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A character in Death on the Nile

Louise Bourget

Linnet's French maid, who might have seen the murderer if she had gone out on deck, and says so to the wrong person.

What they want

Money, and a way off the boat and out of service.

The book

Death on the NileAgatha Christie, 1937

An heiress, her new husband and the friend she took him from, on a Nile steamer with nowhere to go but the next temple.

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At a glance

In the book
Linnet Doyle's maid
Where she appears
Chapters 12 to 22

Who they are in the book

Spoiler-free

Louise is the maid who finds her mistress dead. Questioned by Poirot and Race, she says that if she had gone out on deck she might have seen the murderer, and looks, as she says it, at one person in the room. She has a grievance against Linnet, who broke up her engagement to a man on the boat's crew. She is the book's example of what happens to a witness who tries to sell what she knows.

How Louise Bourget Is Portrayed

Appearance, manner, and tone — as the book sketches them, in our words.

  • The discoveryShe finds Linnet's body in the morning and raises the boat.
  • The hintMight have seen, if she had gone out; said with her eyes on someone.
  • The grievanceLinnet had exposed the man Louise meant to marry as already married.
  • The noteA torn corner of a thousand-franc note in her dead hand.
Their ending, and the commentary — spoilers aheadHow the book leaves them, what happened after, and what the record says. Open when you're ready.

Louise saw Simon come out of Linnet's cabin and tried to blackmail him. He sent Jacqueline to her with the money, and Jacqueline stabbed her with Dr Bessner's scalpel.

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