In the short story Finessing the King/The Gentleman Dressed in Newspaper, Sir Arthur Merivale is the husband of Lady Vere Merivale. When Lady Merivale was stabbed at the Ace of Spades night club, she told Tuppence that "Bingo did it". Inspector Marriot brought Sir Arthur to hear from Tuppence what Lady Merivale had said. He could not believe what Tuppence had heard because Captain “Bingo” Hale was his best friend and there was no plausible motive.
Portrayals[]
In LWT's 1983 TV adaptation of Finessing the King/The Gentleman Dressed in Newspaper, Sir Athur Merivale is portrayed by Benjamin Whitrow. The portrayal is faithful to the original, except that here, he goes to the Three Arts ball dressed as a devil and not as a seventeenth century executioner. There is also some additional action at the denouement. Here he draws a gun and attempts to hold the Beresfords up. Tommy splashes the drink from his glass into his face and then disarms him. Tuppence picks up the gun and points it at him while Inspector Marriot comes in (the whole denouement was a trap for Merivale). Back to the script of the original, Merivale dashes for the window and leaps to his death. His motive, as Marriot explains, is the same as in the original--Lady Merivale was the one with all the money. If she went off with "Bingo" Hale, he would be left with nothing.