For a long moment, Penny and I just sat and stared at each other, both hoping the other would come up with something … but neither of us had anything to offer. Finally, Penny fixed me with her best stern stare.
‘I’ve never known you to give up on a case before, Ishmael.’
‘I’m not giving up,’ I said. ‘I’m just lost for where to go next.’
‘We have to do something!’ said Penny. ‘We’ll be arriving in Bath in …’
‘Don’t look at your watch!’ I said sharply. ‘The last thing we need right now is more pressure.’
‘If we’re stumped,’ Penny said carefully, ‘it can only be because we’ve missed something. Some vital clue, or piece of evidence, that would make everything fall into place. That’s usually what happens at the end of one of our cases … Someone says something, or you spot something – and, just like that, you see everything in a new light. Then you put it all together and point out the murderer. So stop and think, Ishmael. What is it you’re not seeing?’
I nodded slowly. ‘When in doubt … assume that everyone has lied to you, and you can’t trust anyone or anything to be what they seem to be.’
‘All right,’ Penny said steadily. ‘Let’s say we assume that’s the case. Where does that take us?’
‘It means we need to verify for ourselves that everything we think is true really is,’ I said. ‘Until we come up with something that clashes with what we’ve been told, and that’s our new starting point.’
‘Ishmael, we don’t have time to check everything!’
‘Then we check what we can,’ I said. ‘Starting with the darkened carriage.’
Penny frowned. ‘Why there? I mean, we already know it’s completely deserted.’
‘We start with the next carriage because it’s the only thing that stands between us and the rest of the train,’ I said. ‘If anything about that isn’t what we’ve been told, then all our previous ideas fall apart.’
And, I thought but didn’t say, because I’m damned if I can think of anything else to do.
I got to my feet and headed for the door, and Penny followed along behind me, saying nothing, just trusting me to know what I was doing. I admired her faith. I only wished I shared it. I was having trouble convincing myself I wasn’t simply going through the motions, to make myself feel as if I was doing something. But since I would rather die than let Penny down, or let a murderer get away with killing someone right under my nose, I had no choice but to keep hammering away at the problem until either it broke or I did.
Brian looked at me sourly as I came down the aisle, and made no move to get out of the way. I stopped before him, and Penny was quickly there at my side.
‘You should have let me run this investigation,’ Brian said flatly. ‘I’d have got the truth out of someone by now.’
‘You might have intimidated a confession out of someone,’ I said. ‘But that’s not the same thing.’
‘It’s better than nothing,’ said Brian. ‘Which is what you’ve got.’
‘My investigation isn’t over yet,’ I said. ‘You keep an eye on the passengers, while Penny and I check out the next carriage.’
Brian glanced back over his shoulder. ‘There’s no one in there; I’d have noticed.’
‘I never said there was,’ I said calmly.
‘Then what do you expect to find, in an empty carriage?’
‘Something I didn’t see the last time I looked,’ I said, doing my best to sound confident.
Brian sniffed and shrugged. ‘Go ahead. Knock yourselves out. You’re the ones who’ll have to explain to the authorities in Bath why you haven’t arrested anyone for Sir Dennis’s murder.’
I let that one go, as though I hadn’t even felt the breeze of its passing. ‘Try not to let anyone get up to anything while we’re gone.’
‘But don’t break them,’ Penny said firmly. ‘Play nicely, Brian. Innocent until proven guilty, remember?’
He smiled briefly. ‘You were never in the army.’ The smile disappeared as he shot me a hard look. ‘I want my gun back.’
I had to raise an eyebrow. ‘You think you’re going to need a gun to cope with two businessmen and a reporter?’
‘It’s my gun,’ said Brian.
‘You can have it back when we get to Bath,’ I said. ‘If you’ve been good.’
I looked at him steadily until he lowered his eyes and stepped aside. This whole alpha-male routine was getting very old, but it appeared to be the only thing he knew how to respond to. I brushed past Brian, and the door hissed open. I stepped out into the vestibule, and Penny hurried through to join me. The door closed behind us, and she let out a sigh of relief.
