In the novel By the Pricking of My Thumbs, Miss Millicent Packard is the matron at the Sunny Ridge retirement home. She is a registered nurse, and is highly competent, carefully supervising the residents at the home, as well as her staff.
Miss Packard is about fifty years old, and isndescribed as being a "big, sandy-haired woman". She has an "air of calm competence about her", which Tommy admires.
Miss Packard tells Tuppence that she quite enjoys running Sunny Ridge, and is quite fond of the residents. According to her, they are easy to manage if one knows how, and Tuppence is of the opinion that Miss Packard is someone who does know how.
After Tommy's aunt, Ada Fanshawe, passes away, Tommy and Tuppence go to Sunny Ridge to go through her belongings. Miss Packard greets them, and her manner is "suitably not quite as brisk as usual". Instead, her manner is grave, with "a kind of semimourning". She is "an expert in the exact amount of condolence which would be acceptable".
Miss Packard offers to give Tommy and Tuppence the names of some societies to which they can donate aunt Ada's clothes and other items. She also introduces them to Nurse O'Keefe, to whom they give aunt Ada's fur stole.
Portrayals[]
In the Agatha Christie's Marple Season 2 adaptation, Miss Packard is portrayed by Clare Holman. Here she is given the first name Vera. Tuppence spots her pouring and mixing some medicines and later suspects that she might be the murderer of Aunt Ada. However Miss Marple does not agree. Miss Packard reminds her of Mrs Dickens, who used to dilute the drinks of her pub. Miss Packard was seen holding a big blue bottle. This was very expensive tonic. She was probably diluting it to make it last longer. According to Miss Marple, Miss Packard had a good heart--she had allowed Mrs Moody to stay on in the nursing home even though her funds had run out.
In the 2005 Pascal Thomas adaptation Mon petit doigt m'a dit..., the parallel character is Madame Pacard.