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A character in The Mysterious Affair at Styles

Alfred Inglethorp

The bearded younger husband everyone suspects, who bought strychnine in his own name and will not say where he was that afternoon.

What they want

To be arrested, tried and acquitted, and to be rich for the rest of his life.

The book

The Mysterious Affair at StylesAgatha Christie, 1920

Agatha Christie's first novel, written on a bet in a wartime dispensary, and the first appearance of Hercule Poirot.

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At a glance

In the book
Mrs Inglethorp's husband, twenty years her junior
Where he appears
Throughout

Who they are in the book

Spoiler-free

Alfred Inglethorp came to Styles as the cousin of Mrs Inglethorp's companion and stayed as her husband. He has a black beard, gold-rimmed glasses, a soft manner and, Hastings says, the look of an actor. Nobody in the house likes him and nobody hides it. When his wife dies of strychnine and his signature is found in a chemist's poison register, the village is ready to hang him.

He does nothing to help himself. He refuses to give his alibi for the afternoon of the purchase, and he behaves at the inquest like a man who expects to be charged. Poirot, alone, works to keep him free.

How Alfred Inglethorp Is Portrayed

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

  • The beardLong and black, with gold-rimmed pince-nez; Hastings thinks of a stage villain and says so.
  • The mannerSoft, attentive and endlessly polite to his wife, which the household finds worse than rudeness.
  • The registerHis name in the chemist's book at Tadminster for strychnine, on the Monday afternoon.
  • The silenceHe refuses to say where he was that afternoon; the reason, when it comes, is Mrs Raikes.
  • The inquestHe gives his evidence badly and lets the coroner's jury draw its conclusions.
  • The despatch caseForced open on the night of the murder, and searched by someone in a hurry.
Their ending, and the commentary — spoilers aheadHow the book leaves them, what happened after, and what the record says. Open when you're ready.

Alfred and Evelyn Howard are cousins and lovers, and planned the murder together. The strychnine purchase was Evelyn in his clothes; the real poison was a bromide in his wife's tonic. He wanted an arrest and an acquittal, which would have ended the case for good. Poirot names him in the drawing room with the torn letter in his hand.

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