‘Damn, I’m glad to be out of there. The atmosphere was getting so thick you could slice it up and hand it round on a plate.’ She looked at me. ‘Do you still see Brian as a suspect? Is that why you don’t want to give him back his gun?’
‘I’m not putting a weapon in that man’s hand as long as I’m trapped in the same carriage as him,’ I said firmly. ‘Brian has the unmistakable air of someone who’s been trained to shoot first and let someone else ask the questions afterwards.’
I looked around the vestibule. It was brightly lit, completely empty and very quiet. Penny walked over to stand before the toilet cubicle. I moved in beside her.
‘What is it?’
‘When you said doubt everything,’ she said slowly, ‘did you consider the possibility that Sir Dennis might not actually be in there?’
I looked at her. ‘You think he might have got up from his throne and gone for a little walk?’
‘Wouldn’t be the first time on one of our cases,’ said Penny.
I tried the door. ‘It’s still locked. And Sir Dennis was quite definitely dead, the last time I looked.’
‘I refer you to my previous comment,’ said Penny. ‘But even if he is one hundred per cent deceased and not at all in the mood for a stroll, someone might still have removed the body. If our killer was able to break into a locked cubicle to attack him, why couldn’t they do it again to get at the body?’
‘Why would they want to?’ I said.
‘To make the body disappear?’ said Penny. ‘It wouldn’t do much for our credibility, would it, if we opened the toilet door when we arrived in Bath and there was no one in there? And it’s always possible there’s some evidence on the body that would incriminate the killer.’
I shook my head. ‘We can’t open the door without the guard’s remote control device. And I really don’t want to have to search the whole train for Mr Holder if he isn’t where he’s supposed to be.’
‘We could always send Brian to go fetch him,’ said Penny. ‘Having something useful to do might calm him down a bit.’
‘But then who’d watch the passengers in First Class?’ I said.
‘You really think they need watching?’
‘They’re still the only real suspects we’ve got,’ I said. I turned away from the toilet and gave the door to the darkened carriage my full attention. ‘Unless we can find something useful in there.’
‘Why don’t you just break into the toilet?’ said Penny.
‘Because then I’d have to explain how,’ I said. ‘No normal human would be strong enough.’
I broke off as a thought occurred to me, and I turned back to the cubicle, leaned in close and pressed my cheek flat against the door.
‘Ishmael?’ said Penny. ‘What are you doing?’
I inhaled deeply and then straightened up again and stepped back.
‘He’s in there. I can smell the body through the crack in the door.’
‘Oh, ick,’ said Penny.
I moved over to the door to the next carriage and peered through the glass partition. Penny crowded in beside me.
‘Can’t see a damned thing,’ she said after a moment. ‘It’s completely dark.’
‘I can see enough to be sure that no one’s home,’ I said.
‘So nothing’s changed.’
‘Not necessarily,’ I said. ‘The last time I was in there, I didn’t take the time to search the carriage properly. I didn’t see the point then.’
‘You really think we need to go in there?’ said Penny.
I looked at Penny, careful to keep all traces of amusement out of my face and my voice. ‘Trust me: there are no rogue psychics, professional assassins or any kind of bogeyman hiding in this compartment.’
‘So what’s the point of going in there?’ said Penny.
‘To search for any evidence I might have missed the first time,’ I said patiently. ‘If, by any chance, it turns out that I am wrong, and something unpleasant should come looming up out of the dark, you have my full permission to punch it in the face.’
‘That would make me feel better,’ said Penny. ‘What sort of evidence are we looking for? I mean, Sir Dennis was killed in the toilet.’
‘I don’t know,’ I said. ‘I just can’t shake this feeling that I’ve overlooked something. Think about it: this is the only carriage on the entire train where the lights failed. There must be a reason for that, and the most obvious one I can think of is to hide something important from me.’
‘That’s a bit of a stretch, darling,’ Penny said tactfully.
‘It’s a hell of a reach,’ I said. ‘But it’s all we’ve got.’
‘All right!’ said Penny. ‘This is a wonderful theory, and I am all for it! Let us proceed immediately into the dark and spooky deserted carriage and investigate the shit out of it. I will be right behind you, ready to punch out anything that moves.’
