In the short story The House of Lurking Death, Esther Quant was a parlourmaid at Thurnly Grange. Unlike the other domestic staff who had been employed for many years, Esther is a recent hire. She died after eating some fig paste sandwiches along with a few other members of the household.
It was later determined that she had died of ricin poisoning.
Portrayals[]
In LWT's 1983 TV adaptation of The House of Lurking Death, Esther Quant is portrayed by Anita Dobson. Here she is depicted as a "saucy" type who is perpetually concerned about cosmetics and make up. It is also suggested that she has been carrying on with Dennis Radcliffe. She died from the poison in the fig paste, just as in the original. Here Mary Chilcott says she must have filched a sandwich because she was "the greedy type".