In the short story The Under Dog, Victor Astwell is the brother and business partner of Sir Reuben Astwell. At the time of the events in the story, he had just come back, having spent some years in West Africa where he was exploring mining concessions for his brother's company. On the night of the murder of Sir Reuben, Victor was seen coming out of the study, having just quarreled loudly with his brother. He had opportunity and also no alibi.
Victor is described as a big man and with a fiery temper. Apparently (so Poirot discovered), Victor had once killed a man in West Africa. However Victor explained that this man was a witch doctor who had massacred fifteen children. He considered that he was justified in his actions. In any case, Poirot dismissed the likelihood that Victor was the killer, as he did the others who had bad tempers. A bad temper was, to him, its own saftey valve. "A barking dog seldom bites".
During the denouement, Lily Margrave told the others that she and Victor planned to be married. The quarrel Victor had with his brother on the night of his death was about Lily. Sir Reuben had decided to dismiss Lily on the grounds that her references were forged.
Portrayals[]
In ITV's 1993 adaptation of the story, Victor Astwell is portrayed by Ian Gelder. Here he is not big in size nor does he have a particularly bad temper. He is not into mining but a junior partner of his brother in Astwell Chemicals.
The quarrel he had with Sir Reuben on the night of his death was not over Lily but over Sir Reuben's decision to licence the production of astroprene, a newly developed synthetic rubber compound, to I. G. Farben in Germany. Victor believed that Germany would use the technology for military purposes.
In this adaptation, Victor and Lily Margrave are not in love with each other. Here, Lady Astwell, Sir Reuben's wife said under hypnosis that she and Victor loved each other very much.