‘I love it when you have such faith in me,’ I said.
I stepped forward and the door hissed open. And then I stopped to consider that. Penny made a startled noise as she bumped into me from behind.
‘Give me some warning, Ishmael! Why have we stopped?’
‘I’m just wondering why this door is still working,’ I said, ‘when there’s no power in the carriage?’
‘I don’t know,’ said Penny. ‘Because the door’s on a separate circuit?’
‘Ah,’ I said. ‘Yes, that would do it. Sorry. For a moment there, I was sure I was on to something.’
I entered the carriage. The light spilling in behind me was only just enough to illuminate the nearest seats. Beyond that I could make out basic shapes, but no details. I looked around slowly, checking for anything that seemed out of place. ‘I still can’t see anything,’ Penny murmured from just behind my shoulder. ‘Shouldn’t the emergency lights be working at least, to point out to passengers where the exits are?’
‘The whole system must be down,’ I said. ‘Which, of course, isn’t in any way suspicious.’
‘You have eyes like a hawk,’ said Penny. ‘Or an owl. Is anything standing out to you?’
‘No,’ I said. ‘I’m not seeing, hearing or even smelling anything out of the ordinary.’
‘I still think I’ll stay behind you,’ said Penny. ‘I’ve always found you make an excellent human shield in times of danger. For someone who isn’t actually human. I am still ready to throw a punch over your shoulder, if need be.’
‘Why are you so obsessed with hitting someone?’
Penny sniffed loudly. ‘Doesn’t this entire case make you feel like punching somebody really hard?’
‘You may have a point there.’
I slowly made my way down the aisle, out of the light and into the dark, bracing myself against the rocking of the train. I carefully studied each row of seats I passed, straining my eyes against the gloom. Behind me, I could hear Penny bumping into practically everything, as she did her best to follow me down the aisle. I’d given her eyes time to adjust, but there wasn’t enough light in the carriage for human eyes to work with. She stopped suddenly and called after me.
‘This is useless, Ishmael! I can’t even see you, never mind what you’re doing.’
‘Then go back and guard the door,’ I said, not glancing back over my shoulder in case it broke my concentration. ‘Make sure no one gets past you, from either direction.’
‘I can do that,’ said Penny. I heard her bump and thud her way back to the door, and then her quiet sigh of relief once she was safely back in the light. ‘OK … I’m looking into the vestibule, and no one’s followed us here from First Class.’
‘Is Brian watching us?’
‘No. I can see his back through the glass partition.’
‘Good. Keep an eye on him.’
‘There is a definite limit to how many directions I can look in at once, darling.’
‘Well … do your best.’
I carried on down the aisle, a few steps at a time, and then stopped abruptly. There was something blocking the aisle, right up by the end door. I moved forward cautiously until I was close enough to recognize the obstruction as the private detective Dee’s trolley. The one she’d had such trouble controlling in her role as a tea lady. It was standing alone and abandoned, with no sign of Dee anywhere. I checked the trolley carefully, but there was nothing about it to suggest what might have happened to Dee. No sign of a struggle anywhere around it, and no drops of blood on the trolley itself.
It was always possible Dee had just abandoned it, along with her role as tea lady, now her true identity had been established, but I didn’t think so. I just knew something bad had happened to her.
I called quietly back to Penny, filling her in on what I’d found, and then I eased past the trolley and stood before the end door. I knocked loudly and called out to Eric. He opened the door immediately, and light spilled in from the vestibule. He looked at me enquiringly.
‘What is it, sir? Has something happened?’
‘Did Dee go past you when she came back this way?’ I said bluntly.
‘No, sir,’ said Eric. ‘I haven’t seen her since she insisted on going back to First Class. Sorry about that, sir. I know I shouldn’t have talked to her, but …’
‘I understand,’ I said. ‘She was a very forceful lady.’
‘That she was, sir.’
‘Are you sure she couldn’t have got past you, without you seeing?’
‘No, sir. I’ve been here all this time, guarding the door. I was starting to get worried that I hadn’t seen her for a while.’
