# Inspector Slack — The Murder at the Vicarage character guide

> Inspector Slack in The Murder at the Vicarage by Agatha Christie.

**Role:** supporting

**Also known as:** Slack

**First appearance:** 0001-the-murder-at-the-vicarage

## Snapshot

The official inspector on the Protheroe case, brisk and self-assured, forever missing the point in the way Miss Marple finds most instructive.

## Who they are

Slack leads the police investigation with the confidence of a man who has already decided what he is looking for. Miss Marple compares him to a shop assistant pushing patent leather because it happens to be in your size — he notices what fits his theory, not what the case actually requires. His blindness to the quieter evidence is what makes the vicar's amateur sleuthing, and Miss Marple's, quietly necessary.

## In the story

### [V](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_murder_at_the_vicarage_se/chapters/v)

Takes charge of the investigation, focuses on the stopped clock and the unfinished letter, dismisses the Vicar's attempts to speak.

### [XI](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_murder_at_the_vicarage_se/chapters/xi)

Stubbornly believes Redding is guilty based on his confession and the pistol, dismisses doctors' evidence.

### [XII](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_murder_at_the_vicarage_se/chapters/xii)

Questions the maid and Mrs. Price Ridley; examines the note and confirms Miss Marple's ink theory.

### [XIII](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_murder_at_the_vicarage_se/chapters/xiii)

Takes note of Mrs. Price Ridley's report and prioritizes tracing the fake call that got the vicar out of the way.

### [XV](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_murder_at_the_vicarage_se/chapters/xv)

Questions Mrs. Lestrange about her alibi and her visit to Protheroe; shows hostility toward the narrator.

### [XVI](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_murder_at_the_vicarage_se/chapters/xvi)

Questions the narrator about Mrs. Lestrange; interviews the chauffeur Manning; suspects blackmail.

### [XVII](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_murder_at_the_vicarage_se/chapters/xvii)

Shares his findings about the telephone calls and his suspicion of Mrs. Lestrange.

### [XXIII](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_murder_at_the_vicarage_se/chapters/xxiii)

Discovers the stolen silver in a suitcase and concludes Dr. Stone is not involved in the murder.

### [XXV](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_murder_at_the_vicarage_se/chapters/xxv)

Interrogates Miss Cram; mentions Archer's alibi and the possibility of a silver forgery.

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_murder_at_the_vicarage_se/characters/inspector_slack
- Book: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_murder_at_the_vicarage_se
- All characters: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_murder_at_the_vicarage_se/characters