In the novel Sleeping Murder, Edith "Edie" Pagett was the cook in the Halliday home St Catherine, years earlier. She still resides in Dillmouth. Her sister is Mrs Mountford.
Portrayals
BBC's Miss Marple
In the BBC 1987 adaptation of the novel, Edith Pagett is portrayed by Jean Heywood. The portrayal is fairly faithful to the original. She narrates the events of the night when Helen disappeared. Leonie is not mentioned as she is not featured in this adaptation. Her account does include the part where Lily tells that Helen has taken all the wrong types of clothes and her theory that "the master had done her in" and that they had a row earlier when Helen was heard saying she was afraid of him. Edie adds that it could not have been Kelvin Halliday because just after hearing all this from Lily she looked and saw him coming down the hill with his golf clubs. The accounthere does not include the bit where Lily thinks the killer hid the body in the cellar, so Edie does not search the cellar the next day.
ITV's Agatha Christie's Marple
In the ITV 2006 adaptation of the novel, Edith Pagett is portrayed by Una Stubbs. Her account of the past is totally different here since the circumstances of Helen's disappearance are different. Edith begins with the background of Helen, an entertainer with the "Funnybones" troupe and a listing of all the other performers who later become the main suspects. Helen became engaged to Halliday and despite having digs with the rest of the troupe in town, began to spend nights at Hillside (Edith didn't approve of that since they were not yet married). She herself overhead the row between Halliday and Helen which includes Helen saying "I'm not going to see him." When Helen disappeared, Lily told her about her theory that Halliday had killed her and buried her in the garden but Edith dismissed that as "too much Boris Karloff down the picture house."
In this adaptation, Edith moves back into Hillside as Gwenda's cook/housekeeper. There is an amusing scene where she is fascinated that the kitchen has a refrigerator. She tries to persuade Miss Marple to have a glass of fresh cold milk straight from the refrigerator instead of a cup of tea.
NHK's Anime adaptation
Edith Pagett is also featured in NHK's anime adaptation of Sleeping Murder. Miss Marple tracks her down with the same gingerbread ploy. Her account of the past events follows the original novel fairly closely and includes the involvement of Leonie. The only omission is the part about searching the cellar. The voice actress behind the character is not credited.