Walter Baxter

“	I was always the best. But that's what you paid for.	„
	~ Baxter, describing his talents to Dr. Grief.

Walter Baxter is a minor antagonist from the Alex Rider book series. Specifically, he originates from the second book Point Blanc, and serves as the surgeon for Dr. Hugo Grief's operations, creating all of his clones.

Biography

Baxter was a former gifted Harley Street plastic surgery consultant who suffered from gambling debts. He was erased from the surgery register after he was discovered (presumably by MI6) to have altered the facial features of a wanted and dangerous Serbian war criminal, on the run from international law. After this, Baxter got involved with underworld organisations, until he somehow came into contact with Dr. Grief, possibly due to Eva Stellenbosch.

Baxter was employed by Grief to surgically manipulate his "offspring" to make them resemble the sons of billionaires, and have them grow up to look like them and mimic them. He altered the bodies of sixteen children, to resemble a son from a rich and powerful family, to the point where they would have been practically impossible to tell apart. He was paid a million euros, or about seven million pounds, to alter Grief's offspring to perfection.

Baxter first appears as the head of the three surgeons based underneath room 13 of the Hotel du Monde (the hotel is owned by the Point Blanc Academy). He drugs the Coke that Alex Rider (under the alias of Alex Friend) drinks in the hotel's restaurant. Alex is then lowered into Baxter's laboratory via an overgrown hydraulic system built into the entire floor of room 13, where he is stripped naked and his body is photographed by Baxter and his assistants. They note down the brands of Alex' clothes, as well as his appearance and every inch of Alex's body. The notes, photographs and genetic material taken from Alex will later be used for developing his evil clone. or, at least, the clone of his fictional alias. The clone will become Julius Grief.

After Alex is in the Academy and manages to climb up into the restricted third floor via the fireplace, he overhears Baxter and Grief talking. Baxter asks for another $250,000 to keep him silent, in order to be able to retire to Spain. Grief then kills him, by shooting him in the head with a silenced automatic pistol in the surgery operating theatre, the same place where his magic worked. Baxter is still smiling when he dies.

Appearance

Baxter is described as being "plump, about forty years old, with a small moustache, wire-framed spectacles and slicked yellow hair", and speaking with an "oily" voice. He is very unscrupulous and considers himself above the law. Baxter was perfectionist in his work, and he had a habit of being very pleased with himself every so often, boasting about it.