Hugo Trent

In the novella Dead Man's Mirror, Hugo Trent was the nephew of Gervase Chevenix-Gore. Hugo was the son of Gervase's sister Pamela and one Captain Reggie Trent. Hugo was also himself also a military officer in the Blues (the Royal Horse Guards regiment). He was described as a man "with a moustache and a modest air of arrogance."

Mr Satterthwaite thought that being Gervase's nearest blood relative, Hugo stood to inherit most of the Chevenix-Gore estate. Actually, Gervase's will left him a legacy of five thousand pounds, with residue of the property going to his adopted daughter Ruth Chevenix-Gore. Oswald Forbes, the family lawyer explained that Gervase had always been inclined to dislike his nephew Hugo. Pamela was Gervase's younger sister. He felt that she should have obtained his approval before marrying. He also felt that her husband, Captain Trent, was not of sufficient prominence to be allied with a Chevenix-Gore.

Nonetheless, Gervase was fanatically devoted to preserving his family and he wanted Hugo to marry Ruth. Shortly before his death, Gervase wanted to change his will so that Ruth would only inherit if she married Hugo, or if she was willing but Hugo did not want to marry her. Otherwise Hugo would inherit everything. Gervase died before he could sign the new will. Because Hugo wanted to marry Susan Cardwell instead, this would have given him a motive to murder Sir Gervase to prevent the new will from being made.

Portrayals
Hugo Trent is played by Jeremy Northam in the film adaptation of the original story in Series 5 of ITV's Agatha Christie's Poirot. Hugo's backstory and the contents of the wills and his character is filled out considerably and his altered. This was probably done to give him a more plausible motive and therefore another possible suspect. Here he is a designer of Modernist furniture. He is short of money, his uncle refuses to finance him and the bank is threatening to foreclose. By the existing will, Hugo would inherit a legacy of 2000 pounds. There was also an unsigned will left in an unlocked drawer which anyone could have seen. In this will which Gervase was preparing, Vanda Chevenix-Gore would inherit everything unless Hugo married Ruth.

In the original story, Susan Cardwell was a guest at Hamborough Close as Hugo's girlfriend. In the film adaptation, she declares that she is Hugo's fiancee and that they definitely want to get married. This would have gone against his uncle's wishes and against the provisions of the new will. This would have given Hugo an impetus to see his uncle dead before he got round to signing it.