Miss Merrion

In the novel The A.B.C. Murders, Miss Merrion is the manageress of The Ginger Cat, the tea room at Bexhill-on-Sea where the second murder victim Betty Barnard worked.

Miss Merrion was a very thin woman of forty with wispy orange hair. Hastings noted that she was "astonishingly like a ginger cat herself" and that she "played nervously with various fichus and frills that were part of her official costume".

Miss Merrion is at first concerned about how the murder might affect her business. When Inspector Kelsey tells her that she will have a boom, and will not be able to serve teas fast enough, she says that is disgusting and makes one despair of human nature, but her eyes brighten anyway.

She tells Inspector Crome that Betty had worked at the cafe for two summers, and was a good waitress. When Poirot asks if Betty was pretty, she gives him an "'Oh these foreigners' look", and says that Betty was a nice, clean, good-looking girl. She also tells them that Betty had gone off duty at eight o'clock on the night of the murder, but had not mentioned how she was going to spend her evening, as they were not on those terms.

Portrayals
In the film adaptation of The A.B.C. Murders in Series 2 of ITV's Agatha Christie's Poirot, the part of Miss Merrion was played by Ann Windsor. Her establishment was changed from the Ginger Cat to the De La Warr Pavilion. This was probably because the film-makers wanted to use the pavilion, a well-known Grade I listed building built in 1935 to better carry the Art Deco theme that runs throughout the series. The portrayal is otherwise very accurate, the lines given to her were almost identical to that in the book.

In the anime show ABC Murders, NHK's adaptation of The A.B.C. Murders, the character of Miss Merrion is depicted and here she is the manageress of the "Ginger Cat" cafe. She has many lines during her interview by Poirot but the voice actress in not credited. The character has ginger coloured hair, probably inspired by Hasting's description of her in the book where he states that she resembled a "ginger cat" herself.