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Dr. Geoffrey Roberts is the main antagonist of Agatha Christie's 1936 Hercule Poirot novel Cards on the Table.
He is one of the four murder suspects of Mr. Shaitana's death, as well as one of her guests when he showed his guests the so-called evidences of their case he collected. Later, he is revealed to be the murderer of Shaitana and another suspect, Mrs. Lorrimer.
He was portrayed by Alex Jennings in Agatha Christie's Poirot.
Biography[]
Dr. Roberts was one of the four suspects of Shaitana's murder, and one of the three within that actually was guilty. Dr. Roberts was responsible for the accidental deaths of Mr. and Mrs. Craddock, with the former was killed with anthrax that contaminated his shaving brush during a house call, and the latter was given a viral infection during her anti-typhoid inoculations for her trip abroad.
Dr. Roberts was one of the guests that participated Shaitana's dinner party. He became wary of Shaitana when the latter claimed he collected the evidence of criminals' cases, and stabbed through the chest of Shaitana during the card games. He later killed Mrs. Lorrimer on the next day through a fatal injection of anaesthesia, and faked it as a suicide in order to make her a scapegoat.
Nevertheless, Poirot managed to deduce the murderer when he heard about Dr. Roberts' testimony and recollection of the game. Recalling about the bridge game, Dr. Roberts could remember little of it, except for the grand slam that he made, but could remember much about the layout of the room they played in. This was in direct contrast to what the other suspects recalled. In addition, Mrs. Lorrimer's body was found to have the mark of a hypodermic needle.
Poirot later gathered all the surviving suspects and witnesses to his denouements, accusing Dr. Roberts for killing Shitana to get away from the double deaths he caused. To elicit a confession from Roberts, Poirot hired an actor to pose as the witness he provided, forcing Dr. Roberts to finally give in and confessed his crimes.
Trivia[]
- In Agatha Christie's Poirot, Dr. Roberts' motive for the Craddocks' murder is changed. In the adaptation, he is involved in a homosexual affair with Mr. Craddock, his usual bridge partner. Mrs. Craddock found out what he had done and was overheard arguing about it and threatening to have Roberts blackballed. He thus murdered her by contaminating the needle he was using to inoculate her for her trip to Egypt, in order to continue his affair.
- In addition, in this adpatation, Roberts commits only one murder other than Shitana's murder; he does not murder Mr. Craddock nor Mrs. Lorrimer in the adaptation.
