Bartholomew Strange

In the novel Three Act Tragedy, Dr Bartholomew “Tollie” Strange was a nerve specialist with a practice on Harley Street and the head of a sanatorium near his home in Yorkshire. He was a long time friend of Sir Charles Cartwright. They had known each other since boyhood, and had been at Oxford together.

He was described as a "big grey-haired man", and had a "keen, kindly, middle-aged face". At the time of the events of the novel, he had recently received a knighthood in the Birthday Honours list. He was kind, generous, and popular all round.

He was the second murder victim. He had held his annual dinner for the St. Leger, and was drinking a glass of port after dinner, when he had a sudden seizure and died before medical aid could be summoned. The cause of death was found to be nicotine poisoning. However, an analysis of the glass showed that it contained only port.

After Sir Bartholomew's death, the butler, Ellis, disappeared, leading the police to suspect him. Ellis had been with Sir Bartholomew for only a fortnight, and had been hired temporarily. Sir Bartholomew had given the regular butler, Baker, a few months' holiday.

It is later revealed that Sir Bartholomew was the only one who knew of the murderers previous marriage, and was therefore the only one who could stand in the way of the murderer getting married again, while their spouse was still alive. This was why he was killed. The murderer had put nicotine in the port glass, and when Sir Bartholomew collapsed, the murderer switched the glass for another one, while everyone's attention was diverted.

Portrayals
In Murder in Three Acts (1986), the character is played by Dana Elcar. The name is changed slightly to "Wallace Strange", frequently referred to in the dialogue as "Wally".

In the film adaptation of Three Act Tragedy in Series 12 of ITV's Agatha Christie's Poirot drama series, the part of Dr Strange is played by Art Malik.

In Drame en trois actes, the TV film adaptation of the novel by France Télévisions, the parallel character is Richard Nobel.