Jim Baker (The Case of the Missing Will)

In the short story The Case of the Missing Will, Jim Baker and his wife 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. However the Bakers could offer little concrete help. They told Poirot that they had been sent to the village to buy two printed will forms. Marsh asked for two, in case something went wrong with the first. Marsh then asked the Bakers to witness a will at 11 a.m. An hour later, Marsh asked them to witness a second will because something went wrong with the first will. After that, Marsh went out to the village to settle somethings with tradesmen. The Bakers also told Poirot that about two and a half years previously, Marsh had engaged some workmen from Plymouth to do some repairs to the house. Part of the time, the workmen had been working in the study but the Bakers did not know what kind of work they had done.

Portrayals
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 he is given the first name "Walter". He is not a servant in Andrew Marsh's household but rather the local police sergeant. When he stubbornly insisted that there was nothing suspicious in the death of Andrew Marsh and refused to investigate, Poirot decided to go over his head and call on Chief Inspector Japp.

Walter Baker is portrayed by Jon Laurimore.