Walter Hudd

In the novel They do it with Mirrors, Walter “Wally” Hudd is the American husband of Gina''. ''He is described as "a big young man with hair brushed up on his head and a sulky expression". However, when he smiles, Miss Marple notes that he is really "a handsome and appealing young man". He has an Aunt Betsy in America. Miss Marple reminds him of her.

Walter is from the Middle West of America. He was a Marine, and had a very good war record. He met Gina when she was doing her war work in America. He had never had much money, but had put some aside to open a gas station. He and Gina fell in love and got married. Then Gina wanted to go to England to see her grandmother, Carrie Louise. Walter thought that was fair, and was curious to see England for himself, so he followed her on what he thought would be just a visit to Stonygates. However, they ended up settling down at Stonygates.

Walter is unhappy living at Stonygates, as he does not understand the work that the Institute is doing with juvenile delinquents. He states that he does not mind working, but he wants to work at what he likes, and "to get somewhere".

Walter is also unhappy because he feels that Gina is not the same girl he married in America. He says that he cannot even talk to her now.

Walter is good at fixing electrical gadgets, and has fixed a toaster at Stonygates. On the night of the murder, when the lights in the Great Hall go out, he goes to put in a new fuse. He later explains to Inspector Curry that there is a good deal of defective wiring at Stonygates, and that the whole electric system is very old-fashioned.

Walter owns a revolver, which is revealed to be the gun which Edgar Lawson used to threaten Lewis Serrocold. He usually kept it in the drawer in his room.

Walter and Gina later have a fight, where he says that he wants to go back to America because he does not like living at Stonygates. He tells her that perhaps he rushed her into marriage, and if so, she should divorce him and start again. Gina says that she will get a divorce, and will marry either Alexis or Stephen Restarick. However, they eventually make up, and Gina reveals in a letter to Ruth Van Rydock, that she and Walter intend to go back to America together as soon as possible.

Murder with Mirrors (1985)
In Murder with Mirrors (1985), Walter is played by John Laughlin. He is someone whom Gina met in America but he is not an ex-soldier. He tells Miss Marple he comes from a humble family background and gave up medical school to follow Gina to Stonygates. At the end of the show, he expresses his intention to return to America, resume medical school and then set up a practice. At first this upsets Gina and she asks for a divorce. The next day they are reconciled when Gina realises that his single-minded determination to do what he always wanted was what she had always admired in him. He had lost that when he came to Stoneygates but had come back again with his stubborn intention to leave Stoneygates and if necessary, Gina.

BBC's Miss Marple
In the BBC 1991 adaptation of the novel which formed part of the Miss Marple series, Walter is played by Todd Royce. Here he is a soldier who met Gina during the Korean War. He comes from a farming background and his dream is to start a small farm of his own.

ITV's Agatha Christie's Marple
In the ITV 2009 adaptation of the novel as part of their Agatha Christie's Marple series, Walter Hudd is played by Elliot Cowan. Here he is from Wyoming, an ex-G.I. who took part in the Normandy landings. He met Gina on V.E. Day. His background is quite similar to the book. As he said to miss Marple, all he had to offer Gina were "two rooms in a gas station". Gulbrandsen was killed with a U.S. Army knife which Walter owned. This and the fact that he was out of the drawing room when the lights went out made him a prime suspect. He makes the outlook worse for himself when he tries to escape from Stonygates on a bicycle. He is knocked down by the car of Ruth Van Rydock who is driving up to the house. When the police want to take him away, Gina comes to his defence by arguing that anyone could have gone out of the drawing room to commit the murder using a secret door which she shows the police. At the end of the show, Gina writes to tell Miss Marple that she had followed Wally to Wyoming and they had prospered.

Les Petits Meurtres d'Agatha Christie)
In Jeux de glaces, the TV film adaptation of Agatha Christie's They do it with Mirrors by France Télévisions, the parallel character is named "Jimmy White".