Martin Zimmerman

Martin Zimmerman is a non-canonical character created for ITV's 2006 adaptation of the novel The Sittaford Mystery. He is an American visitor who checks into The Three Crowns hotel at Exhampton at around the same time that Clive Trevelyan takes a room there. When Clive Trevelyan is found murdered later, he becomes one of the suspects. Martin Zimmerman is portrayed by Michael Brandon.

Through the course of events, various scenes build him up as a plausible suspect. He is a businessman with interests in Anglo-American Holdings, a company in which Trevelyan also had an interest in. We see Zimmerman demanding Trevelyan's signature on some document and threatening him if he refuses. We see Ambrose Burt giving Zimmerman various injections. We also see Zimmerman suspiciously sending Burt out with a coil of wire.

These actions are only explained towards the end of the show. He admits that he and Trevelyan were partners in a company which was involved in the TX75 scandal. This was a naval artillery shell which had manufacturing defects which caused it to frequently explode in the gun barrels. This resulted in the deaths of numerous American sailors. The company had taken shortcuts in production to increase its profits. Zimmerman complained bitterly that Trevelyan had taken the profits and left him to shoulder the blame as there would soon be a congressional inquiry on the matter. The document he wanted Trevelyan to sign would have exonerated Zimmerman of blame in the scandal. He failed to get the signature the first time. He tried to get it the next morning but Trevelyan was already dead. He then forged the signature, something which Emily Trefusis uncovered.

The injections and capsules which Ambrose Burt gave Zimmerman were not drugs as Emily and the others investigating the death of Trevelyan supposed. Burt explained that they are simply coloured water. He gave them to Zimmerman because they kept him happy and he paid good money for them.

As for the coil of wire, it turns out that it is nothing more than a radio antenna. Zimmerman is a fan of American football and, on the night of the murder, wanted to listen to a certain game being broadcast from California. As the reception was no good, he sent Burt to the roof with an antenna to improve the signal.