Characters in Taken at the Flood

Supporting characters

• Hercule Poirot

  Methodical and observant, he is drawn in less by an official case than by an intriguing fragment of conversation

  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

• Rosaleen Cloade

  Fragile, anxious, and isolated, she is resented by the family and closely guarded by her brother

• David Hunter

  Ambitious and manipulative, his protectiveness shades into something far more calculating

• Lynn Marchmont

  Restless and perceptive, she is torn between the safety of her engagement and a pull toward danger and excitement

• Rowley Cloade

  Practical and honourable on the surface, he is strained by jealousy and family financial pressure

• Frances Cloade

  Composed and resourceful, she is willing to consider unconventional measures to relieve the family's debts

• Jeremy Cloade

  Reserved and increasingly anxious as his money troubles mount

• Adela Marchmont

  Genteel and prone to procrastination, she struggles to manage without Gordon's financial backing

• Enoch Arden

  He adopts a borrowed name and uses his knowledge as leverage, becoming the case's central victim

• Superintendent Spence

  Solid and conscientious, he respects Poirot's methods and shares his unease about a too-tidy solution

  Also in Mrs. McGinty's Dead, Hallowe'en Party, Elephants Can Remember

• Major Porter

  A garrulous club bore whose testimony carries unexpected weight

• Katherine Cloade

  Gordon Cloade's sister-in-law and a spiritualist, she first brings the question of Rosaleen's first husband to Poirot.

• Lionel Cloade

  Gordon's younger brother, a doctor whose own troubles add to the family's pressure over the inheritance.