Daisy didn't even try to pretend she hadn't been listening at the sitting room's keyhole when Sybil and Tom came in. This was clearly a house of secrets coming out, so why bother trying to hide her own far lesser ones? She automatically curtsied to her one-time employer. "I don't imagine you remember me, Miss Sybil, I hadn't been at the abbey long at the time you…went away."

Sybil blushed. "Actually, you were trying so hard not to be noticed that it just made you all the more interesting to someone who'd just started taking a look at the issues of the lower class."

Behind them, Anna started with, "Well, we'll all have time to catch up later, so-" before cutting off with what looked like a gasp, except she was clearly forcing no sound to come out. She rushed ahead into the room herself and quietly closed the door, and whispered "It's the police!"

Daisy was surprised to find Sybil and Tom didn't seem that worried. In fact, it was Anna who was displaying much more fear, to a level that didn't seem like it just came from a general concern for what the police's arrival could mean. Daisy resolved to find out more about this, but for now knew to keep her mouth shut and hope Mary, Matthew, and Bates could deal with the situation.

0000000000000000000000000000

Bates recovered from the surprise of the inspector's statement quite quickly; spending your whole adult life in some kind of danger tended to either increase your ability to keep your head or kill you. "Not the first time I've heard that from someone in your profession, I'm afraid," he said. There didn't seem to be much point in trying to hide that much if they knew enough to track him down here.

Vyner also wasn't thrown a bit, seeming to have anticipated that response. "And now you've gone straight, I suppose?"

Bates looked back at Matthew and Mary, seeing that Mary had hastily put down her veil. "The count and countess were good enough to give me a job despite my past. Now it's just up to me to repay that trust."

Matthew gave a discreet cough. "And now if you don't mind, inspector, why exactly do you want to speak to my man?"

"Ah, yes. It has to do with your wife, Mr. Bates. She's been murdered."

It was quite a tricky thing to manage, trying to act surprised and with some level of grief, but not too much given their animosity that Vyner would likely know about. Just in case, he put a hand over his mouth and said, "She was always destined for a bad end."

Vyner stifled a grin. "You realize how something like that would sound in court?"

Bates didn't bother hiding his own smile; they both knew the game well. "It's only the truth. She hated me, and didn't do much to endear my own feelings in return. Everyone in the area knows it, so I might as well just say it now."

Matthew cut in: "If you're going to be arresting my employee, I hope you have some evidence beyond this speculation."

Vyner turned to him with an acidic look. "It's a slow process when it's done properly. I'm not going to be arresting anyone tonight; this is just a visit to let you know the situation. And now that's it's done, I'll leave you be. Good night."

After Bates closed the door, they went back to get the others. "Everything's fine for now," said Mary, knowing exactly what their first question would be. "We may need some more help, though, I'm afraid." They quickly went through the situation.

Bates said, "I'm sure Miss Bunting would be glad to keep us filled in on what's happening in town. There's no love lost between her and any kind of authority."

Daisy picked it up with, "And I'd best be off back to the Abbey. Thomas is a cunning fellow, maybe he'll be able to do something."

Sybil looked a bit embarrassed. "I'm afraid I can't offer much on this one. Blowing some place up probably won't help much."

Everyone had a bit of a laugh at that. Mary replied, "Don't you worry about that. Your fight here is with Patrick and Edith, and you'll definitely have something to do with that one. We'll just need time to figure out what it is."

That got a distinctly keen grin from both her and Tom. The latter said, "I've heard so much about those two. Just get me in a room with them and I could end the whole thing for you tonight."

Mary shook her head. "Maybe back when it happened I would have taken you up on that. But we've spent years on our own ideas, and we're so close now to pulling the whole thing off. This business with the police is a complication, but I have complete faith we can beat it if we do our best."

0000000000000000000000000000

Vyner shook his head as he departed. The upper class usually had some quirks to them, but these people seemed a whole extra level of strange. They were clearly hiding something, and the trouble was just figuring out if it had anything to do with his case.

But there was one thing that nagged at him above all the other questions he suddenly had. They probably didn't think he'd even noticed, but he'd spent enough time on the job talking to these kinds of people to know that the lady of the house always had her own personal maid who typically followed her mistress at all times. And yet, there wasn't one anywhere to be seen with the countess right there. He would have to follow up on that.

0000000000000000000000000000

Thomas was amused to see Daisy sneaking through the servants' entrance so furtively. It wasn't like Patrick and Edith would be keeping an eye on that particular area, though he supposed he couldn't blame her for being so nervous. He'd been in the middle of these sorts of games for so long he had a hard time remembering what it was like at the start.

"Hopefully they got the message," he said, "because we're all going to be quite busy around here. Edith wants all the stops pulled out for her cousin Rose's arrival, and there'll be rather less time for larceny. Tonight may be the last time for a while we have any contact with them."

Daisy was panting a bit, but after a few seconds calmed down enough to say, "I told them everything, just like you said. And then things got a bit more complicated."

Thomas couldn't believe the story she laid out about the return of Lady Sybil, and the police inspector's arrival. "Well, Lady Sybil always did look out for us down here, so that's good news as far as it goes."

"But what about Anna? If this inspector was able to come this far…"

Thomas shrugged. "The one thing that comes immediately to mind is pinning the whole thing on someone else. It's easier than you might think; O'Brien was quite a good teacher."

Daisy shook her head. "I don't think I could do that. Making things right for Lady Mary is one thing, but I don't want anyone innocent to get hurt."

"Yes, I was afraid you'd say that. And besides, first we'd have to pick the person out, and right now no one really seems like an ideal candidate to go so far out of their way to kill a crime lord. And she probably left behind some evidence that would point to a woman, too."

That was when O'Brien walked in. "Oh good, you're finally back. And don't try to tell me you did it as fast as you could, I know how long the trip takes."

Daisy dropped her eyes to the floor. "My apologies, it won't happen again."

O'Brien tsked. "I'm not the one you need to be saying it to. Come along and let's see if you're still got a job."

Thomas winced as the two women left. He didn't think O'Brien had any idea what he was up to, but that had been too close for comfort, and if something like it happened again she was smart enough to start wondering about it. He would have to be much more careful.

He also shuddered as he thought of the one thing he hadn't told Daisy: there was one good candidate to take the fall with the police, but he couldn't bring himself to consider it as a real possibility yet. But if the situation grew desperate enough, he might have to do it.

0000000000000000000000000000

A/N: Sorry to give you such a short chapter after you've been waiting so long (holy crap has it been a busy time in my life lately) but it just felt like what happens here is all that was necessary, and adding anything else would be cutting into what the next chapter should be about. I've also always hated when you can tell writers are artificially padding things out because they don't want something to be awkwardly short, and I'd much rather just plow through it and move on to the next one. And I do have much more room in my schedule now, so you hopefully shouldn't have to put up with any more of these long delays.