‘Lock this door again,’ I said. ‘And whatever happens, don’t leave the vestibule unless I tell you otherwise.’
‘Of course, sir.’
He closed the door, and I waited till I heard the lock turn. I looked at the trolley again. It proved Dee had got this far at least, but how could she have vanished between First Class and the railway guard’s vestibule? There was no way out of the darkened carriage; the only doors were in the two vestibules.
I was sure there was no body hidden anywhere in the darkened carriage. Could the murderer have killed Dee and then stuffed her body in the First-Class toilet cubicle, along with Sir Dennis? No, I would have picked up her scent when I smelled Sir Dennis. So what did that leave?
I smiled suddenly in the dark and got down on all fours. I ran my hands over the thinly carpeted floor, pressing my fingertips into the fibres. I couldn’t feel anything unusual – no tears or rumpling or anything to indicate a struggle had taken place.
I moved carefully along on my hands and knees, heading back toward the door, checking the ground I’d already walked because I couldn’t afford to miss anything. And finally I caught a faint whiff of something. I pushed my face right down over the carpet, and the smell grew stronger. I breathed in deeply and the scents of a recent murder filled my head. The piss and shit the body always lets go at time of death, as the sphincters give up. Things that would have been retained inside Sir Dennis’s clothes, which is why the scents were so faint I missed them the first time around. Anywhere else they would have dissipated by now, but they’d been preserved by the still air and the contained environment. My first real clue – and just like that, I knew exactly what had happened to Sir Dennis.
‘Ishmael?’ said Penny. ‘You’ve been quiet a really long time, and I can’t see you anywhere. Are you all right?’
‘Fine,’ I said happily. ‘Just fine.’
I rose to my feet, suppressed the urge to do a little jig of triumph – because I am, after all, a professional – and went back to join Penny. I told her what I’d found and started to go into details, but she shook her head firmly.
‘Ick. And I mean serious ick. Are you sure?’
‘Some scents are always going to be immediately identifiable,’ I said. ‘You’re welcome to go and smell them yourself.’
‘I am entirely ready to take your word for it,’ said Penny. ‘Tell me you didn’t get any of it on your clothes.’
‘There are no actual stains as such; it was all …’
‘Not listening! Hands over ears, not listening.’
‘But don’t you see what this means?’ I said. ‘This proves Sir Dennis didn’t die inside the toilet. He was killed right here, in this compartment. When he left First Class and stepped out into the vestibule, someone must have been waiting for him. Perhaps they called to him from the dark and asked for his help, to lure him in. Sir Dennis was murdered here, his body fell to the floor, and then the murderer carried the body to the toilet and arranged Sir Dennis in position, to make it look as if he’d been caught by surprise.’
‘To conceal where and when he was killed!’ said Penny.
‘All of which means we know who did it,’ I said happily.
Penny looked at me. ‘We do?’
‘Of course,’ I said. ‘There’s only one person on this train who could have done it.’
‘You see?’ said Penny. ‘All it takes is one new clue, one new insight, and you’re a murder-solving machine! So who is it?’
I looked behind me. ‘Hush …’
Penny moved in close beside me and lowered her voice to a whisper.
‘What is it?’
‘I just heard the far door open,’ I said quietly. ‘Someone has entered this carriage from the other end.’
‘But that door is supposed to be locked and guarded!’
‘I know,’ I said. ‘Now stand quietly and wait for them to come to us.’
I watched the dark figure make his way down the aisle. He moved easily and confidently, as though he could see as clearly in the dark as me. Penny gripped my arm tightly as she listened to the approaching footsteps. And then the figure stopped just short of us and turned on a flashlight. Penny cried out despite herself, blinded by the sudden glare, but I just narrowed my eyes and stared back into it.
‘Hello, Eric,’ I said to the railway guard. ‘Why have you left your post, after I just ordered you not to?’
‘Oh! You did give me shock, sir!’ said Eric, quickly lowering his flashlight and turning it off. ‘I didn’t expect you to still be here. And you, of course, miss.’
Penny let out a sigh of relief, let go of my arm and glared at Eric. ‘You must have seen us here; why didn’t you announce yourself?’
