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Amberiotis

Kevork Malikyan as Mr Amberiotis

In the novel One, Two, Buckle My Shoe, Amberiotis was a wealthy Greek traveller staying at the Savoy Hotel. After an appointment with the dentist Henry Morley, he dies of an overdose of adrenaline and procaine (a dental anaesthetic). Amberiotis was believed to be one of the last people to see Morley before the dentist was himself shot dead. Amberiotis might have been a suspect except for the fact that he had absolutely no motive and that he himself died hours after the dentist. Understanding how the two deaths were linked is a major effort of the investigation undertaken by Chief Inspector Japp and Poirot.

According to Japp, Scotland Yard had a file on Amberiotis. He started out as a hotel-keeper in Greece, then got involved in politics. He did espionage work in Germany and in France—and "made very pretty little sums of money". However, he thought those sums were not enough and so took to blackmail. He was out in India the year before and was believed to have bled one of the native princes rather freely through blackmail. However nothing could be proved and he was "slippery as an eel".

Against this rather black picture of him, the text also records a more personal side: in chapter 1, he is described as fantasising on how he could be more generous in the future (from blackmail earnings): he thought of "Little Dimitri" and "the good Constantopopolus struggling with his little restaurant"--presumably these were relatives or friends whom he hoped to give some financial support to.

Poirot ultimately links his death to yet another blackmail attempt, this time against Alistair Blunt and using a dark secret obtained from a chance meeting with Mabelle Sainsbury Seale on board a ship coming back from India, the Maharanah.

Portrayals[]

Mr Amberiotis was portrayed by Kevork Malikyan in the Agatha Christie's Poirot TV adaptation of the novel.

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