Albert Riddell

In the novel The A.B.C. Murders, Albert “Bert” Riddell is a resident of Andover. He is a platelayer. He is described as a "big clumsy giant of a man with a broad face and small suspicious eyes".

A few minutes after six o'clock on the day of the murder, Mr Riddell entered Alice Ascher's shop, intending to buy a packet of Gold Flake. He saw no one in the shop, so he hammered on the counter, and waited. Nobody came, so he went out again. He saw an railway guide on the counter. He thought Mrs Ascher might have had to go off suddenly by train, and had forgotten to lock up the shop.

Based on Mr Riddell's testimony, and that of James Partridge, who had purchased tobacco from Mrs Ascher at 5.30 p.m., the police are able to tell that the murder occurred sometimes between 5.30 p.m. and 6 p.m.