Miranda Butler

Miranda Butler is a major protagonist in Agatha Christie's 1969 Hercule Poirot novel, Hallowe'en Party. Miranda Butler is the daughter of Judith Butler and Michael Garfield (in secret), who happened to murder the murder of Olga Seminoff and kept it as a secret, due to the influence of the killer.
She was portrayed by Mary Higgins in Agatha Christie's Poirot.
==History==
Unknown to herself, Miranda is the illegiminate daughter of Michael Garfield and Judith Butler, who once loved him until she discovered his twisted true nature. With pregnancy, Judith left her former lover and moved to Woodleigh Common and faked a lie about her husband being a pilot who died of accident, until Michael also moved inti the very same neighborhood and became Mrs. Llewellyn-Smythe's gardener.
Two years before the story's start, Miranda Butler had witnessed Michael Garfield and Rowena Drake disposing the corpse of Olga Seminoff after killing them. She was later approached by Michael, who convinced her to be a sacrifice that was necessary. Miranda believed this lie and started to keep it as a secret, while Michael deduced that Miranda was his own daughter.
Miranda only revealed it to her best friend, Joyce Reynolds, who often shared each other's secret with her. However, upon Miranda's absence due to a cold, Joyce appropriated the story for herself during a Halloween Party in Mrs. Drake's house, and boasted it to the others that she (Joyce) witnessed a murder. It became an act leading to Joyce's death due to the killer's accomplice, none other than Mrs. Drake, also took part in the party. Mrs. Drake later lured Joyce to her library and drowned her in an tub full of water prepared for the apple-bobbing game.
After Poirot's arrival at Woodleigh Common, Miranda greeted him and said how much she miss Joyce, but she informed Poirot that Joyce never told her that she (Joyce) had ever seen a murder. This sparkled Poirot's suspicion and eventually, his discovery that Miranda was the true witness of a murder, with the victim being Olga Seminoff, who was alleged to get missing after being framed for forging a codicil of Mrs. Llewellyn-Smythe's will, something manipulated by Michael Garfield, Rowena Drake and Leslie Ferrier, who also got killed off.
Upon Poirot inviting Ariadne Oliver, Mrs. Butler and Miranda to London, Miranda snuck out of a local restaurant and went for Michael Garfield, who prepared a murder-suicide ritual that would kill her off. Miranda believed she was responsible for the deaths of Joyce and later her brother, Leopold Reynolds, and Olga's murder was actually a sacrifice. She almost accept Michael's offer to poison herself, but was saved by Nicolas Ransom and Desmond Holland , thanks to Poirot who managed to warn his friends the moment he heard about Olga's corpse being discovered. She was informed that Olga was killed by Michael, who committed suicide right in front of her to escape the gallow.
Later, Miranda arrived in Scotland Yard and revealed to everyone she witnessed Mrs. Drake and Michael Garfield killing Olga, but chose to keep it as a secret due to Gafield convincing her that it was a necessary sacrifice. Poirot noted that there was a natural bond between Miranda and Garfield, but it did not stop him from attempted to kill his own daughter and save himself.
==Trivia==
*In Agatha Christie's Poirot, Judith and Miranda are not taken away by Poirot to London. Instead, Miranda sneaks out of her mother's home to meet Garfield.
*She is shown to be both a fan and a close friend of Ariadne Oliver.
*Mary Higgins, who is Miranda's actress in Agatha Christie's Poirot, is the eldest daughter of (who portrayed Judith Butler) and the latter's husband .
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