Mrs Raikes

In the novel The Mysterious Affair at Styles, Mrs Raikes is the pretty young wife of a local farmer and neighbour of the Styles Court estate. Hastings described her as a beautiful woman with a gipsy face.

Early in the book, Evelyn Howard suggested that Alfred Inglethorp was spending a lot of time with her. Indeed, later Poirot established an alibi for Inglethorp through Mrs Raikes. He showed that at the time Inglethorp was alleged to have purchased strychnine from the chemists, he was in fact walking Mrs Raikes back to her home. Much later it transpired that it was John Cavendish was the one conducting an affair with her.

Agatha Christie's Poirot
In the 1990 ITV adaptation of The Mysterious Affair at Styles, Mrs Raikes is portrayed by Penelope Beaumont. Here she is portrayed as a widow and her role is slightly enlarged. As in the novel, she provides the alibi for Inglethorpe. However, she "intrigue" with John Cavendish is embellished greatly. She is shown being questioned in court about her relationship with John. In one instance, the prosecution asserts that John Cavendish had given her a cheque for two hundred pounds. Mrs Raikes denies that there is anything improper with their relationship. The cheque was a loan. According to Poirot, who was told this by Mrs Raikes herself, John had loaned her the money to purchase a freehold for her cottage. These details were not present in the original book.