Joy Kildean

Joy Kildean Is the only child of the millionaire entrepreneur Joshua Kildean, and heir to his huge fortune. She features in The Death of Johnathan Taylor, The Lion and the Unicorn under a pseudonym, and The Adventure of the Faithful Sergeant.

She had a relationship with "Mark Bourbaki", a pseudonym for Johnathan Taylor, consisting of a short series of barbed and cynical romances. Having discovered his true identity and that he was blackmailing her father, Joy collaborated with Patrick Carlisle in his murder.

During The Death of Johnathan Taylor mystery, Allan Marlowe found out about Joy's involvement in Taylor's demise and she was sent to prison charged with being an accessory to murder.

The Lion and the Unicorn
There was much speculation about the return of Joy Kildean in the in the eighth mystery and indeed this was the case, although she was known publicly to most under the pseudonym of Harriet Finch, adopted after her escape from prison. This was alluded to in the Headlines preceding the mystery. Jeremy West and Cátia Cardoso are the only other characters to privately know of the real identity of Harriet Finch at the start of the mystery.

The architect behind Kildean's prison break and her subsequent employer was Dr Twist, who did so in order to use her against - the frankly rather awful - Ralph Charlton.

The escape was said to have occurred as following: "On Joy’s birthday, Twist sent her a cake under West’s name. The cake was checked thoroughly for anything hidden in it, and was then given to her. It was very tasty, and two hours later she was being rushed to hospital for poisoning by the venom of a certain Madagascan sea snake. While she was in bed recovering after initial treatment, guarded by three prison minders, the entire ward she was in was sleeping gassed through the air conditioning. She was wheeled out of the building by four people dressed as nurses, bundled into a pile of sleeping bags, and driven in a mini to a small terraced house in the suburbs of North London..."

Met by Cardoso and West, the alias Harriet Finch - a young, aspiring actress - was created, deliberately named to pose as the daughter of "celebrated actress Annabelle Finch" with whom Charlton had had a fling with in the past. Joy was to convince him that she is his long-lost daughter in order to change his will. Importantly, a controlling share of Charlton and Davies Mining should fall into Twist's hands.

During the mystery, Kildean was extremely successful at gaining the favour of Ralph Charlton although it is believed that he did not in fact fall for her given cover story. In true Kildean style, Joy took what she could get and convinced Charlton to leave her all his worldly possessions in exchange for her companionship in his old age, but with no intention of maintaining her agreements with Twist. It is also thought that her dealings on this day lead to blowing the cover of other Twist-affiliated agents.

The Adventure of the Faithful Sergeant
TBS