In the novel Death in the Clouds, Anne Morisot is the daughter of Marie Morisot (also known as Madame Giselle), and George Leman. Anne is described as a "dark, chic-looking young woman". She is twenty-four years old.
Anne's father had left her mother shortly after their marriage. Anne was received at the Institut de Marie in Quebec, and was brought up there. Her mother returned to France shortly after. She sent money to Anne from time to time, and finally sent a lump sum to be given to Anne when she turned twenty-one.
Anne left the Institut when she was eighteen, and started to earn her living. She worked as a manicurist, and then as a lady's maid, and left Quebec for Europe in that capacity.
According to Madame Giselle's will, aside from a small legacy to her maid, Elise Grandier, all her money would go to Anne. After the death of Madame Giselle, her solicitor, Maître Alexandre Thibault, inserted discreet advertisements in various journals. One of these had come to the attention of Mère Angélique, the principal of the Institut de Marie, and she contacted Anne.
Anne had met a man named Richards in Nice, and they had gotten married in Rotterdam a month before the events of the novel. They had also made wills leaving everything to the other person, in the event of their death.
After Poirot meets Anne, he has a feeling that he has seen her before, or that she reminds him of someone. It is later revealed that he had indeed seen her before. She was Lady Horbury's maid, who was known as Madeleine. Thus, it is discovered that she was on the Prometheus when the murder happened.
After Poirot makes this discovery, he begins to feel that Anne is in danger, and goes to her hotel. He is told that Anne had left the hotel for the Gare du Nord. Anne is later foud dead in a first-class carriage of the boat train. A bottle which had contained hydrocyanic acid is found in her hand.
It is revealed that one of the other passengers on the Prometheus was actually Richards, Anne's husband. He intended to kill Madame Giselle in such a way that suspicion would fall on Lady Horbury. Anne would then have claimed her inheritance under a perfect alibi, since Lady Horbury usually had her maid travel by train and boat. However, this did not go according to plan, because Lady Horbury decided at the last minute that her maid should go by plane along with her.
When the murderer heard that Poirot had met Anne, he was afraid that Poirot would recognise her as Lady Horbury's maid. He got Anne to leave the hotel and get on the boat train, and administered prussic acid by force, leaving the bottle in her hand to make it look like suicide.
Portrayals[]
The part of Anne Richards was portrayed by Jenny Downham in the ITV TV adaptation which formed part of the TV series Agatha Christie's Poirot. Here she is given the last name Giselle instead of Morisot.