Harrington Pace

In the short story The Mystery of Hunter's Lodge, Harrington Pace is the wealthy uncle of Roger Havering. Harrington Pace was murdered at his shooting-box Hunter's Lodge at Elmer's Dale in the Derbyshire moors.

There is not much biographical information about Pace in the original story, beyond the fact that he is American (Havering's mother was a Miss Pace from New York) and that he did not get on with Roger's father and elder brother. Pace lived with his nephew Roger at their house in Newmarket but took occasional trips to Hunter's Lodge on the weekends.

Portrayals
Harrington Pace is played by Bernard Horsfall in the film adaptation of the orignal story in Series 3 of ITV's Agatha Christie's Poirot. His character is filled out considerably and his backstory changed to increase the range of possible suspects. Harrington Pace was portrayed as a dislikeable man who, in his own words, had made many enemies. He was Irish and not American, and from Country Mayo. In Ireland he was said to have cheated his partner and then used the money to profiteer during the war. Harrington Pace also treated his own relatives badly and used his money to control and bully them. This make his various relatives plausible suspects in his murder.