Janice Freeman was Alan Freeman's second wife, and step-mother to Matthew and Rosie. Originally the family nanny, she stepped in when the family was in turmoil over the disappearance of Alan's (first) wife, Elizabeth Dryden McGinty to the extent that they took Janice maiden name of Freeman after the marriage to escape the taint of Elizabeth's disappearance, and held them together through Matthew's defection, when he went off to become Crow.