Annie (The Adventure of the Clapham Cook)

In the short story The Adventure of the Clapham Cook, Annie is the house parlourmaid of Mrs Todd. She was the last person to speak to Eliza Dunn before she disappeared. She told Poirot that Eliza's last words to her was about her plan for the two of them to have stewed prunes and some bacon for dinner. This suggested to Poirot that Eliza had planned to come back on the night she disappeared. Annie also told Poirot that when the transport company came to collect Eliza's trunk, it was already packed and ready, suggesting that Eliza had planned to depart well beforehand. Asked to speculate on the cause of Eliza's disappearance, Annie thought it was "white slavers".

Portrayals
Bessie is played by Katy Murphy in the film adaptation of the story which was episode 1 of Series 1 of ITV's Agatha Christie's Poirot drama series. The dialogue between Annie and Poirot is almost word-for-word faithful to the original text, including a very humourous exchange about "white slavers". There is an additional scene not in the original text where Poirot sneaks to the back of the house with some more questions for Annie. She told Poirot that the Eliza's trunk had been collected. There was a label on it which said "Twickenham Station - to be called for".

In NHK's anime adaptation The Adventure of the Clapham Cook, Annie is also featured and has a large number of lines including her initial interview with Poirot and another one with Mabel West. The voice actress behind the character is not, however, credited.