Mary Debenham

Vanessa Redgrave as Debenham in the 1974 film

Mary Hermione Debenham is one of the main characters in Murder on the Orient Express.

Mary has been played by various actresses, including Vanessa Redgrave, Natasha Wightman, Jessica Chastain, and Daisy Ridley.

Biography

Mary was born on January 9, 1909, in Sompting, West Sussex, England.

She grew up with a love of geography in an Anglo-Saxon family. Her father was a clergyman for the Church of St. Mary the Blessed Virgin.

In 1924, Mary immigrated to America and became Sonia Armstrong's personal secretary, as well as the professional governess to Sonia's younger sister Helena Goldenberg.

In 1927, Sonia gave birth to her only daughter Daisy Armstrong. Mary took on a maternal role towards young Daisy, and became her tutor.

Daisy Armstrong's Kidnapping

However, on April 17, 1930, Daisy was kidnapped by a brutal gangster named Lanfranco Cassetti. 3 days later, the Armstrong Family received a ransom note demanding $200,000 in exchange for Daisy's return.

The Armstrongs paid the ransom, but Cassetti held back on his promise and murdered Daisy instead.

This hateful act started a chain reaction of deaths: Sonia, who died while giving premature birth to a second child and miscarrying; Colonel Armstrong, who committed suicide upon hearing that his wife was dead; and Susanne Michel, the Armstrong's nursemaid, who was arrested on the belief that she helped the kidnappers, and committed suicide when nobody would believe her.

7 months later, Cassetti was brought to trial, but his Mafia associates rigged the trial, paying the jury to set Cassetti free without a guilty verdict.

Incensed by this, Sonia's mother and Daisy's grandmother Linda Arden gathered a jury of 12 people, including Mary, to punish Cassetti for his vicious crime. The other jury members consisted of:

• Pierre-Paul Michel: the Compagnie Internationale des Wagons-Lits conductor of the Orient Express, and Susanne's father.
• Hector MacQueen: the son of the District Attorney who served at Cassetti's trial.
• Edward Masterman: Colonel Armstrong's batman during the Great War, and the Armstrong Family butler.
• Greta Ohlsson: the Armstrong Family nurse.
• Princess Natalia Dragomiroff: Arden's best friend and Sonia's godmother.
• Count Rudolph Andrenyi: Sonia's brother-in-law, Arden's son-in-law, and Daisy's uncle.
• Countess Elena Andrenyi/Helena Goldenberg: Arden's daughter, Sonia's younger sister, Andrenyi’s wife, and Daisy's aunt.
• Colonel John Arbuthnot: Colonel Armstrong's best friend.
• Cyrus Bethman Hardman: a former member of the NYPD and Susanne's lover. In addition, The Armstrong Estate was in his jurisdiction.
• Antonio Foscarelli: The Armstrong Family chauffeur.
• and Hildegarde Schmidt: The Armstrong Family cook, who would later become the lady's maid of Princess Dragomiroff.

Arden used a plan created by Foscarelli: have Hardman track down Cassetti, learn his new identity and address, and report back to them. Then, with that new information, have MacQueen and Masterman be hired by Cassetti, and MacQueen would relay special information.

During this time, Mary fell in love with Arbuthnot, and the two of them decided to marry, but couldn't until they had murdered Cassetti.

Also during this time, Mary temporarily lived with her sister, at 61 Bevenden Street, London, England.

The Orient Express

W grudniu 1935 r. Mary i Arbuthnot udali się do Stambułu na pokładzie Orient Express. Zamordowali Cassettiego, teraz pod nową tożsamością Samuela Edwarda Ratchetta.

Mary had served as governess to two children in Baghdad.

On December 16, while in Konya, Hercule Poirot overheard a partial conversation between Mary and Arbuthnot. Mary said, "Not now. When it's all over. When it's behind us. Then..."

The same day, the jury boarded the Orient Express at Sirkeci Station.

At 12:37am on December 18, the jury snuck into Ratchett's compartment and stabbed him to death.

A few moments later, the train halted in a snowbank, and at 9:45am, the body was discovered.

During the interviews, Mary stayed in character as a cool, calm character. When Poirot asked her about the conversation he overheard in Konya, she became cold towards Poirot, and refused tao answer.

Poirot later asked Arbuthnot about the conversation, and Arbuthnot also refused to answer, recommending that Poirot try talking to Mary again.

During Mary's third interview, Poirot repeated the question, and she broke down in tears because she couldn't answer. A furious Arbuthnot confronted Poirot before escorting Mary back to the compartment.

Poirot revealed that all of the passengers were responsible for murdering Ratchett, but he lets them go because they had avenged the Armstrong Family.

Portrayals

Murder on the Orient Express (1974)

In the 1974 film, Mary Debenham teaches shorthand in Baghdad, unlike in the novel, where she was a governess to two young children in Baghdad.

At the time of the kidnapping of Daisy Armstrong, Mary was secretary to Sonia Armstrong. In the novel, she was secretary to Mrs Armstrong as well as governess to Mrs Armstrong's younger sister.

Physical Description

In the novel, Mary is tall, slim, and dark-skinned with delicate pallor. She has a burnished black head, cool, impersonal grey eyes, and wavy hair. She has a cool, calm, collected personality.

In her introductory scene, Mary wears a dark-colored travelling dress made of thin material.

For her scenes on the train, Mary wears a grey French shirt, and a neat black suit.

She wears a pale mauve dressing gown for sleeping.

• In the 2017 film, Mary has dark brown curly hair with red highlights, hazel eyes, and red lips.
  • Her main attire is a navy blue cardigan, an orange neck tie blouse, a knee-length plaid tweed skirt, and black t-strap Mary Jane shoes.
  • In other scenes, she wears a tweed plaid suit to match her skirt.

Trivia

• Mary is right-handed.
• Even though her character's costume in the 2017 film is is tweed, Daisy Ridley herself is allergic to wool.
• In the 2017 film, Mary lives with her sister until her next employment, at 61 Bevenden Street, London.
  • This is a real address: it is Finn House, an apartment complex in Hoxton, an East End district of London.