Those Reopening the Case
Hercule Poirot—the Belgian private detective who’s asked to look into a 16-year-old murder case
Carla Lemarchant—the daughter (birth name Caroline Crale) of convicted murderer Caroline (Spalding) Crale and the painter Amyas Crale; before she marries, she needs to know whether her mother was really guilty
John Rattery—Carla’s intended fiancé
Caroline (Spalding) Crale-convicted of murdering her husband Amyas Crale, she died in prison a year after the trial, but not before sending a letter to her daughter (being raised in Canada by Uncle Simon and Aunt Louise) proclaiming her innocence
Court Authorities Connected to the Trial and Interviewed by Poirot
Sir Montague Depleach—the Counsel for the Defense in the Crale trial
George Mayhew—the nephew of Old George Mayhew, Crale’s solicitor at the time of the trial
Quentin Fogg—junior to Humphrey Rudolph (the prosecutor in Crale trial, now deceased)
Caleb Jonathan—the Crales’s solicitor at the time, now retired; he had not felt he could act for Caroline so had arranged for Old Mayhew to take the case
Alfred Edmunds—the managing clerk for Old Mayhew
Superintendent Hale—the police superintendent overseeing investigation into Amyas Crale’s death; he tells Poirot about findings of Dr. Andrew Fausett, the doctor called when Amyas Crale was found dead, and Inspector Conway, the policeman who led the initial investigation at the scene of Amyas Crale’s death
The “Five Little Pigs” (Poirot’s Characterization)
Philip Blake—aka the Little Pig Who Went to Market—Amyas Crale’s best friend since childhood, a businessman (formerly a stockbroker); he grew up at Handcross Manor, next door to the Crales’s estate, Alderbury
Meredith Blake—aka the Little Pig Who Stayed Home—Philip’s older brother, now a country squire, owner of Handcross Manor, and dabbler in chemistry
Elsa Greer—aka the Little Pig Who Had Roast Beef—now the Lady Dittisham, but then a young woman who had set her sights on Amyas Crale and whom he was painting at the time of his death
Cecilia Williams—aka the Little Pig Who Had None—the governess to Angela Warren at Alderbury
Angela Warren—aka the Little Pig Who Cried “Wee Wee Wee”—Caroline (Spalding) Crale’s much younger half-sister, disfigured as a very young child when an adolescent Caroline threw a paperweight at her, and it shattered and cut her face
