“ | Alex looked from one to the other. The strange thing was that despite their appearances, there was something identical about Tom Turner and Belinda Troy. It was as if they had both survived the same, bad accident. They were hard-bitten, emotionless, empty. Now he knew why the CIA needed him. If they'd tried to get these two into Skeleton Key, they're have been identified as spies as soon as they'd even got off the plane | ” |
—Alex Rider's opinions about Troy and Turner |
Belinda Troy was a former CIA agent, who accompanied Alex Rider to Skeleton Key (Cayo Esqueleto) under the alias of 'Belinda Gardiner', Alex's mother, with Tom Turner (Glen Carver in the US version of the novel) under the disguise of Alex's father. It is said that she had worked with Turner many times before their mission with Alex.
About
Troy is described as being a couple of years older than Turner, who was about forty years old. She is slim with brown frizzy hair that falls to her shoulders and doesn't appear to wear any make-up. When she first meets Alex, she is dresses very casually in a loose-fitting skirt and a T-shirt, with a string of beads around her neck and a coloured shoulder bag.
When Alex first meets Troy and Turner, they are described as being hard-bitten, emotionless and empty, presumably due to their work with the CIA. At first, both appear angry and annoyed that they are being forced to take Alex along, one of their arguments being that Alex isn't American and may blow their cover, getting them killed. Later on when they are having breakfast, Turner and Troy treat Alex negatively, criticizing him for his mistakes (like when Alex uses the English word 'jam' instead of the American term 'jelly') and refusing to tell him information about the situation, until Alex declares he has had enough and threatens to go back to London, after which they grudgingly tell him select information. After Alex rescues Turner from the Mayfair Lady boat, the two refuse to acknowledge that Alex saved Turner's life, "as if, in some way, he had dented their professional pride" and maintain that Alex was responsible for the boat blowing up, killing everyone on board, though this is later revealed to have been caused by Conrad, on the orders of General Alexei Sarov.
When disguised as Alex's mother, Troy takes the form of a "bossy and demanding" one, something which Alex says suits her well. Though she refers to Alex by his name and by the word "honey" on one occasion, later on she is said to still look unhappy to see him whenever he appears. Despite the objections of her partner, she tells Alex about the real reason for their mission when Alex discovers the Geiger Counter hidden inside the Game Boy they give him. Up until the last time Alex sees her alive, she tells him on more than one occasion that she doesn't want him around.
Both Troy and Turner are killed when they attempt to climb up the Devil's Chimney below Sarov's island. It is an underwater cave and they believe that this will lead them to Sarov, not knowing that Sarov is well aware of this cave and long ago placed a trap inside. As the two agents make their way in, their presence triggers the trap and they are both impaled on mechanical stalactites. Afterwards, their dead bodies are even sucked into a waste disposal unit.
Sources
- Photo: none
- General information: various sources, including but not limited to: