In the novella The Mystery of the Spanish Chest, Arnold Clayton is the husband of Margharita. He is a senior civil servant at the Treasury. On the night of one of Major Rich's parties, he pretended that he needed to go to Edinburgh on urgent business with a man named Johnston and was supposed to have left King's Cross on the 8.15 train. Mr Clayton encouraged his wife to go to the party alone. He then went to the home of Major Rich and hid in a large chest in his sitting room, in order to spy on his wife. The next day, his dead body was found in the chest by the Major Rich's valet Burgess.
Arnold Clayton is a reworking if the character Edward Clayton from The Mystery of the Baghdad Chest, the short story from which the novella was expanded.
Portrayals[]
In the film adaptation of the story in Series 3 of ITV's Agatha Christie's Poirot, the character name reverts to "Edward Clayton". The character is played by Malcolm Sinclair. There was a gimlet in his pocket but there is no mention of him being drugged before being killed. There are no details of the murder weapon.