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In the novel The Mystery of the Blue Train, The Marquis is a famous thief who had carried out heists in America, Switzerland, England and France. He has a passion for famous and historical jewels. He had last been heard of engineering various jewel robberies in Switzerland.

The Marquis appears at the beginning of the novel, when he goes to M. Papopolous' shop in Paris. He wears a small black satin mask to hide his face, and his white hair is implied to be a wig. Zia Papopolous sees and hears him through a keyhole, and expresses the opinion that it is rare to find a well-bred Englishman who speaks French as well as he does.

The Marquis is known to the French police, but they do not know as much as they would like to. According to Commissary Caux, The Marquis works behind the scenes and has underlings who do the dirty work for him. He does not come from the criminal classes, and speaks French and English with equal perfection.

According to Poirot, one of the chief assets of The Marquis is his "plausible, ingratiating manner". Poirot also says that The Marquis is "a killer by instinct", and believes in leaving no evidence behind him.

"The Marquis" turned out to be an alias used by Richard Knighton.

Knighton was in league with Ada Mason, which was also a fake name. Ada's real name was "Kitty Kidd".

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