Mr Leadbetter

In the novel The A.B.C. Murders, Mr Leadbetter went to the Regal Cinema in Doncaster to watch the film Not a Sparrow starring Katherine Royal at the same time as the murder victim George Earlsfield. When interviewed by the police, Leadbetter excitedly claimed that a big sized man had passed him, leaned over the seats as if to pick up his hat and could have stabbed the victim at that time. Inspector Crome wryly commented that Leadbetter was "as bad a witness as you'll find" and that he would say anything with a little leading. He certainly had not the faintest idea what the murderer looked like.