In the novel Cat Among the Pigeons, Henry Sutcliffe was the husband of Joan, and the father of Jennifer. He was a wealthy businessman with multiple international dealings and frequently made business trips abroad, to the Middle East, Ghana, South America and Paris. His brother-in-law thought he was rather pompous.
When his wife and daughter returned to England from Ramat, he was at an important director's meeting in Newcastle-on-Tyne.
After reading the newspaper accounts of murders at Meadowbank School for Girls, he insisted that his wife taking Jennifer out of the school.