The Case of the Lucky Penny

Chapter 1

Wherein a retainer is entered into

Knock knock.

Matthew waited for someone to answer the door.

Knock knock.

Answer the door Molesley he screamed inside his head.

Knock knock.

He remembered. It was Molesley's day off.

Knock knock.

Answer the door please Mother.

Knock knock.

He remembered. She was at the hospital.

Knock knock.

Whoever it was they sure were persistent. Well it must be important. He swung his legs over the edge of the bed and felt around for his slippers. He looked at his alarm clock. 1:25. He looked out the sun streaming in the window. In the afternoon. He put on his robe and stumbled towards the bedroom door. He kicked something. He looked down. It was the bottle of scotch, empty now, from last night.

Knock knock,

Go away he screamed inside his head.

He went down the stairs. He was careful to hold onto the bannister. His head was splitting.

Knock knock.

Coming coming he yelled inside his head.

He opened the front door a crack and peered out. It was Anna, the maid whose husband had just been arrested for murder. Mary's maid.

"I am sorry to bother you Mr. Crawley, it's just ..."

"Do you have a message for me?" Matthew interrupted.

"No... I'm here because of John... my husband they've arrested him and I need to get a lawyer ..."

Stupid cow he thought and then said "I'm sorry but I'm a company lawyer I can't help you". He started to close the door. Don't bother me I'm busy he thought and then he heard her cry out

"They are going to hang him"

I'm busy drinking myself to death and they are going to hang him. He leaned his forehead against the jamb of the door. It would be something to do. Worry about someone else's problem.

He opened the door. She was almost to the gate. He could see she was sobbing.

"Wait!" he called to her. "Come back"

She turned and slowly walked back to the house.

"Come in"

As she walked past him in the hall Matthew became acutely aware of his state of dishevelment.

"Look. Ah, can you give me a few minutes to clean up?" She nodded "Why don't you take a seat in the drawing room" He waved her in. He looked around. "I would offer you tea, but ..."

"Would you like me to make some Mr. Crawley?"

"Could you? That would be excellent"

"It would be no problem"

Twenty minutes later Matthew came back downstairs washed, shaved and properly dressed, although not in mourning dress, somehow it did not seem appropriate to wear when speaking to a potential widow.

Anna served him tea. "I found some biscuits as well" and she handed him a small plate.

"Thank you. I apologize for putting a guest to work"

"It was nothing, I'm used to it."

There was an awkward silence between them.

Finally Matthew spoke "Now Mrs. Bates you know that I am not a criminal lawyer..."

"I know sir but I am desperate. They are going to hang him and we've got no money and I thought you could maybe tell me what to do" she said all in a rush.

Matthew pondered this. Clearly he was not competent to handle a capital case. His friend Bert Hastings from law school was practising criminal law in London. Bert could handle it. Maybe he could help Bert out. It would give him something to do. Away from Downton Abbey.

He looked at Anna. "This is what I propose to do. I cannot do this myself. I have a friend in London who can. You will retain my services and I will in turn retain him.."

"But we can't afford that..."

"We will worry about that later. Now excuse me while I go and get a pad of paper"

When Matthew returned he cleared a place at the table, sat down and wrote for several minutes. When he was finished he turned the pad around so it faced Anna. "This a retainer agreement. You are hiring me to work on your husband's case. Do you understand?"

Anna nodded.

"Good, now sign here" he pointed to where she had to sign and she did so. "Now give me a penny"

"A penny?"

"Yes, I need some consideration to make this a binding contract. A penny will do"

Anna dug a penny out of her small purse and gave it to him. Matthew wrote out a receipt and gave it to her.

"Now I am your lawyer. Anything you tell me will be kept in the strictest confidence. I will only disclose it to further your husband's case. Now I want you to tell everything you know about your husband and his wife, first wife that is. What was her name?

"Vera"

"Vera. Go slow because I will be taking notes. Do not leave anything out. I will decide if anything is important or not. Start at the beginning."

Anna did. She related the whole storey as it had been related to her by John, his mother and the soldier at the barracks. But when she got to the part where Vera threatened to blackmail the Crawleys she stopped.

Matthew looked at her "Please continue"

"You won't tell anyone I told you"

"Only if I have to to save your husband's neck"

"It will hurt your feelings"

Oh? Matthew thought. How could that be? "My hurt feelings will heal; your husband's snapped neck will not."

Anna gave him a look of resignation. "I had better start at the beginning... Do you remember that Turkish gentleman? Well he died in..."

His head felt like it was going to explode but he forced himself to keep taking notes. It could not be true. That Mary had been hiding this all these years. It would certainly explain a lot of her strange behaviour. And her marriage to Carlisle. But it couldn't be true. Not Mary. But why would Anna invent such an elaborate storey? There had to be some other explanation. This was too absurd. Too sordid. It couldn't be true.

When Anna was finished and he had asked his last question Matthew put his pencil down and rubbed his forehead. The headache which had disappeared when he had started listening to Anna had come raging back.

He looked at Anna. "I am going to London on the night train. I will see Mr. Bates tomorrow. We are going to get to the bottom of this. In the meantime try to stay calm and carry on. Oh, and do not let anyone, and I particularly mean Lady Mary, know that I am doing this. I am going to tell my mother that I am going to Manchester to look for work. Do you promise?".

"I do and I would like to thank ..."

Matthew held up his hand. "Save your thanks for later, when we are done"

-0-

These characters are not mine. I would like to thank Lord Fellowes, Carnival Films and ITV for not enjoining me from playing with them.