Witness for the Prosecution

Leonard Vole is a 33-year-old man on trial for the murder of Miss Emily French—an elderly woman he had recently formed a friendship with. The fact that Vole stood to inherit the bulk of Miss French’s fortune provides him with a powerful motive, particularly given that he and his supposed wife, Romaine Heilger, are experiencing financial difficulties. Nevertheless, Vole maintains that he is innocent, and his opening interview with Mayherne provides both the lawyer and the reader with reason to believe he is telling the truth. Vole is popular and “good-looking” and seems quite candid in his speech and body language (5); Christie describes his manner using terms like “eager[]” (8), “enthusiastic[]” (11), and “exuberan[t]” (10), all of which suggest that he is unable to suppress or hide what he’s thinking or feeling. In addition, Vole’s account of his relationship with Miss French casts doubt on whether he’s emotionally capable of a brutal murder. His description of the difficulty he had in turning down Miss French’s invitations, and his suggestion that he saw her as a mother figure serve to portray him as (by the standards of the time) somewhat weak and effeminate.

The revelation that Vole actually did murder Miss French clearly complicates Mayherne’s initial impressions of him. It seems likely, for instance, that Vole intentionally depicted himself as weak to allay Mayherne’s suspicions; in much the same way, he presumably encouraged Miss French to believe he harbored romantic feelings for her. Nevertheless, his character is ultimately overshadowed by Romaine, who appears to have been, if not the originator of the plan to kill Miss French, at least the mastermind behind it. 

Miss Emily French is a wealthy woman in her 70s who, despite her money, lives and dresses simply enough that a stranger might mistake her for poor. She is described to Leonard as “eccentric,” and lives with eight cats (3). Although astute in matters of business and reputed to be “strong-willed” (7), Miss French is implied to be lonely, or at least to have a weakness where young men are concerned; before the story begins, she befriends Leonard Vole and, according to her maid Miss Mackenzie, convinces herself that he intends to marry her. Vole, the story implies, preys on these delusions, manipulating Miss French into leaving him her fortune before killing her with a heavy blow from a crowbar.

Romaine Heilger is a former actress and Leonard’s mistress; though she lives as Vole’s wife, her true husband resides in an insane asylum. Mayherne describes Romaine as a tall, pale woman with high cheekbones, “dense blue-black" hair, and a “distinctly foreign” look that hints at her Austrian birth (13). Her demeanor alternates between quiet, somewhat haughty composure and outbursts of passionate emotion—both of which serve to unnerve Mayherne, who finds her “a strange woman”

(13-14).

In her initial conversation with Mayherne, Romaine claims to hate Leonard and vows to testify that he did commit the murder. This is half true: Leonard is in fact guilty, but far from hating him, Romaine loves him so deeply that she has devised an elaborate plot to ensure that he goes free. Her plan showcases not only her skills as an actress, but also her intelligence and, in particular, her understanding of the “psychology of crowds” (27). She proves especially adept at playing on first Mayherne’s and later the jury’s biases against her both as a foreigner and as a woman living with a man out of wedlock; her plan is to discredit herself as much through what the jury will see as immoral and unfeminine behavior—promiscuity, arrogance, a lack of shame, etc.—as with the “evidence” of the letters. It’s less clear what role Romaine played in the original plan to murder Miss French, but it seems she must have at least been aware of it, as she made sure to appear publicly with another man on the night in question.

Janet Mackenzie is the elderly housekeeper of Miss Emily French and a key witness for the prosecution in the case against Leonard Vole. According to Mayherne, Miss Mackenzie hates Leonard, whom she contends was pretending to have a romantic interest in Miss French so that the elderly lady would change her will in his favor. She also believes that it was Vole she overheard her employer speaking to on the night of the murder, and that Vole is in fact Miss French’s killer. Although it‘s possible that Miss Mackenzie’s own affection for Miss French’s nephew plays a role in her antipathy towards Vole—she apparently “never ceased urging [the nephew’s] claims upon her mistress” (18)—the ultimate revelation of Vole’s guilt seems to justify most of Miss Mackenzie’s suspicions.