The king and his household were lodged in a Dominican friary in Perth when a group of conspirators made their move to rid themselves of their burdensome monarch. Led by Sir Robert Graham, nephew of the Earl of Strathearn, and Sir Robert Stewart, grandson and heir of the Earl of Atholl, they approached the bedroom of the king and queen on the night of 21 February 1437. The alarm was raised and James had time to prise up a floorboard and drop down into a sewer below. The board was put back in place and a first search by the traitors failed to find him. But in a crushing irony, James had had the end of the drain blocked up just days before - because he kept losing tennis balls down it. He therefore had nowhere to go and a second search of the bedroom revealed where he was hiding.