone, even Craddock when he comes to inquire about the murder. She tells Craddock that she "'...shan't be any help to you, because I shut my eyes. I hate being dazzled'" (66).

14. ** Rudi Scherz ** is an essential character to the novel and a key piece of evidence to the overall mystery. After the incident at Little Paddocks occurred, Rudi is found dead on the scene. This character is presumed to be the cause of all the chaos and it is believed to post the advertisement in the paper. It is discovered that he is from Swiss background and is no more than a con artist and a shoplifter. He then fled the country and took up a job at the Royal Spa hotel. The intent of Rudi Scherz's intrusion to Little Paddocks is unknown, did he want Miss Blacklock dead or was he trying to rob the house? Did he commit suicide or was he intentionally murdered? These are all the questions that fuel the mystery that takes place in the novel.

15. ** Belle Goedler ** is the wife of the deceased millionaire Randall Goedler. Miss Blacklock served as a secretary to Randall and helped him in a time of need. Due to this, Randall passed his fortune over to Miss Blacklock right after his wife Belle. Belle lives in Scotland and Miss Blacklock states that she is a very sweet person. Belle is known to be very ill, and her health is rapidly declining, meaning that Miss Blacklock will receive the inheritance quite soon. If Miss Blacklock were to die the fortune would go to Randall Goedlers sisters children, Pip and Emma. Goedler was not fond of his sister due to her choice of marriage, therefore sending the inheritance to either Belle, Miss Blacklock, Pip, or Emma. There is a clear desire to obtain the fortune and is the fuel that provokes the motive of the mystery.

16. **Detective Inspector Dermot Eric Craddock** is the lead detective on the scene in Clipping Cleghorn. He is in charge of the preliminary questionings of all the characters, and soon comes to be very familiar with the little town. He briefly leaves Clipping Cleghorn to visit Belle Goedler and leaves Sergeant Fletcher in charge. He is very good at putting together clues, but often follows the wrong trail (and takes the reader along with him). Eventually, he is able to solve the case with the help of Miss Marple. He seems smart, but any notable personality given to him is masked by his significance in information.

17. **Sergeant Fletcher** is the next in command on the investigation, behind Inspector Craddock. Fletcher takes charge while Craddock is travelling north to meet Belle. Fletcher makes headway in the team's understanding of who can go in and out of Little Paddocks at what times, and the minimal restrictions that apply to such movements. He seems smart, but his personality is otherwise non-important.

18. **Reverend Julian Harmon** is a local minister married to "Bunch" Harmon. He is an interesting character in that he is an old, serious, intellectual figure married to a young, bright, ditsy woman. A centerpiece of their relationship in the novel is Bunch asking Julian to tell her a story that she finds particularly funny, but that has no real comedic value. It is certainly a though-provoking realationship, but not one with real relevance to the plot.

**Please note that all people hi-lighted in blue were known to be present at the "murder" shooting location in chapter 3. Rudi Scherz is found dead in that chapter and it is presumed that he died there.**


 * == Extraneous ==


 * 1) Johnnie Butt is the newspaper boy for Chipping Cleghorn, he is introduced on the first page of the novel.
 * 2) Mr.Totman is the postman and he is assisted by his mother, Mrs. Totman.
 * 3) Mrs. Finch is the maid of the Swettenhams with an aged velvet beret and doesn't approve of Edmund reading communist papers.
 * 4) George Ryesdale is the Chief Constable of Middleshire.
 * 5) Constable Legg is the policeman who answered the call for help at the Blacklock residency that night after the shooting.
 * 6) Sir Henry Clithing is the ex-commisioner of Scotland Yard and godfather of Detective Inspector Craddock.
 * 7) Mr. Rowlandson is the manager of the Royal Spa Hotel.
 * 8) Myrna Harris is a redhead and the now ex girlfriend of deceased Rudi Scherz.
 * 9) Old Ashe is another groundskeeper of Dayas Hall and dislikes Mrs. Haymes, seems kind of sexist.
 * 10) Mrs. Lucas is a "large, red-faced" gardener at Dayas Hall.

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