Who Derek Endicott is
Derek Endicott is Branlow Hall’s night manager. His knowledge of the building and its routines makes him an important witness to the night Frank Parris was killed. He is used to noticing movement after most guests have gone to bed, but noticing something and identifying it correctly are different tasks.
Role in Moonflower Murders
Susan returns to Derek’s account because it helped support the case against Stefan Leonida. The details seem ordinary: a barking dog, a person in a corridor, familiar clothing and a maintenance kit. Repeating the account slowly reveals how much depends on an assumption about identity. Derek’s role makes eyewitness uncertainty a concrete part of the plot rather than an abstract warning.
Key relationships
Gwyneth Endicott is his mother. Aiden MacNeil and the Trehernes are part of the household he serves. DS Locke relied on his account, while Susan Ryeland asks exactly what he saw and what remained hidden.
Played by Thomas Coombes
Thomas Coombes plays Derek Endicott. His other role is Eric Chandler. The pair demonstrates how a witness whose limitations matter to the real case can become a much harsher comic figure in Conway’s fiction.
Their story and fate — spoilers
Derek did not clearly see the face of the person he identified as Stefan. Aiden used Stefan’s clothing and toolbox to create that impression, then hurt Chase with a brooch so that the barking would draw Derek upstairs. The witness was deliberately placed in a position to observe a misleading scene. Susan’s reconstruction distinguishes Derek’s honest observation from the identity attached to it.
Books and television — book spoilers
Coombes also plays Eric Chandler in the fictional novel. Conway’s treatment of Derek and his mother is unkind, particularly after Gwyneth refuses to cooperate with his recording. The shared actor makes the source of the caricature visible. Yet Eric’s secret behaviour belongs to the invented story; it should not be imported wholesale into Derek’s life merely because Alan chose the same model.
Read or listen to the book
Moonflower Murders (2020)
Anthony Horowitz’s novel behind the second television mystery.
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Thomas Coombes plays both Derek Endicott and Eric Chandler, connecting the two story worlds.