‘I’m really very sorry, miss,’ said Eric. ‘But I wasn’t sure who you were. I just thought I heard some movement in here, and since I thought Mr Jones would be gone by now, and no one is supposed to be in this carriage, I thought I’d better check it out. I hope you’ll pardon me for being a little overcautious, but with a murderer loose somewhere on the train …’
‘Quite understandable, Eric,’ I said. ‘But why didn’t you use your flashlight till you were right on top of us?’
‘Didn’t think of it, sir. I’ve been walking up and down these carriages for so many years I could do it with my eyes shut.’ Eric shifted his feet uncomfortably. ‘And, of course, if you were someone I didn’t want to meet, the sudden light was the only weapon I had. If you could tell I was coming, sir, why didn’t you say anything?’
‘I was pretty sure it was you,’ I said. ‘Because you’re the only one who could have unlocked the far door. But I thought I’d better wait before I said anything, just in case you turned out to be somebody I didn’t want to meet. After all, if another person could get through the locked door …’
‘Of course, sir,’ Eric said quickly. ‘I could have been the killer! But I’ve been working in the far vestibule all this time and I haven’t seen anyone.’
‘Still no luck restoring the lights?’ Penny asked kindly.
‘Not a bit, miss,’ said Eric. ‘We’ll have to wait for the engineers to take a look, once we get to Bath.’
‘Any idea why the lights only went out in this particular carriage?’ I said.
‘I wouldn’t know, sir. I’ve checked all the other carriages, and they’re fine.’ He hesitated, choosing his words carefully. ‘Can I just ask, sir, what are you and the young lady doing in here?’
‘Looking for clues,’ I said. ‘It’s what we do.’
‘Of course, sir. Very persevering of you. Did you find any?’
‘I found something,’ I said. ‘You’d better join the rest of us in First Class, Eric. I may need your assistance.’
‘I really shouldn’t, sir,’ Eric said dubiously. ‘I have my other passengers to think of. I mean, what if the lights should happen to fail in another carriage? People could hurt themselves in the dark.’
‘If any of the other lights were going to fail, I think they would have done so by now,’ I said. ‘I need you with me, Eric, because I’m about to inform the First-Class passengers what really happened to Sir Dennis. I think you should be there to hear that, as a representative of the railway company. And to back me up, if it should prove necessary to restrain someone.’
Eric drew himself up. ‘Of course, sir. You can depend on me. But are you sure, sir? I thought we knew how the gentleman died?’
‘No,’ I said. ‘We only thought we did.’
I led the way out of the darkened carriage. Penny hurried after me, and Eric brought up the rear. I paused for a moment in the vestibule, so that Penny and Eric’s eyes could adjust to the light. Eric gestured at the toilet cubicle.
‘Do you need me to open that up again, sir?’
‘I don’t think so,’ I said. ‘Do you still have your remote control?’
‘Of course, sir. Never without it.’ He smiled and patted one of his jacket pockets in a self-important way. ‘All part of my duties; you never know when it might be needed.’
‘That’s what I thought,’ I said.
I went back into First Class, and the first thing I noticed was that Brian wasn’t standing guard at the door. I looked down the compartment and there he was, wrestling with Sita. They were rolling back and forth in the middle of the aisle, both of them putting up a fierce fight. I sighed and cleared my throat loudly. Brian and Sita broke off from what they were doing, looked back and saw me standing there. They both froze where they were.
‘What is going on?’ I said.
‘Oh, let them play,’ said Penny.
I looked at her. ‘Am I missing something here?’
‘Not for the first time,’ said Penny. ‘Those two have been trying to impress each other for ages. It’s all part of fancying someone.’
Brian pushed Sita away from him, and they both scrambled to their feet and glared at each other.
‘I do not fancy him!’ Sita said loudly.
‘I was just doing my duty!’ said Brian, equally loudly.
‘What happened?’ I said, keeping my voice carefully neutral.
‘She got Howard to distract me,’ Brian said quickly. ‘By saying he’d seen something out the window. When I went to look, she went after her laptop. Thought she could sneak it back to her seat without me noticing. But I didn’t trust anyone here, so I kept an eye on her and caught her at it. She got her laptop down from the luggage rack, and when I took it off her, she attacked me.’
