Matthew, Mary, and Bates were all up late into the night, unable to sleep for worry of where Anna could be and what she could be doing. Though none of them spoke it out loud, Mary was sure they were all thinking of her obsession with knives. And so they all sprang up when the front doorbell sounded, sure that it could only be her.
It was, but any relief was quickly overtaken by worry at Anna's haggard, shivering appearance. Mary brought a warm blanket to her in the sitting room, where everyone gathered after the usual fussing about how glad they were to see her. "Now then," said Matthew, "could you tell us where you've been?"
Anna looked like she was about to cry, but nothing came out. Mary got the odd feeling that all her tears had been cried out already. "I'm so sorry about this, I just wasn't thinking. I just had to see her, after finding out Mr. Bates had been in love before." She turned away from Bates at that, blushing furiously.
Bates looked quite embarrassed himself. "Well, I suppose I can't say this comes out of nowhere. I've noticed the way you look at me, and perhaps I should have said something sooner. But surely you won't do something like this again?"
Anna stared ahead at nothing, and her next words came out with an eerie lack of emotion. "I won't have to. It's done, and you have nothing to worry about from her anymore."
Everyone's faces took on a sudden horrified edge. "What do you mean?" asked Mary, not sure she wanted to know the answer."
Still staring into the distance, Anna went on, "I heard what she was going to make you do, and I couldn't let it happen. It was really that simple. She's dead." At the final word, something seemed to break inside her, and more tears came after all.
It was clear that they wouldn't be getting any more at the moment, so the others all looked at each other in disbelief. "Bates, could this actually be good for us?" said Matthew. "After all, she could have been a big complication, and now you get to keep your operation if we ever need it again."
Bates took a few more seconds to gather his thoughts. "That's certainly the case. And you can be sure I won't be shedding any tears for Vera. The problem is, can the police trace it back here?" He turned back to Anna, and noticed her bloody finger as she was burying her face in her hands. And much as he didn't want to, he forced his concern to the back of his mind and focused on the problem at hand. "Anna, how badly were you hurt? Could you have left any evidence behind?"
Somehow, this got through to her. While she wasn't so calm as before, she wasn't helplessly weeping anymore either. "Oh no, I took care of that." She reached into the pocket of Vera's coat and took out the fingernail. Mary's stomach turned at the gruesome sight, with bits of skin and blood still clinging to it, but also felt relief that Anna could think well enough in the moment to not leave it behind.
Bates was also clearly affected, and loudly coughed a few times before he continued. "Well, that's…certainly a good start. And I imagine that coat is hers too?" At Anna's nod, he said, "We'll have to burn it. It's the only way we can be sure no one will trace it here."
Anna sobbed out, "So that's all? It's going to be all right?"
Mary and Matthew both looked at Bates, and he gave a wry chuckle. "No need to be so polite about it. Yes, I'm the one with experience in these kinds of situations. And Anna, I'm sorry, but we can't know that. You're sure you can't recall any other evidence you might have left?" She vehemently shook her head. "Then we'll just have to hope that when the police find the scene, as they surely will, there's no one smart enough to put the few pieces they have together. I've known them to work miracles, and miss something right in front of their face. All we can do is be careful. And," he leaned in close to make sure she felt the full import, "we discuss anything like this together from now on. It's the only way we can hope to stay ahead of the law together."
Anna bowed her head, saying nothing, because there was simply no more to say.
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All those years of finding eavesdropping places at Downton had come in quite handy for Thomas, providing an education in the ways that sound could travel and the best places to hear someone talking without their seeing you. He was also grateful to the previous owners of Haxby Park, whose delinquencies in keeping the building in good repair even in places visitors wouldn't see had left it a few extra spots ideally suited to the purpose.
In this case, some rot-weakened floorboards in a dark corner of the sitting room created a sound passageway that passed into a spot in the old servants' quarters, which were currently unoccupied. And he couldn't believe what he'd heard, admissions of murder from Countess Aine's maid and further criminal activities from the butler if he judged right. It was information that Patrick would be very pleased with.
