Mrs Carmichael

In the short story The Case of the Perfect Maid, Mrs Carmichael is an elderly woman living at Old Hall with her maid Janet. She is described as being rich and eccentric.

Mrs Carmichael loves birds and "entertained a feathered gathering to meals every day". She is in the habit of walking in the gardens at dusk, calling to the birds and scattering crumbs.

During the spate of robberies among the tenants at Old Hall, Mrs Carmichael lost some valuable jewels. She also kept a large sum of money in the apartment which had been taken.

Portrayals
In the NHK anime adaptation The Perfect Maid, Mrs Carmichael is featured quite prominently and has a good number of lines. In one scene, she chats with Miss Marple and Mabel West about how difficult it is to find good help and comments that while her Janet has many faults, an ideal maid cannot be found easily. True to her liking for birds, she picks up Oliver who has been playing in the Old Hall grounds and hands him back to Mabel. Later, Mrs Carmichael is seen gossiping with the other tenants about how hard it is to find good maids when they meet Lavinia coming out to greet the arrival of her new maid Mary Higgins. Despite the large number of lines she has, the voice actress behind the character is not credited.