‘He threw it on the floor!’ said Sita.
‘I thought I told you children to play nicely,’ I said and then looked thoughtfully at Sita. ‘Why did you want your laptop so badly? We’ll be in Bath soon.’
‘I wanted to get the story to my editor before then,’ said Sita. ‘I don’t trust you or your people not to slap a D-notice on the whole thing and shut me out. I know how this works!’
‘You don’t have the whole story yet,’ I said. ‘I’m about to tell it to you. Now pick up your laptop – and behave.’
Sita knelt down, grabbed hold of her laptop and then stood up, clutching it to her protectively. I smiled calmly back at her.
‘Please find a seat, Sita. You too, Brian. Rupert, Howard, pay attention, please. It’s time for me to explain the exact circumstances leading up to Sir Dennis’s death. Which aren’t at all what you think they are.’
Sita stared at me for a moment, shocked into silence, and then dropped into the nearest seat. Brian sat down next to her. Howard and Rupert turned completely around in their seats, so they could get a better look at me. Everyone seemed startled, caught off guard, but none of them said anything. I nodded to Eric.
‘You can sit down too.’
‘It’s really not my place, sir …’
‘I won’t tell anyone if you won’t.’
I gestured for him to go and sit with the others, and he did so reluctantly. I looked at Penny and gestured for her to go back and stand by the door. Just in case. She nodded quickly and took up her position.
I stood easily in the middle of the aisle, looking from face to face, taking my time. Everyone seemed very eager to hear what I was going to say, and I had to struggle to hold back a satisfied smile. It had been a long hard slog to get to where I was now, and I felt I’d earned the right to make the most of it.
‘Do you know who did it?’ Howard said abruptly. ‘Do you know who killed Sir Dennis?’
‘Is it one of us, after all?’ said Rupert.
‘It can’t be!’ Sita said stubbornly.
‘Let me run you through the sequence of events,’ I said, refusing to be hurried. ‘Sir Dennis left this carriage to visit the toilet, after ordering his bodyguard not to accompany him. This was what the killer had been waiting for: his first break. He’d probably have found some way to separate Sir Dennis from his bodyguard, but when presented with such a perfect opportunity, he ran with it.
‘So Sir Dennis went out into the vestibule, but before he could use the toilet, someone called out to him. A person Sir Dennis had no reason to suspect, let alone fear. This person lured Sir Dennis into the darkened carriage on some pretext and then attacked and murdered him. Afterwards, the killer arranged the body on the toilet to make it look as if he’d been surprised there.’
I paused for a moment, so they could all consider the implications. They took it in turns to glance at each other, surprised by this sudden change in what they thought had happened, but none of them said anything. They just turned back and looked at me steadily, waiting for me to continue.
‘Of course,’ I said, ‘none of that helped with the main problem: how to identify the murderer. Given that the next carriage along was locked and guarded, cutting us off from the rest of the train, it was obvious that only the people travelling in this carriage were viable suspects. But how could anyone from First Class have got past Penny and me to get to Sir Dennis, without either of us seeing them? The simple answer is that they couldn’t have. The murderer never was any of the people in this compartment.’
It took a moment, and then Rupert and Howard, Sita and Brian suddenly all looked extremely relieved as they realized they were no longer suspects. They made a variety of pleased and happy noises, and then started to babble, their voices rising as they threw questions at me. I raised a hand and they immediately stopped talking. If there was more, they wanted to hear it. I smiled. It felt good to be on top of the situation at last.
‘I forgot, for a while, the first rule of investigating murders. Trust nobody and assume everyone is lying to you. Which is, of course, what happened here. You all had secrets that you were ready to lie about to conceal the truth from me, but they all emerged during questioning, and none of them appeared to have anything to do with the murder. So if none of you had the motive, means or opportunity to be the killer, what did that leave? It took me a while to remember that all of my reasoning was based on the belief that the next carriage along was completely impassable. I think I accepted that so quickly because I wanted to believe it, because it made my job so much easier if I didn’t have to suspect and question everyone on the train.
