Carson was just about to go to bed after what felt like a very long day! Strallan hadn't made it easy for him or the rest of the servants that night and it wouldn't be any easier in the morning either. He passed the main part of the servants quarters as a bell for the main hallway rang out. Carson looked up and was soon joined by someone else who had heard it.
"Who on earth could be ringing at this hour?!" Daisy said not noticing Carson standing there.
"Daisy. What are you still doing up?" Carson made her jump.
"I'm so sorry Mr Carson. I just needed to finish something for tomorrow and then I heard the bell…" Daisy rushed through her words so much that Carson wasn't able to hear what she said.
"It's fine Daisy. Would you go and get Mrs Hughes up for me? I think I might need some help with this one." Carson said before going up the stairs.
"Yes Mr Carson." Daisy curtsied and left before he could come back and change his mind.
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There was a knock at the door of Mrs Hughes' room. She checked her watch and sighed as she saw the time. She put her dressing gown around her and opened the door.
"Daisy! What are you doing? Do you know what time it is?!" Mrs Hughes rubbed her eyes.
"There was a bell ringing in the main quarters. Mr Carson told me to come and get you." Daisy sounded out of breath as she said this.
"Calm down Daisy! Now do we know why the bell was rung?" Mrs Hughes came out of her room.
"Not yet. Mr Carson has gone to check what's wrong." Daisy shrugged but was still in a hurry.
"Okay well go and get the rest of the staff. We might as well all deal with what is going on together." Mrs Hughes waved Daisy away before Daisy fell down.
"Yes Mrs Hughes." Daisy rushed away.
Mrs Hughes shook her head as Daisy left. She then made her way down to the main servant quarters.
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Robert was waiting for Carson by the main staircase. He had told the family to go to the study so they didn't have to look at the body any longer. He shook his head as he looked down at Strallan's body. Mary had got a blanket from her room and put it over the body. Rose had fainted after a few minutes, and was quickly taken away by Tom and Edward. Gregson and Tony had taken Edith, Isobel and granny into the study first as she had started to cry. She might hate Strallan after what he did to her but it didn't mean she wanted to see him dead. Carson walked over to Robert as quickly as he could.
"M'Lord?" Carson asked, seeing something being covered in a blanket at the bottom of the stairs.
"It's Sir Antony. Tom and Rose found him like this a few moments ago." Robert said in a serious tone.
"Do we know what happened?"
"Not yet but I think we ought to call the police. I'm always the last to call them over an accident but with everyone like they are, it might be a good idea."
"I don't know if they can get here. If they're not busy dealing with the aftermath of the storm, they'll be stopped by the tree covering the driveway." Carson said sadly, knowing Robert wouldn't be happy with this answer.
"Of course. Do we know if anyone can get through yet?"
"The firemen are trying to get through. Drew hasn't got very far apparently and it'll be morning before they get through."
Robert sighed as Carson said this. He trusted Drew but he just wished that he would go faster. Carson could see that Robert wasn't happy. True no one would want a body to stay in their house long.
"I'll get on the phone and see what they say sir." Carson finally decided to say.
"Thank you Carson. I'll be in the study with the rest of the family if you need me." Robert nodded before leaving.
Carson was left alone. He looked at the body one more time before going back to the servant quarters to phone the police. He would just have to make a quiet call in case rumours started spreading around the servants about what exactly happened to Strallan. Mr Bates met him at the bottom of the stairs as he came down. He looked like he had barely slept. Either that or Daisy had woken him with a very loud knock at the door.
"Daisy came and woke me up, Mr Carson. What's going on, is something wrong with the family?" Bates sounded worried as Carson came down.
"I'll tell you when everyone arrives. Everyone needs to hear this." Carson shook his head.
Bates gave in and nodded. He would just have to wait for the others. They wouldn't be long. Carson then picked up the phone and waved Bates away so he couldn't overhear. Once Bates was gone, Carson put in the number of the police station.
"Hello. This is Mr Carson and I'm calling from Downton." Carson said into the phone he was still getting used to.
"Yes I know you're very busy but we have an incident here and we need assistance if you can give it." Carson rubbed the top of his nose as the person on the other end said what he thought they were going to say.
"That's great. How long do you think it'll be before an officer gets here? Two hours. Okay well thank you and we'll be here waiting." Carson then hung the phone up.
"What are you calling the police for?" Mrs Hughes had snuck up on Carson.
"Don't sneak up on me like that and a body has been found." Carson said quietly so the others couldn't hear.
"A body?!" Mrs Hughes whispered open mouthed.
"It's Sir Antony's, it looks like he's fallen down the stairs. The family is a bit shaken up about it." Carson repeated what Robert had told him.
Before they could discuss it more, the rest of the staff arrived. Barrow wasn't among them but Carson knew he wouldn't listen to Daisy. He would have to tell him tomorrow if he didn't wake up soon. He might send Mrs Hughes up later.
