In the short story The Witness for the Prosecution, Miss Emily French was a wealthy elderly spinster. She had no close family and no friends. She first got to know Leonard Vole after that he helped her after she tripped in London. After a second meeting he became a regular guest at her house, a grand house in Crinklewood where she lived with her maid Janet Mackenzie and 8 cats.
Vole claimed that she asked him to help her understand her financials but, Mackenzie claims that she was confident with her business affairs. She changed her will and suggested to Mackenzie that Vole was to marry her. During the trial after her murder Vole denied this and said that Emily was well aware that he was already married to Romaine.
During the trial, the only argument the defence could make was that Emily's only known relative, a nephew whom had badgered her for money before and was untraceable at any of his regular places at the night of the murder, but that is very weak. Romaine's testimony against Vole proves decisive until her "secret lover" is exposed, resulting in Vole being acquitted and freed.
The character was later reworked for Christie's own stage adaptation.