Mr Rice (Peril at End House)

In the novel Peril at End House, Mr Rice was the abusive husband of Freddie Rice. He often threatened to shoot either himself or Freddie. He ended up shooting himself.

Mr Rice drank and did drugs, and was the one who introduced Freddie to drugs. She left him a year before the events of the novel.

According to Freddie, Mr Rice would turn up from time to time, demanding money, and he would threaten to shoot himself or shoot her, if she did not give it to him.

After Maggie Buckley was killed, a note demanding money was found at End House. It is later revealed that this note was from Mr Rice, and that he was asking Freddie for money.

At the end of the novel, Mr Rice comes to End House, and shoots at Freddie through the window. She sustains only a minor injury, as the bullet just grazes her shoulder. He then shoots himself, and is carried into the house by Poirot and George Challenger. Mr Rice tells Freddie that he "didn't mean it", and that she had always been so decent to him, before he dies.

Portrayal
Mr Rice does not appear in the film adaptation of Peril at End House in Series 2 of ITV's Agatha Christie's Poirot drama series. However Freddie does mention that she is married.

In the NHK anime adaptation The Mystery of End House, Rice actually plays a slightly larger role with more lines. Here he is first seen lurking outside the house at Nick's party. Poirot gives chase but fails to find him. Later, he is seen at a wooden hut on a beach. Frederica comes in a taxi and meets him there. She gives him some money. When he complains that it is very little, she tells him there would be more in a month's time. He then tells her this had better be true otherwise he would reveal the secret about Frederica's past--by that he meant that she had a record as a former drug peddler. Later the taxi-driver reports this meeting to the police. Colonel Weston considered him a suspect in the killing of Maggie Buckley and wanted to track him down and arrest him. It is not stated what happened to Mr Rice as a result. The voice actor behind this character is not credited.