‘I’d been told the far door to the next carriage was locked and guarded. But I didn’t know that for a fact. I only believed it to be true because the railway guard told me it was. A man in a uniform, whom everyone is used to accepting as an authority figure. But if no one in this carriage could possibly be the killer, then that meant the killer must have come from the other end of the train. Which, in turn, had to mean that the far door wasn’t locked. So the guard must have lied to me.’
I turned to face the railway guard. ‘And why would you do that, Eric? Because you’re the murderer. You killed Sir Dennis in the darkened carriage and then dumped him in the toilet to confuse things.’
Everyone turned quickly to look at Eric, who stared blankly back at them. Brian started to rise up out of his seat, but I gestured sharply for him to stay put. He sank back, scowling.
‘Not yet, Brian,’ I said. ‘I haven’t finished with Eric yet.’
‘What are you talking about?’ said Eric. He sounded honestly outraged. ‘I’m not a killer. I’m the train guard.’
‘And the next best thing to an invisible man,’ I said. ‘Someone we all take for granted, someone that no one ever challenges, who can turn up anywhere, for any reason. An authority figure on the train, whose word everyone just tends to accept. Hard even to remember, because most people only see the uniform and the function, not the man himself. Which is, of course, what made it so easy for you to kill Sir Dennis. He would never have seen a mere functionary as a threat, not to someone as important as him.’
Eric jumped to his feet and glared hotly around the compartment before settling on me again.
‘You can’t label me a killer, just because you haven’t come up with anyone else to blame!’
‘You put a lot of effort into misleading me,’ I said calmly. ‘But once I realized it had to be you, a whole bunch of small but significant facts started dropping into place.’
‘This is insane …’ said Eric. ‘You have no proof I’m involved in any of this!’
‘I found evidence of Sir Dennis’s death in the next carriage,’ I said. ‘From where the body had been lying on the floor.’ I didn’t go into details; they didn’t need to know. ‘In the end, though, you supplied the main clue yourself, Eric. You used your remote control to unlock the toilet door from the outside. A device you told me could override any electronic system on the train. You were the only person who could have locked the toilet door from the outside, after Sir Dennis had been placed there, making it look as though he’d locked it himself from the inside. And you were the only one who could turn off the lights in just the one carriage and make sure they stayed off. I don’t know why it took me so long to realize all of this. In my defence, I can only say there have been a great many complications and distractions in this case. Not least because you made me waste so much time questioning people who couldn’t possibly have been the murderer.’
I stopped for a moment to look politely at Eric, but he just stood where he was, saying nothing. So I carried on.
‘I don’t see how this could have been a personal killing for you, so it must have been a professional hit. No doubt the authorities in Bath will discover who you’re working for. All I have to do is hold on to you until then.’
Eric pulled a gun from inside his jacket and pointed it at me, smiling coldly. I stood very still.
‘All right,’ I said, ‘I didn’t see that one coming.’
The three passengers made loud startled noises, and Brian stirred ominously in his seat. Eric waved his gun back and forth, threatening everyone.
‘Shut up!’ he said loudly. ‘Everyone stay where they are! I’ll shoot the first one to get out of their seat!’
The three passengers stayed right where they were. Brian subsided reluctantly. I was a little relieved about that. I could see all kinds of things that could go wrong if Brian was to get involved with a desperate man holding a gun. I took a step forward, to attract Eric’s attention, and he immediately trained his gun on me again. I gave him my best reassuring smile.
‘Take it easy, Eric. There’s no need for any unpleasantness. Though I have to ask: if you had a gun all along, why didn’t you just shoot Sir Dennis?’
‘Shut up!’ said Eric. ‘You don’t know everything. I had my reasons.’
He backed down the aisle to the other end of the compartment, to make it easier for him to cover everyone. It was obvious from the way Eric was holding the gun that he didn’t have much experience with firearms. If anything, that made him even more dangerous. An amateur is always going to be more likely to do something unnecessary.
