A lock commonly found on home front doors; they are mounted to doors that open inwards and mounted to the inner surface of the door.

A method of strangulation where a thin npiece of metal, rope, or fishing line attached to a woden handle is used to constrict the airway. It was someitmes used as a method of execution but has since been outlawed 

Lesgate and Tony went to college together and talk about their time in Cambridge. College in the UK means something different. It typically is what is also referred to as Sixth Form College. From the way the college is talked about by the characters it seems like a more wealthy institution. If you want to find out more what this environment would be like you can read about it from this article 

Lesgate was court-martialed during the war. While we don't know what he did we do know a bit about what might get someone court-martialed. "A court martial is a legal proceeding for military members that is similar to a civilian court trial. It is usually reserved for serious criminal offenses like felonies."  To learn more about this process you can read this website. 

Milquetoast is used to describe something as bland, insipid, and feeble. It comes from a cartoon character Caspar Milquetoast. You can read more about who some consider "the original Snowflake" here

Dipsomania is a type of alcholism where people crave alcohol intermittently in bouts.

Charwoman is an old fashioned British english word for a hired cleaner. It stems from the phrase Chore Woman. 

There isn't really an equivalent to the Home Office in the United States. In the UK this office oversees immigration, public services and policing, and other more adminstrative duties. The Home Secretary Is roughly the equivalent of the Attorney General.

In the play they appeal to the home secretary in Margot's case. The play doesn't give enough information to understand how this process worked for her but it going up to the level of the home secretary implies that there was a period of time where they appealed to the secretary after the initial trial. This typically does not occur in the judicial system but because of the high profile nature of the case the home secretary could become involved. 

Scotland Yard is the headquarters of the London Metropolitan Police. The name has come to represent the London Police force. It is called Scotland Yard because for a long period of time their headquarters main enterance was on a street called Great Scotland Yard where the Scottish royalty had a palace 

To the right you can see the ranks of the police force starting with police constable up to chief constable. 

Wilkie Collins is a English Playwright and Novelist. He lived from 1824 to 1889 and wrote many well known books including The Moonstone and Woman in White. He wrote what at the time would be considered Sensation Novels which are the precursor to modern detective novels. Some even consider his work The Moonstone to be the first detective novel. He was good friends with Charles Dickens and for a time lived in Maida Vale. 

Bertrand Russell was an academic and winner of the Nobel Prize in Literature. He lived from 1872-1970. His work emphasized a freedom of thought and humanitarian ideals. He was a proponent of nuclear disarmament and supported the "Homosexual Law Reform Society"

Albert Anastasia was a famous Italian mobster who lived from 1902-1957. He was the boss of the modern day Gambino Crime Family and a founder of the American Mafia. He controlled the New York Water front using the dockworkers union.

Bugsy Siegal was a Jewish Mobster but had ties to the Italian mob as well. He lived from 1906-1947. He helped to make Las Vegas what it is today with his aquisition of the Flamingo Hotel and his business dealings there. He was also part of Murder Inc. with Anastasia a crime group that was made up of Italian and Jewish Mobsters.

Bulldog Drummond was a character from a popular novel series that subsequently got turned into films. The first novel was released in 1920 and continued to have sequels until 1969 having been continued by two other authors after the initial authors death. Drummond was a rich former British officer who put an advertisement in a the paper to find adventure. He subsequently finds himself invovled in many adventures workign against a secret organization. He is direct inspiration for James Bond. 

Georges Simenon is a Belgian writer who lived from 1903-1989. His most popular Novels featured the detective Jules Maigret a French Police officer serving in the Paris police force. He Published 400 novels in his life and 21 memoirs.

Eric Ambler was a British author and Screenwriter who lived from 1909-1998. He wrote many mystery and spy novels. He won an aacademy award for writing The Cruel Sea. His work has been credited as inpsiring many spy novelists

Samuel Dashiell Hammett was an American writer, screenwriter, and activist who lived from 1894-1961. He wrote the now iconic character Sam Spade and the movie he was featured in The Maltese Falcon. Later in life he was blacklisted due to tbeing called to testify before the House Un-American Activities Comittee.  

Marie Tussauds was born in 1761 Bern, Switzerland. Her mother was an artist and worked with wax models. Tussaud learned her craft from her and after the French revolution moved to London to display her figures. Many of them she created while imprisoned during the french revolution after her fellow prisoners. Her museum become very popular and she continued to make wax figures of significant people both fictional and real. One of her first wax figures is to the left of Voltaire. The museum gained popularity over the years and has been a staple of london tourism since 1830s when it opened. It was run by her family who acted as managers and head artists for many years.