Jane Grey

In the novel Death in the Clouds, Jane Grey is a hairdresser's assistant working at Messrs. Antoine's Hairdressers. She took part in an Irish sweep stake and won a hundred pounds and so went a week's holiday to Le Pinet. For the journey home she boarded the Prometheus for the flight from Le Bourget to Croydon. When one of her fellow passengers was found to be murdered during the flight, Jane became implicated in the case.

Jane has dark hair and blue-grey eyes. She grew up in an orphanage in Ireland, near Dublin.

On her fourth evening at Le Pinet, Jane places her last stake of the evening on six, while a young man, Norman Gale, places his stake on five. The ball lands on five, but Norman tells Jane that she placed her stake on five, and that the winnings are hers. A few days later, Jane finds herself sitting opposite him on the Prometheus.

After word spreads that Jane was on the Prometheus when the murder occurred, many customers come to Antoine's, wanting to be done by "the girl who was on the plane". This leads Jane to ask for an increase in salary. Monsieur Antoine refuses at first, saying that it is only out of kindness that he continues to employ her after she has been mixed up in a murder case. However, when Jane says that she can get what she wants at other hairdressing establishments, and that the reporters she met at the inquest will give her change of establishment publicity, he reluctantly agrees to increase her salary.

Jane and Norman become romantically involved. One evening, when they are dining together, they notice Daniel Clancy at the same restaurant, and follow him to his house. They meet Poirot outside, and he says he is going to call on Mr Clancy. He asks Jane to accompany him, in the guise of his secretary.

Jane later loses her job at Antoine's, after losing her temper with a customer. Poirot employs her as his secretary, and she accompanies him to Paris. Poirot asks her to talk to Jean Dupont, while Poirot himself talks to Armand Dupont. Poirot arranges for Jane to accompany the Duponts to Persia the following Spring. She tells him that she will not go, as she intends to be with Norman.

However, at the end of the novel, Jane tells Poirot that she needs some interesting work that she can lose herself in. Poirot advises her to go to Persia with the Duponts, and says that they are counting on her joining the expedition.

She has a friend named Gladys.

Portrayals
In the the film adaptation of Death in the Clouds in Series 4 of ITV's Agatha Christie's Poirot drama series, the part of Jane Grey was played by Sarah Woodward. Here, her occupation was changed to that of a flight stewardess on board the Prometheus. From a film making point of view made it more convenient for her to be present in Paris to assist Poirot when returned there to continue his investigations. Unlike the book, Jane is present at the denouement which took place in Paris. At the end of the story, Poirot does not pair her off with Jean Dupont nor did she leave her job to join an archaeological expedition with him.

In the NHK's anime adaptation of Death in the Clouds, the character of Jane Grey is voiced by Yoko Honna. The portrayal is fairly faithful to the original book, including her backstory as an orphan growing up in Ireland. The only embellishment is that here she is a friend of Mabel West and lives next door to her (which implies that she is a neighbour of Poirot, as Mabel lives with Poirot at Whitehaven Mansions! Apparently Jane is Mabel's regular hair-cutter. As in the original story, Jane quits her job as a hair-cutter. Here she says it is because she got tired of describing her experiences on the plane to her customers. Poirot engages her as an assistant and in the end pairs her off with Jean Dupont in exactly the same way as in the book, by making a large donation to Armand Dupont and asking him to offer Jane a job on his archaeological expedition. Jane is seen departing on a ship with Jean Dupont for the expedition towards the end of the story.