Raymond Rafil

In Albert Major parlait trop, the French Télévisions film adaptation of Agatha Christie's A Caribbean Mystery, Raymond Rafil is the parallel of the character Mr Rafiel in the original novel. He is a wealthy but sick man with a weak heart and a patient at the Hôpital St Paul.

Unlike Mr Rafiel in the original novel and in various other adaptations, Mr Rafil here does not collaborate with Alice Avril or commissaire Laurence in investigating the killing of Albert Major. He is, however, similar in having made a will secretly which leaves his estate to his secretary Esther. This will was witnessed by Dr Paul Courelle, the Tim Kendal parallel. There is no Arthur Jackson in this adaptation.

Mr Rafil's other contribution to the storyline is unique to this adaptation and concerns his pet dog Phoenix. He tells commissaire Laurence that Phoenix has a weak heart but that Professor Vidal had transplanted a new heart into the dog, giving him a new lease of life. This put commissaire Laurence onto the secret human heart transplant experiments going on at the hospital which is a major side plot in the story.

In this adaptation, Mr Rafil does die near the end, but of natural causes. As Laurence surmised, this was much too early for Courelle. He had not yet succeeded in killing off his wife and wooing Esther. This rushed him into making one final effort.

Raymond Rafil is portrayed by Roch Leibovici.