Chapter Text
It had been a very long, and terrible day.
The servants ate their breakfast almost in complete silence. Everyone was feeling sad and overwhelmed for the happenings of the day. In the afternoon they had received the news that little Sam, the son of a family of farmers that was renting one the the Crawley' farms, had disappeared. The servants and the family had participated in the search, organized by the local police. Search that had ended after dinner time, when the boy had been found dead. While it was too early to know what exactly had happened, apparently the wound on his head revealed foul play. That was one of the reasons why everyone went to bed early, most of them without eating. Even the family wasn't in the mood for dinner, that was originally skipped due to the research. The idea that a kid murderer was close to them, free, was scary and upsetting.
Alone in his room, Thomas thought about what he had to do. It was important to keep all the doors locked at all times. The kids of the house should not have been left unattended. He had to talk also to Anna and Bates, to be sure they knew to always keep an eye on Johnnie, even if they probably already thought about that.
Thomas went to bed feeling tired, but sure that he wasn't going to be able to sleep. Instead, he was so tired and so emotionally drained that he fell asleep almost immediately.
The next day, right after lunch, Mrs. Hughes told him that a detective of the York police, Detective Thompson, was waiting to talk to him. Thomas wasn't too surprised: after such a terrible crime in a usually calm place like Downton, it was normal that the police had to search every possibility and every detail. Surely they wanted to know if he, as a butler, had heard something.
So he entered into his pantry with a big smile on his face, and a warm "welcome", ready to say that sadly he hadn't heard anything that could help the investigation.
Instead, the first question from the detective surprised him.
"Why you are not married, Mr. Barrow?"
Thomas raised his eyebrows. "What this has to do with the death of little Sam?" he asked.
"How do you know that we are here for what happened to little Sam?"
Thomas tightened his lips. He felt an old kind of rage swelling up in his chest. His swallowed to calm himself. "Well, it's just natural, considering what happened. Anyway, if you really need to know, I am not married because I was always focused on my job. Maybe you don't know it, but I started as a junior footman, and became valet, under butler, and finally butler. I always worked for long hours every day, and I live here at the Abbey, so I don't have a lot of chances to meet women".
"Mmm... So you don't have... some tendencies... towards men".
Thomas fixed his eyes on the detective. "No. I don't. But I know that there are some rumors about me".
"Rumors... fine, let's call them rumors. Anyway, where were you yesterday morning?"
"It was my half day, and I went to the village in the morning. I went to have a haircut, then I went to buy pomade, some books, socks. I had lunch at the Grantham Arms, and then I came back here. After a couple of hours we received the news of the disappearance of little Sam, and everyone in the house went out to help".
"Thank you, Mr. Barrow. It is all, for now. I will let you know if I need to speak to you again".
Thomas forced himself to smile.
Bates was called right after Thomas. The butler didn't have the chance to tell him what to expect, so he was surprised exactly like Thomas, when he understood what was the detective's hypothesis.
"Would you say that you know Mr. Barrow very well?" was the first question.
"I would say so, yes. But why? You told me that you needed to investigate the tragic death of Sam".
"I am".
"Oh". Bates was more then surprised. Where they suspecting Thomas? But surely he would never...
"Have you ever suspected some... illegal tendencies... in Mr. Barrow?"
Bates looked intently at the detective. "No, I haven't. And honestly I don't understand what you mean".
"Mmmm. And yet, he is not married".
"I'm sure you know that a lot of butlers aren't. Anyway, when I arrived here, he was kind of dating Daisy, our assistant cook".
"Kind of dating?"
"They went out together a couple of times".
"But then nothing else?"
"No, Daisy was actually in love with William, the other footman. They got married before he died. This caused a lot of friction between Mr. Barrow and William, they also had a fist fight once, in the servant's hall".
Damn. He really needed to talk to Daisy before the detective could interrogate her.
"So... you didn't know that a few months ago Mr. Barrow was arrested in York in a... homosexual bar?"
"What?" This time, Bates' surprise was real. What was the detective talking about?
"Yes. A few months ago, Mr. Barrow was arrested in an illegal place in York. At the time of the arrest, he was dancing with another man. The investigation didn't proceed, because apparently he was saved by somebody in the Royal staff".
Oh. Of course. The night of the Royal visit, Thomas had went to York with Mr. Ellis.
"I'm sorry, I honestly don't know anything about it. But I don't understand how this has anything to do with what happened to little Sam".
"We are just thinking about every possibility, Mr. Bates. If someone living in Downton, in close proximity with the little victim, is a... homosexual, we need to examine every possible implications".
Bates felt enraged. Now he understood.
"I beg your pardon, detective... but even if what you say was true, I still don't understand how it would connect Mr. Barrow with the death of Sam. Whatever I might think on the matter, I hope you realize that killing a kid and liking men are two different things".
"Like I said, Mr. Bates, we have to explore any possibility. And if you don't mind, I know how to do my job. You should trust the police who is investigating what happened with all the attention".
"Don't get offended, detective Thompson, but honestly I don't trust the work of the police so much. As you know, I was unfairly accused of murdering my former wife Vera, and it was only thanks to Anna, my second wife, that I was found innocent. She did on her own all the investigation and found an important witness. The police didn't do anything for me. So I'm sorry if I have some doubts about how the investigations are done".
"No offense taken, Mr. Bates. I know about your tribulations, and I understand your position. However, I don't have to explain myself to you. Now, if you would like to answer to another question... I understand that Mr. Barrow likes kids a lot. You have a little boy. Do they ever play together?"
"Me and Anna leave our little Johnnie with Mr. Barrow all the time. He loves him, and our son loves to spend time with Mr. Barrow. He is a great babysitter, and I feel safe when Johnnie is with him, even more then when he is with the nanny". The detective closed his little book and put away his pen.
"Thank you so much, Mr. Bates. This was very helpful".