Margaret Lumley

Margaret Lumley is a non-canonical character created for the 2009 ITV adaptation of Nemesis. She and her husband Sydney are passengers on the "Daffodil Mystery Coach Tour" which Jason Rafiel had arranged for Miss Marple. Margaret Lumley is portrayed by Laura Michelle Kelly who also portrayed Verity Hunt.

Jason Rafiel had asked Miss Marple to solve a possible crime or put right an unknown injustice. Through the course of events in the tour, it becomes apparent that the crime or injustice has to do with the fate of a young girl named "Verity Hunt". It also becomes apparent that all the passengers in the bus (which Rafiel contrived in various ways to bring on to the tour) are somehow linked to the girl.

Margaret's link is revealed early on during a stopover at Medhurst. Laurence Raeburn, an elderly former butler, suffers an accidental fall down a stair. Looking up at the people on the staircase, he blurts out "Verity". Margaret thinks he is talking to her and replies that she is Margaret and not Verity.

The link appears to be that she looks like Verity. Sydney later reveals that he had been Verity's landlord. He wanted Verity to marry him but she turned him down and ran off. Subsequently, he married Margaret. Margaret surmised that he was attracted to her because she reminded him of Verity.

Sydney later conspired with Margaret to exploit her resemblance to Verity. Lord Forrester had willed his estate to Verity as she was his illegitimate daughter. Amanda Dalrymple had taken action to declare Verity legally dead in order to clear the way for herself to inherit Lord Forrester's estate. Sydney had Margaret pretend to be Verity in order to blackmail Amanda. Amanda sent her solicitor Derek Turnbull with a photo and a list of questions about Verity to verify the claim but Sydney was able to coach Margaret in giving the right answers since he know a fair bit about Verity's background. Whether Turnbull saw through the deception or not, he certainly took advantage of it (see the article on Turnbull for details).

At the end of the episode, Margaret once more uses her resemblance to Verity, but this time in the course of justice. She helps Miss Marple by dressing up as a nun as part of a psychological ploy. Sister Clotilde Merryweather is led to think that she is seeing an apparition of Verity and breaks down and confesses to killing her.