Chief Superintendent Garroway

In the novel Elephants Can Remember, Chief Superintendent Garroway was the investigating officer in the deaths of Alistair and Margaret Ravenscroft. By the time of the events in the book, he had retired. A good friend of Superintendent Spence, Spence introduced Poirot to Garroway when Poirot wanted to look into the case.

At the time of the deaths of the Ravenscrofts, Garroway, then an inspector, had found the facts as they presented themselves to be quite clear and they indicated a suicide pact of some kind. Yet, as he told Poirot some fifteen years later, he felt that something was wrong. There seemed no reason for the otherwise happy couple to kill themselves. When Poirot asked Garroway for a theory, he said that what was known about the Ravenscrofts was limited to the five to six years after they returned to England. There had been a long period of time when they were overseas, in Malaya for example. Perhaps it was some old sin casting a long shadow.

Later, Garroway supplied Poirot with information from the case notes. Poirot wanted information about a wide range of topics, ranging from background information on the Ravenscrofts and the household, their habits, the shops they patronised, right down to whether they had a dog. All this and more Galloway was able to supply. One remark Garroway made about "same man, different hats" would prove especially insightful.