Augustin Charpentier

In Le Crime est notre affaire the 2008 French adaptation by Pascal Thomas of 4.50 from Paddington, Augustin Charpentier is the parallel of Cedric Crackenthorpe in the original novel. He is portrayed by Christian Vadim.

Like Cedric, Augustin is an artist. His preferred medium appears to be sculpture and he is responsible for decorating the grounds of "La vallée des loups" (the Rutherford Hall equivalent) with statues of wolves. He has a studio in the grounds of the chateau. He also tells Prudence Beresford that he does some painting but mainly of "the sea, the stones, the light". He says he does not paint women, he acquires them. As his brothers note, Augustin has the reputation of being a womaniser and will no doubt be able to produce an alibi because he could be expected to be with some woman. According Augustin's niece niece Alexie Charpentier, Augustin had recently given up sculpture. He was living on an island and had taken to hunting. Later when Prudence sees him with a shotgun, she asks if he likes hunting. He replies, not the hunting, only the killing.

While Cedric in the original remains alive at the end of the story, Augustin is killed off early on. Because Alfred Crackenthorpe is not featured in the adaptation, the fate that was his is given to Augustin. He is poisoned with the rest of the family during the Christmas eve dinner. The others recover but he takes a turn for the worse and dies.