Roger Havering

In the short story The Mystery of Hunter's Lodge, Roger Havering called on Poirot at the beginning to request that he investigate the shooting of his uncle Harrington Pace. According to the Who's Who consulted by Hastings, Roger was the second son of the fifth Baron Windsor. He had married Zoe Crabb in 1913.

Japp told Hastings that Roger had several "shady incidents" in his past, such as a forged cheque while a student at Oxford. He was also known to be heavily in debt. Roger stood to inherit his uncle's fortune which would be a strong motive. Nonetheless Roger had solid alibi for the crime. On the night of Pace's murder, he had travelled to London and spent the night at his club.

Portrayals
Roger Havering is played by Jim Norton in the film adaptation of the orignal story in Series 3 of ITV's Agatha Christie's Poirot. Here Roger is no stranger to Poirot and Hastings. He is a personal friend of Hastings and has invited Hastings and Poirot up to Hunter's Lodge for the shooting season. Unlike the original story, Poirot was able to break Roger's alibi. There was a local halt just down the line, Ashby Le Walken. Roger could have got off there, cycled to Hunter's Lodge to commit the murder, and then board an express train and still get to London before the earlier train. Roger used the plot device seen elsewhere. He refused to account for his movements and so got arrested by Japp. Later he confessed that he had got off the train to meet Lord Quamsby but had to keep this secret because the meeting was to beg for time to settle gambling debts. He had promised his wife never to gamble on horses again. Poirot saw through this as a ploy. By confessing to a lesser offence and then get let off, it was unlikely that the police would suspect him again.