Inspector Slack

[close] Slack is the senior police officer in charge of many cases in which Miss Marple is featured. He has been described as a man who has never strived to contradict his name. Miss Marple described him as having the same personality as that of a diesel engine, noisy and oily, but efficient. When Slack first met Miss Marple, her strange personality and her quirky methods caused him to think she was batty, and thus took no notice of her. Slack especially disliked the fact that his superiors think highly of Miss Marple and consult her for advice (although he later ends up doing the same). Usually, Slack passes over Miss Marple's beliefs and dislikes her interfering, although he later comes to value her advice. In his final appearance, it is revealed that Slack has been promoted to Superintendent and appears to have grown wiser, even telling an officer to consult Miss Marple. In They Do It with Mirrors it is revealed that Slack has a secret passion for magic tricks, and secretly practices. Slack featured in the novels of The Murder at the Vicarage and The Body in the Library. Miss Marple goes to see him in the Case of the Perfect Maid.