In the novel The A.B.C. Murders, Dr Kerr is a police surgeon in the town of Andover. He examined the body of the first murder victim Alice Ascher.
Dr Kerr is described as a "competent-looking middle-aged man". He speaks "briskly and with decision".
After examining the body of Mrs Ascher, Dr Kerr says that she never knew who or what had struck her. He also tells Poirot that with sufficient weight in the head of the weapon, quite a feeble person would have been able to strike the blow that killed her. When Poirot asks if the murderer could have been a woman, Dr Kerr says it is possible, but psychologically speaking, he does not see this as a woman's crime.
Dr Kerr is of the opinion that Mrs Ascher was standing with her back to the counter, and therefore, to her assailant, when the blow was struck. She had then slipped down in a heap behind the counter.
Portrayals[]
In the film adaptation of The A.B.C. Murders in Series 2 of ITV's Agatha Christie's Poirot, the part of Dr Kerr was played by Allan Mitchell.
In the anime show ABC Murders, NHK's adaptation of The A.B.C. Murders, there is a police surgeon who conducted the post mortem of Alice Ascher but the character is not named. He description of the manner in which Alice was killed is fairly similar to that in the original story. After hearing the doctor, Poirot says that he is therefore fairly certain that Franz Ascher did not kill Alice. She would not have turned her back to someone whom she feared. The voice actor behind the character of the police surgeon is not credited.