Nancy (The Case of the Middle-aged Wife)

In the Parker Pyne short story The Case of the Middle-aged Wife, Nancy is the young beautiful typist of George Packington. Lately, George had been taking an interest in her, bringing her boating on the river, dancing at night clubs. He spends time fantasising about whether he she would "allow" him to buy her a fur coat because the tweed one of hers is too thin. He gives his wife Maria the usual excuses, that there is no harm in it, why should he not bring a little brightness into the dull girl's life? Mrs Packington is deeply distressed and approaches Parker Pyne for help. His "schedule A" solution succeeds in making George lose interest in Nancy.

There is a hint that Nancy is exploiting the relationship in a less than innocent way. At one point, George notes that Nancy brothers had been getting into various scrapes lately and he had been "glad" to help.

Portrayals
In the Thames TV adaptation of the short story (Episode 1 of the The Agatha Christie Hour), Nancy is given the surname "Purvis" an is portrayed by Kate Dorning. Here she is certainly exploiting the relationship. She is shown conspiring with her boyfriend Eric what sob story to try next to milk more money out of George. She already got a fur coat earlier on from him.