| “ | I only touched the body to make sure it was dead. | „ |
| ~ Patrick Redfern |
Patrick Redfern is the main antagonist of Agatha Christie's 1941 Hercule Poirot novel, Evil Under the Sun.
He is a con artist and murderer who killed rich and beautiful women who fell for him, in order to gain their wealth, along with his wife, Christine Redfern, as his partner in crime. He is also the murderer of Arlena Marshall.
He was portrayed by the late Nicholas Clay in the 1982 film adaptation, and by Michael Higgs in the 2001 adaptation within Agatha Christie's Poirot.
History[]
Patrick Redfern and his wife, Christie, were a group of partners in crime that lured young and wealthy women into traps and gained their fortune. Patrick, under the false name of Edward Corrigan, once falsely married a young girl named Alice to fool her and murder her.
Patrick made Alice to play dead once his wife, disguised as a school teacher arrived and witnessed the "corpse" of Alice. Patrick then killed Alice for real when Christine went for calling the police, making the real murder happened after it was "witnessed" in order to fool the police. Soon, Patrick gained Alice's fortune and went away for the next target.
Patrick's next target was a famous actress named Ariena Marshall, whom he feigned his infautuation towards her as well as the conflict between him and Ariena. Once Ariena had gave all her money to him, Patrick deemed her useless and decided to kill her off.
The next day, Patrick went out with Emily Brewster and went for a sightseeing, giving himself an alibi. He also asked Ariena for a date and asked her to avoid Christine when she approached. Ariena arrived on the beach on time, but when she saw Christine and recognized her in her dressing, she hid herself in a cave. However, Christine was aware of Ariena's existence and was working with her husband to murder her.
Christine then lied on the beach, covered her face and pretended to be Ariena with the makeup she did earlier on. Patrick then arrived and witnessed the "murder" of "Ariena". He asked Emily Brewster to search for help, and escorted Christine to leave the beach once the coast was clear. After Christine had left, Patrick found Ariena and strangled her, dragging her corpse back to the original position.
During the denouement, Poirot revealed the culprit to be the Redferns by showing all the guests a photo from Surrey Police, which identified Patrick as Edward Corrigan, along with the testimony of Reverend Stephen Lane. Furious, Patrick attempted to attack Poirot in spite of Christine and others' efforts to make him stop. Soon, Patrick was arrested alongside his wife.
Trivia[]
- In the 1982 film adaptation, Alice Corrigan's surname is changed to Ruber, and her murder occurs on the Yorkshire Moors. Poirot is involved in the investigation of her murder, through her insurance company that Blatt also uses, but while finding nothing, he retains the paperwork. This he later uses to help him prove Patrick's involvement in the murder, to reveal the handwriting on Alice's policy and cheque signed by him are the same. Poirot further adds that the surname of Ruber he used when he married Alice, is Latin for "Redfern"; Patrick's occupation in the past was a teacher in Latin.
