Upamanyu Biswas
In ‘A Haunting in Venice,‘ Hercule Poirot is drawn into a murder mystery after a renowned opera singer, Rowena Drake, invites the sleuth to a Halloween party and a seance organized in honor of her daughter’s death. However, it soon becomes clear that the owner of Palazzo Lacrime dei Giovani is suffering from financial issues that have put a dent in her coffers. She is unable to afford her lifestyle and is looking to sell the house to make some returns on her investments. Subsequently, Poirot deduces that the rich vocalist has been the victim of a blackmail plot that has stripped her bare while also unearthing the massive skeletons in her closet! SPOILERS AHEAD.
Leopold Ferrier: The Unlikely Blackmailer of Rowena Drake
At the end of ‘A Haunting in Venice,’ the identity of the murderer behind Alicia, Reynolds, and Leslie’s death is revealed to be the owner of Palazzo Lacrime dei Giovani, the opera singer and host of the Halloween party, Rowena Drake. Slighted by the event of her daughter falling in love with Maxime Gerard, the woman takes matters into her own hands by poisoning Alicia to keep her bedridden and close to home. Unfortunately, a tragic mishap of overdosing while being cared for by the housemaid, Olga Seminoff, causes the death of the young girl while in her mother’s clutches, resulting in the singer taking drastic measures to cover up her part in the affair.
Rowena’s foolproof plan nearly works to perfection until a blackmail letter arrives in her mail. The extortioner threatens to upend her life unless she pays the fee to maintain the secret. Eventually, she loses so much money that she has to sell her palazzo in Venice to survive. This is a difficult proposition as the palace has lost its sheen and is less valuable than she wants it to be. Hard-pressed for choices, she tries to kill the blackmailer, failing to take into account that the actual person is someone neither she nor anyone else suspects because of the unlikeliness of their identity – Leopold Ferrier, the son of Leslie Ferrier, the family doctor of the Drakes.
Soon after the blackmail begins, Rowena suspects two people who may know the truth behind her daughter’s death. The first is Dr. Leslie, owing to his detailed reports of Alicia’s physical condition and bloodwork. The woman also suspects Joyce Reynolds, the medium and psychic, who sends messages to Rowena with several details about her daughter’s death and the circumstances surrounding it. Fearful that things might get out of hand if she doesn’t deal with them soon enough, Rowena organizes a Halloween party and a seance for Alicia, which are disguised attempts to bring the people she suspects close to her home and allow her the opportunity to dispose of them with swiftness. She murders them, thinking she has dealt with her problems, only for the revelation that neither had anything to do with it.
Leopold Figures Out the Truth Before Everyone
Doctor Leslie Ferrier had ample opportunities to find out the truth behind Alicia’s supposed suicide because of his access to her medical files. The poison that was regularly administered to the girl would have been apparent had he looked through them diligently. However, two things hold him back – his love for Rowena and his reduced capabilities as medical personnel after his stint as a medic in World War II. The doctor unquestioningly trusted that the opera singer was taking good care of her daughter and that nothing was amiss in her treatment. Additionally, his traumatic experiences in the war have left him impaired to function properly. Thus, it is his precocious son, Leopold, who finds out the truth by reading his father’s reports and blackmailing Rowena to bolster the household income.
Joyce Reynolds also turns out to be a charlatan who pretends to channel the souls of dead people. The medium is working with novelist Ariadne Oliver and ex-cop Vitale Portfoglio on a scheme of their own and has no knowledge about the actual truth behind Rowena’s actions. As the singer targets Leslie and Joyce as the malefactors behind her problems, she fails to recognize that they are not the culprits but bystanders who are caught in her web of deceit and lies.
Leopold’s Selfless Blackmail Scheme
Although Leopold commits a grave crime by extorting money from Rowena, his reasons for doing so are not malevolent by nature. Worried about his father’s sickly state and his inability to do his job to the best of his ability, the intelligent boy takes a selfless approach to his blackmail. In fact, the first letter he sends to the opera singer is a test to determine whether he is right or wrong about Rowena’s part in her daughter’s death. Following this, he continues to extract money from the woman to finance the livelihood of his struggling father, who looks to him for assurance despite his age.
Later, when Poirot reveals Leopold’s identity, the young boy is burdened with guilt for his part in his father’s death. The detective assures him that he shouldn’t blame himself for anything that occurred within the house, regardless of his indirect part in it. To clear his conscience, Leopold goes off to live with Olga, and the two decide to help the Holland siblings fulfil their dream of moving to St. Missouri. While his actions were not guided, the young boy’s blackmail scheme ends up becoming the very thing that unravels the sinister crimes of Rowena and brings it to everyone’s attention as she desperately seeks to escape her judgment and punishment coming her way.
Read More: What is the Children’s Vendetta Haunting in Venice? Is it Real?
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