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A character in The Murder of Roger Ackroyd

Parker

The butler at Fernly, who listens at doors and once blackmailed an employer, and who did not make the telephone call.

What they want

To keep his place and to know what is going on behind every door in the house.

The book

The Murder of Roger AckroydAgatha Christie, 1926

A village doctor tells the story of his neighbour's murder, and tells it honestly. That is the trick.

View the book

At a glance

In the book
Butler at Fernly Park
Where he appears
Chapters 4 to 17

Who they are in the book

Spoiler-free

Parker is the household's ears. He is caught listening at the study door, he knows the word blackmail before anyone says it, and Poirot digs up a past in which he made money from a previous employer's secrets. He is the suspect the reader is meant to enjoy suspecting, and the book uses him to keep the word blackmail in the air.

How Parker Is Portrayed

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

  • The doorCaught outside the study with a tray, and unable to explain how long he had been there.
  • The callHe flatly denies telephoning Sheppard, and he is telling the truth.
  • The wordHe reacts to the word blackmail before it has been said aloud to him.
  • The pastBlackmailed a former employer, a Major Ellerby, over a death abroad.
Their ending, and the commentary — spoilers aheadHow the book leaves them, what happened after, and what the record says. Open when you're ready.

Parker was listening at the door because he suspected blackmail, and hoped to profit. He had no part in the murder.

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