Mr Maltravers

In the short story The Tragedy at Marsdon Manor, Mr Maltravers the owner of Marsdon Manor at Marsdon Leigh. He was found dead in the manor grounds and the local doctor pronounced him dead by natural causes. Since Maltravers had only a few weeks earlier insured his life for fifty thousand pounds, the director of the Northern Union Insurance Company asked Hercule Poirot to investigate the death. The insurance company knew that Mr Maltravers was on the brink of bankruptcy. It was possible that he had committed suicide in order to benefit his young wife, in which case the policy would not pay out.

From Poirot's investigations it became clear that he had been murdered.

Portrayals
Mr Maltravers was played by Ian McCulloch in the film adaptation of The Tragedy at Marsdon Manor in Series 3 of ITV's Agatha Christie's Poirot. In the adaptation he was given the first name "Jonathan" which was not used in the original story. In the dialogue, his wife Susan addressed him as "Jack". He had ongoing health problems, and had just had an operation and the doctor feared that stress or exertion could cause the ulcer to rupture. He was killed in the same manner as in the original story.