| “ | Henrietta: So, how do you do it then,Monsieur Poirot? Poirot: I beg your pardon, Mademoiselle? Henrietta: Solve so many crimes? Poirot: Merely I use the process of the thought logic and once the process it has been applied, alors the mystery becomes éclairé and the criminal mind it is uncovered. Henrietta: But that assumes that you're cleverer than the criminal, doesn't it?? Poirot: I am not sure that it does, Mademoiselle. Logically. Henrietta: Oh, I think it does. What happens if you meet a criminal who is cleverer than you are yourself? Poirot: This is not the highest probability, Mademoiselle. |
„ |
| ~ Hanrietta to Poirot |
| “ | Henrietta: What happens to me now? Poirot: Go, my child. Your place is with the living. I will remain here with the dead. |
„ |
| ~ Hercule Poirot lets Henrietta go free. |
Henrietta Saversnake is the secondary antagonist of Agatha Christie's 1946 Hercule Poirot novel, The Hollow. While she is not a murderess, Henrietta not only had a love affair with her best friend's husband, but also became the culprit's indirect accomplice when she attempted to shield their crime.
She was portrayed by Megan Dodds in Agatha Christie's Poirot, who also played Marguerite de Ghent in Ever After: A Cinderella Story.
Physical appearance[]
Henrietta is a pretty young blonde woman, tall and slender, a medium chest size, full lip, well rounded shoulders, lightly muscled arms and a pointed nose. She also sports flower tattoos on her left arm going down from her shoulder to her elbow.
Personality[]
| “ | Careful, sir. Henrietta has a very sharp tongue. | „ |
| ~ John Christow about Henrietta. |
In the television movie, at first glance, Henrietta is quite a humble woman, but she can also easily show herself to be more disdainful towards others. She is quite sarcastic, charismatic, outspoken, skeptical, carefree and mischievous who sees herself primarily as an artist. Beneath her features as a smiling and friendly woman, Henrietta is both a very independent and not very virtuous woman. She has no problem having a romantic relationship with John Christow despite the fact that he is married to Gerda whom she nevertheless appreciates as a friend, although that does not prevent her from secretly mastering John's inner selfishness, which shows that Henrietta is above all an opportunistic woman. Still, she took care of Gerda despite knowing she was John's murderer, doing her best to hide the truth and even coming close to bearing the blame, According to her because John, whom she loved despite everything, had asked her for a few seconds before he died.
Throughout the investigation, Henrietta remained calm and as relaxed as usual while she manipulated the truth all along in a more than convincing way. She also tried to deceive Poirot by using some form of reverse psychology mixed with an unconcealed suspicion of truth such as not being a murderer and leaving her trademark as an incriminating sign, thus showing intelligence, almost rivaling the famous detective. Although she confessed to Poirot that she was not a fundamentally honest person, the detective was convinced that she was a person of integrity. Once Poirot discovered that Gerda was indeed the murderer, Henrietta showed anxiety reflecting her guilt in the matter as Gerda confessed without remorse why she killed her unfaithful husband. After Gerda's suicide, Henrietta mourned her best friend, surely feeling responsible for not stopping her from doing so or for failing to keep her promise to protect her. Although she was guilty of complicity, Poirot sympathetically agreed to let her go without consequence, feeling that she is not a bad person deep down.
History[]
Henritta Saversnake was the friend of Gerda Cristow and the secret lover of Gerda's own husband, Dr. John Christow. Henrietta's love affair relationship was soon discovered by Gerda, along with his previous dalliance with his old flame, Veronica Cray, an actress in Hollywood.
However, everything changed for Henrietta when she had discovered that John was killed, and seeing Gerda with a revolver (the false murder weapon used for confusion). Then, Henrietta heard John uttering her name in his dying breath. She immediately slammed the false gun in Gerda's hand into the swimming pool.
Later, Henritta retrieved the real murder weapon and hid it inside her sculpture to conceal it. She got the sculpture handled by a blind match-seller and placed it on the hedge of Poirot. When Poirot discovered it, he found out that it had no fingerprints and soon discovered that everyone, Henrietta included, were concealing the fact that Gerda had murdered John.
Poirot immediately arrived just in time Gerda prepared tea to kill Henrietta in order to silence her. Realizing Gerda's next move, Poirot swapped the tea cups when Henrietta arrived to destroy the last evidence in Gerda's hand: the holster that kept the real murder weapon, which had the fingerprints of Gerda. Soon, Gerda accidentally killed herself when she drank the poisoned tea instead of Henrietta.
Henrietta was never arrested for her complicity in Gerda's scheme. In the epoligue, Henrietta visited one of John's patients, who had no cure to the disease due to her doctor's death, but still the patient had a resillient spirit. After seeking closure, Henrietta realized that there would be no happy ending reserved for her. Henrietta decided to make a new sculpture of herself, inspired by her recent experience, of which she would titled it as "Grief".
Quotes[]
| “ | Henrietta: I wish I wasn't so dreadfully fond of you, Edward. It makes it so much harder to go on saying no. Edward Angkatell: What you really mean is that you won't marry me becasue of John Christow. Why doesn't the fellow get a divorce? Henrietta: Because! Edward Angkatell: That's it, isn't it? If there were no John Christow in the world, you'd marry me... |
„ |
| ~ Henrietta to her distant cousin, Edward Angkatell. |
| “ | Christow: Would you give it all up, if I asked you to, and come and live with me? Henrietta: No. Christow: No? Henrietta: That's not really what you want. Christow: Couldn't you lie to me just once? Henrietta: Why? Christow: Because I love you, Henrietta, but you're so... you're so detached. Your art, your cars, your friends... I want you to think only of me. Henrietta: Isn't that what Gerda does? Christow: Don't tell me you care a damn about Gerda! Henrietta: Why not? I like Gerda. |
„ |
| ~ Henrietta to John Christow |
| “ | Henrietta: Aren't you an artist too, Mr. Poirot? Hercule Poirot: On the whole, I would say... no. Oh, I have known crimes that were artistic; ingenious exercises of the imagination; but the solving of them, no. No, the creative power is not what is needed. What is required is a passion for the truth. |
„ |
| ~ Henrietta Savernake. |
| “ | Henrietta: I'm not, Mr. Poirot, terribly truthful. Hercule Poirot: No, but I think you have integrity. |
„ |
| ~ Henrietta's honesty. |
Gallery[]
Trivia[]
- She doesn't like animals.
- She's not a skilled shooter, missing the shoulder of a shooting poster figure.
- In addition to clay sculptures, Henrietta enjoys driving at high speed, always wearing driving goggles.
- She has a certain fondness for Yggdrasil, the world tree of norse mythology.
- Although only an accomplice to the murderess of the story for trying to cover her up to a far greater extent than the rest of the Angkatell, Henrietta's actions are only slightly reprehensible since Gerda only acted out of anger and not out of malice after she finally understood John for his infidelity and hypocrisy towards her, Henrietta having only protected her.
- In television movie, Henrietta is not nearly poisoned by Gerda. Instead, she immediately goes to meet her when she learns that the gun that was used to kill John was stored in the holster Gerda carried, shortly before Poirot broke into Gerda's house when he discovered the truth.
