Characters in Dumb Witness

Hercule Poirot

The Belgian detective whose methodical reasoning takes up a case opened by a letter that arrives too late to save the writer.

Also in The Chocolate Box, The Kidnapped Prime Minister: a Hercule Poirot Short Story #2, The Lemesurier Inheritance, The Affair at the Victory Ball, The Disappearance of Mr. Davenheim, The Plymouth Express: a Hercule Poirot Short Story, The Adventure of the Cheap Flat: a Hercule Poirot Short Story, The Submarine Plans: a Hercule Poirot Short Story, The Adventure of the Clapham Cook: a Hercule Poirot Short Story, The Cornish Mystery: a Hercule Poirot Short Story

Emily Arundell

A wealthy, strong-willed elderly spinster who suspects a member of her own family wants her dead and writes to Poirot before she dies.

Bob

Emily Arundell's wire-haired terrier, whose ball is blamed for her fall; the silent creature of the title.

Theresa Arundell

Emily's spirited, fashionable niece who stands to inherit and lives well beyond her means.

Charles Arundell

Emily's charming, feckless nephew, perpetually short of money and quick to ask his aunt for more.

Bella Tanios

Emily's dowdy, anxious niece, married to a foreign doctor and dependent on him.

Dr Jacob Tanios

Bella's Greek-born husband, an outsider regarded with suspicion by the family and by xenophobic neighbours.

Wilhelmina Lawson

Emily's timid paid companion, known as Minnie, whose role in the household and the will draws close scrutiny.

Dr Rex Donaldson

A young doctor in Market Basing and the fiancé of Theresa Arundell, drawn into the family's circle during the inquiry.

Dr. Grainger

The senior local physician who has treated Emily Arundell for years and attended her in her final illness.

Captain Arthur Hastings

Poirot's loyal friend and the novel's first-person narrator, who accompanies him to Market Basing and records the investigation.

Also in The Chocolate Box, The Kidnapped Prime Minister: a Hercule Poirot Short Story #2, The Lemesurier Inheritance, The Affair at the Victory Ball, The Disappearance of Mr. Davenheim, The Plymouth Express: a Hercule Poirot Short Story, The Adventure of the Cheap Flat: a Hercule Poirot Short Story, The Submarine Plans: a Hercule Poirot Short Story, The Adventure of the Clapham Cook: a Hercule Poirot Short Story, The Cornish Mystery: a Hercule Poirot Short Story

The Tripp Sisters

Isabel and Julia, two eccentric spinster spiritualists whose seances and automatic writing feed gossip about Emily's death.