Mr Whitfield

In the novel Peril at End House, Mr Whitfield, of the London firm Whitfield, Pargiter & Whitfield, is the solicitor of Michael Seton. He says that his firm has acted as legal adviser to the Seton family for the last hundred years.

Mr Whitfield is described as a "very urbane and impressive person".

Mr Whitfield tells Poirot that his firm had made a will for the late Sir Matthew Seton, leaving the bulk of his very large fortune to Captain Michael Seton absolutely. Captain Seton had also made an informal will before leaving England on his round-the-world flight. Mr Whitfield says that the will is legal because the intention of the testator is plain, and it is properly witnessed. However, he does not approve of it, as he believes that lawyers should make wills for their clients.

He also tells Poirot that Captain Seton left everything to his affianced wife absolutely. If she died, the money would go to whoever she named in her will as residuary legatee, or failing a will, to her next of kin.

Portrayals
Whitfield does not appear on screen in ITV's 1990 TV film adaptation. There, Hastings goes to London, meets Seton's lawyers and then comes back to report what he learnt.

In the NHK anime adaptation The Mystery of End House, Whitfield is voiced by Yuichiro Yamaguchi. Here he has a slightly larger role in that he persuaded Seton to write a will before he embarked on his flight. Whitfield also knew about Seton's engagement but not met the fiancee before. When Seton disappeared during his flight, Whitfield was in charge of the search operations and he told Poirot that Nick Buckley called the search operations headquarters nightly to get the latest news.