In the novel Dumb Witness, Charles Arundell is the nephew of Emily Arundell and brother to Theresa, in his early thirties. He is the son of Thomas Arundell and widowed Mrs Varley. He also spent the capital of his inheritance from his father. He was tall, bronze-faced and good-looking, and had a "slightly mocking" manner.
He stayed in the Blue Room of Little Green House, sometime before Easter, as his aunt wished. She believed that, despite being charming, Charles could not be trusted at all. He offered to help Wilhelmina Lawson in a domestic task, but she expressed no gratitude--he then became aware of the fact that she did not like him, and that it was strange in some way. He believed that his sister Theresa and Dr Donaldson were an odd couple.
Some days before Emily Arundell's death, Charles asked told her he was in a "devil of a hole", and that he needed money, approximately one hundred pounds would have been fine. She declined, so he proceeded to steal some from his aunt's belongings.
Dr Grainger described him as an irreverent young devil, who did not care about the history of his family: the one that is born to be a trouble to his relatives. He travelled around the whole world, but did not settle anywhere particularly. Caroline Peabody said something similar about him. He always "returned like a bad penny from around the world", and was always in debts. Isabel Tripp went as far as saying that he was wanted by the police of some foreign country.
Later on, Hastings (and thus, the reader) comes to meet Charles Arundell in person. He entertained a "sneaking liking" for him from the moment they had met, and described that there was something "debonair and carefree" about him.
Charles, to some aspects, was the black sheep of the family. He talked about an episode which occured in Oxford regarding forgery and a cheque in vague terms. Then, he informed Poirot about a "litte fracas" with his aunt's bank--and that she was "sharp and needles", which probably meant she had discovered her nephew embezzling funds. He had also been responsible for a minor theft in his aunt's house, but he did not try to hide his guilt.
He also was asked by Poirot if he would commit murder if he needed, and he answered with "Thinking about a spot of blackmail, M. Poirot? Nothing doing. I can assure you that I didn’t put--" and then he made a long pause "strychnine in Aunt Emily's soup". Poirot believed it was curious that he made such a long pause, as if he was about to say something else and thought better of it. However, Hastings thought that the pause was just Charles thinking about a "good, venomous sounding poison".
Around that time Emily Arundell had an incident on the stairs, which turned out to be attempted murder. Charles and his sister left the following Wednesday, and returned two weekends later. She fell ill and died on May 1st, much to the surprise of him, since they had left on Monday when she had still a good health. When they were informed that their aunt was on her deathbed, they tried to visit her, but it was already too late.
At the end of the novel, Wilhelmina Lawson shares her inheritance with Charles and Theresa. Charles spent it quite quickly (in approximately one year) and settled in British Columbia, Canada.
Portrayals[]
Agatha Christie's Poirot[]
In the Agatha Christie's Poirot ITV TV adaptation aired in 2002, his part was played by Patrick Ryecart. Here, he appears to be an acquaintance of Hastings from long before the murder. He does not quite have the disreputable image described in the book. Here he is a powerboat enthusiast intent on setting the world water speed record. He is not wanton so much as unproductive. When Hastings asks what he does for a living, he says he is an investment adviser. He advises, and his aunt invests in him. Wilhemina does settle some money on him at the end and he says he is off to Utah to pursue the land speed record.
Les Petits Meurtres d'Agatha Christie[]
In Témoin muet, the French Télévisions film adaptation of the novel, the parallel character is Louis Ségur.