Mrs Baker (The Case of the Missing Will)

In the short story The Case of the Missing Will, Mrs Baker is wife of Jim Baker. The two are servants of Andrew Marsh at his house Crabtree Manor in Devonshire. They were keen to help Violet Marsh solve the puzzle of a possible second will which Marsh had set for his niece Violet as a challenge for her to prove her intelligence. See the article under Jim Baker for details.

Portrayals
Mrs Baker's portrayal and backstory are changed significantly in the film adaptation of The Case of the Missing Will in Series 5 of ITV's Agatha Christie's Poirot. Here she is given the first name "Margaret" and while she is still Andrew Marsh's housekeeper, she has a larger role in the plot. Margaret told Poirot that she first met Andrew in Australia where he hired her as a nanny for Violet, whom she said was the child of his business partner. When Andrew returned to England, he offered Margaret to come along as well. Subsequently she met and married her husband Walter Baker. Several of Andrew's friends including Dr Martin Pritchard thought that Andrew and Margaret were fond of each other. Pritchard, in particular, speculated that Peter Baker, Margaret's son, might have been Andrew's child. However Margaret insisted that Andrew only admired her from afar. After coming back from Australia, Andrew had been sent to France during the First World War. Peter was conceived while Andrew was away and by the time he came home on leave, Peter was already three months old.

Mrs Margaret Baker is portrayed by Gillian Hanna.