"Everybody gather around. I have some news to tell you all."
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Rose slowly opened her eyes as the bright lights of the study blinded her. She groaned quietly as she came round. She suddenly realised what she had just seen.
"Whoa Rose. It's okay, you're okay." Tom was quick to her side when he noticed she was awake.
Rose was lying on the couch nearest the fire which Tom had lit to keep everyone warm. Tom sat by her side waiting for her to wake up. Dr Clarkson was the next nearest. She supposed it was probably because she had fainted.
"How did I get here?" Rose asked in a small voice, rubbing her hands together.
"Me and Dr Clarkson carried you here. You didn't hit anything or hurt anything. Clarkson checked you over." Tom could see she was embarrassed about fainting.
"Did everyone see? I mean like the servants and everything." Rose could see everyone staring at her.
"No, they're still downstairs."
Robert then came back into the room and closed the door behind him, turning his back on the family and their guests. He couldn't believe what he had just seen! A body in the house?!
"I told Carson to call the police but he said they might be a while getting here so we might be in for a long night." Robert told the family still with his back to them.
"Great, stuck in a house with a dead body! Not exactly the weekend I was planning!" Tom moaned, sensing the mood of the room.
"You planned the whole thing! Maybe you planned this so you could kill one of us." Mary piped up from nowhere.
"What's that got to do with it?" Tom fought back.
"Well, if we're playing the blame game then Edith surely is the most likely. After all she was the one he stood up at the altar." Mary continued to find confrontation with everyone.
"I did nothing of the sort!" Edith cried, starting to sob again.
Gregson held Edith close as she did this. He glared at Mary the best he could without getting the blame from her.
"Let's not fight about this. The police will come and they'll find out who did this if it wasn't an accident." Clarkson chimed in before it got out of hand.
"He's right. For all we know Strallan could have fallen down the stairs by accident." Edward agreed with Clarkson.
Mary turned away from the group. She was obviously still bitter about the whole party in the first place, according to Tom. Rose started to shudder so Tom put his arm around her. To continue the tense mood there was then a strike of lightning.
"Oh great! All we need, more rain!" Robert threw his arms at the window.
"If the police do get to us, they'll be washed away before they can even investigate the death." Edward made a joke to lighten the mood.
No one responded to this joke. Violet made her way to the edge of the room to get away from all of the tension in the family. Isobel soon noticed this and joined her. She didn't want Violet to be alone during this.
"This has never happened before. I mean people have died here but…" Violet started to say before her lip began to quiver.
"Don't start thinking about that. It'll just make you upset and you don't need to do that." Isobel rubbed the back of Violet.
Normally Violet would fight against this but she accepted it. She still was a bit standoffish but Isobel expected nothing less.
"I might not have liked Strallan but I would never wish anyone dead." Isobel hoped to make Violet feel better.
"You didn't do it then?" Violet mumbled.
"No I didn't. True you don't know if I'm telling the truth or not."
"I don't think you have the stomach to kill someone."
"If someone gets on my nerves, I have a very fiery temper. You're just lucky you haven't seen that yet." Isobel felt hurt by this comment.
Violet rolled her eyes but knew Isobel was probably just saying that for the fun of it. She looked back at her family. Edith was in pieces, Mary was an outcast. Robert looked as though he would rather be anywhere else and Tom was trying his best to keep Rose awake without fainting again.
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"A body?!" Mrs Patmore was the first to say out of the group gathered in the quarters.
"I'm afraid so and Sir Antony seems to be the body." Carson continued the story.
There was an audible gasp from everyone. Daisy clung onto the table as the news was shared. Being the youngest of the servants, hearing someone was dead wasn't the easiest to take in. Anna was soon at her side, supporting her.
"It's okay Daisy." Anna mouthed seeing Daisy in distress.
"I've called the police but I think we should move the body until they get here to look it over." Carson looked at Bates when he said that.
"I don't think that's a good idea Mr Carson." Albert butted in.
"Have you got something to say Albert?" Mrs Hughes asked, shocked to hear Albert say something against Carson.
"Well if we move the body then our fingerprints will be on it. We might be implicated or remove evidence." Albert mentioned thinking everything over.
"Albert's got a point. Also the police won't have an accurate scene of crime if we move him." Jimmy also decided to say.
"How do you two know that?" Anna asked, almost laughing at their knowledge of the whole thing.
"I'll tell you another time. So we have to keep the body where it is." Albert continued to make a point.
"Fine but we'll have to keep the body away from the family. They're upset enough as it is without seeing the body time and time again." Mrs Hughes waved her hands in the air.
"Mrs Hughes is right. Now gather around. We have a lot to do and little time to do it before the morning." Carson said to the staff.