So it was a shame his master would not be hearing about it.
Thomas had skulked around the house for most of the day on Patrick's orders, and was close to giving it up as a waste of time when he saw the maid approaching in a horrible state. And something about her look struck her as familiar, but he quickly shoved the idea aside to focus on his job. But then he heard her addressed by name, and suddenly the recognition hit: this was the same maid who had been arrested for her illegal sexual preferences. Patrick had intimated that the accusation was a lie as Lady Mary was regarded, but he'd said nothing about Anna, and Thomas naturally had quite a soft spot for someone in that situation.
And so, after the conversation ended and he was left to think things over, he decided that whatever was going on here, he was going to help. He didn't know what use he could be, or how he could even approach them to make the offer, but Anna's presence meant they were doubtlessly working against Patrick, and he knew which side of that fight he should be on.
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Anna was startled and confused when a knock came on her bedroom door. She'd already said everything she'd needed to, and her allies all seemed satisfied with it, so who could this be now. She opened the door despite only being dressed in her nightgown; what could a little scandal like this mean to her after what she'd just done?
Bates quickly averted his eyes, but not quite as quickly as she could have, she was excited to notice. "Well, what is it?" She also wasn't feeling very much like observing social niceties at the moment.
Still looking away, Bates stuttered out, "I just felt I owed you an explanation for what you saw. You see, when I first met Vera…"
By this point his refusing to look at her was getting silly, and she interrupted with, "Oh, just take it all in, you big goose."
This didn't seem to aid his nerves any, but at least he was now looking her in the eye. "When I first met Vera, I was young and foolish. You probably couldn't tell, but she was very attractive back then, and at the time, that was all I cared about. I saw more than was there, and I imagine she was happy to take advantage of that."
Anna was starting to feel tears in her eyes again. "So is that all you came to say?"
Bates gave the same ponderous head shake he'd given to Gregson, with a quite different meaning this time. "My whole life, I've had to work my way up. I fought and bled for what I have, and no one was really on my side, some of them were just too afraid to go against me. Until you. Doing that for me…it's a whole new feeling. I'd wondered for some time if you felt the same way for me that I do for you, and now I know."
Anna took a step back. "Is this real?"
Bates remained in the doorway, which just made her love him even more. "It's as real as you want it to be."
She stepped right up to him. "Then I want it." She kissed him hungrily, and pulled him inside, kicking the door shut as she spun around.
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Inspector Vyner primly held a handkerchief over his mouth and nose as he examined the body of Vera Bates. It had been sitting there long enough to start stinking up the flats next door, which was what had brought the police calling. He doubted anyone would ever want to take the place over, with how the smell had now wormed its way everywhere.
"You never get used to it, do you?" said the local cop he'd met at the door.
"Not in my experience. It was a violent one, obviously. Typically with these types it's just a shot or two to the head."
"Yes, that's why we're thinking it was something more personal than the typical gang fights. Especially those four parallel scratches on her face; only one thing I can think of makes a wound like that." He mimed a swiping motion with his fingers.
Vyner shuddered. "And with how deep they are, we're talking about long fingernails. I suppose it could be a man who'd gone too long without trimming, but my gut is saying we're looking for another woman. And did you notice the one that stops a bit before the others? I suppose I would have been told right away if you boys had found a fingernail around here."
The cop shook his head. "Seems she was smart enough to take it with her. There was a bloody hand towel in the sink that looked like someone tried to clean it, but you know how it is with these things."
Vyner sighed. "So that's a dead end. Any associates outside her gang?"
"Well, she was married to a fellow named John Bates, though it ended long before she moved in here so none of the neighbors would be able to recognize him."
The inspector snapped his fingers. "That name's actually come up a bit on my side of things. He's deep in some nasty things himself, and if things were that bad between them, he could have been part of it, even if he didn't use the blade himself. We'd better find him quick."