I glanced quickly around the carriage to make sure no one was planning anything heroic. Rupert and Howard seemed properly intimidated, sinking well down in their seats to make themselves less obvious targets. Sita seemed fascinated by everything that was happening, and not nearly scared enough for her own safety, but at least she wasn’t doing anything to attract attention to herself. I wouldn’t have been surprised if she started taking notes. And then I saw Brian gathering his legs under him, getting ready to jump up out of his seat.
‘Stay where you are, Brian!’ I said. ‘That’s an order.’
He glowered at me but stayed put. He still didn’t look nearly impressed enough by the danger of the situation, so I glared at him.
‘I just saved your life, Brian. He would have shot you down long before you could do anything.’
‘You don’t know that,’ he said. ‘I might have got lucky.’
‘No one’s that lucky,’ I said.
‘Someone has to do something!’ Brian said loudly.
‘I am doing something,’ I said. ‘I’m talking to the man.’
And then I realized Eric wasn’t looking at me any more. He’d remembered Penny was standing guard at the other door. Eric smiled and aimed his gun at her.
‘You. Get over here. Now!’
Penny looked at me, and I nodded quickly for her to do as he said. Eric looked rattled enough to shoot her as an example. Penny walked slowly down the aisle, not looking at me or the passengers. Eric waited till she was within reach and then grabbed hold of her, turned her around and pressed his gun against the side of her head.
‘Don’t move, girl, or I’ll kill you. I mean it!’
‘I believe you,’ Penny said steadily.
‘Take it easy, Eric,’ I said, working hard on making my voice sound calm and reassuring. ‘You have a hostage now, and that puts you in charge. So take your time and think about what you’re going to do next.’
Eric looked quickly around the carriage. ‘Does anyone else have a gun? What about you, Bodyguard? Or you, Mr Jones? And don’t lie! I’ll know!’
‘I have a gun,’ I said steadily. ‘I took it off the bodyguard earlier.’
‘Take out your gun, Mr Jones,’ said Eric, smiling coldly. ‘Do it slowly and very carefully, and then drop it on the floor. Do it!’
I removed the gun from my jacket pocket, using just my thumb and forefinger, and dropped it on the floor at my feet.
‘Now kick it away from you,’ said Eric.
I did so, with just enough force that it disappeared under the nearest seat. Out of sight, but not out of mind if I saw a chance to go for it later.
‘Anyone else?’ said Eric, glaring around the carriage.
‘Brian has a backup weapon,’ I said. ‘A second gun, in a concealed ankle holster.’
Brian looked at me, torn between outrage that I’d given his secret away and astonishment that I even knew about it.
‘Give it up, Brian,’ I said. ‘We can’t do anything while Eric has a gun at Penny’s head.’
For a moment, I wondered whether Brian might do something reckless, but he just made a disgusted sound, drew his gun slowly and then threw it away. I nodded my thanks and then looked back at the guard.
‘What now, Eric?’ I said. ‘You’ve got the only gun, and we’re all helpless. But are you really planning to hold us all hostage until we get to Bath, where you must know the authorities will be waiting? What will you do then? Ask for a hostage negotiator, and hope that whatever package deal you can make won’t include a hidden marksman?’
‘Shut up!’ said Eric. ‘I’m thinking.’
‘Don’t back him into a corner, Ishmael,’ murmured Penny.
‘You could always pull the communication cord, Eric,’ I said steadily. ‘Wait for the train to stop, open an exterior door with your remote control, and then jump out and disappear into the countryside. But the driver has strict instructions not to stop for anything, hasn’t he? And if you do pull the cord, the driver will know there’s an emergency on the train, and he’ll warn the authorities.’
‘Shut up!’ said Eric. ‘Or I’ll kill the girl!’
He pressed his gun against Penny’s temple, hard enough to make her wince.
‘I’m pretty sure he means it, Ishmael,’ she said steadily.
‘I’m just trying to make your situation clear, Eric,’ I said quickly. ‘You’ve got the gun, but there’s nowhere you can go. Your best bet is to make a deal with me, now, before things get out of hand.’
‘I’m in control here,’ said Eric.
‘For the moment,’ I said. ‘You don’t come across as a professional assassin, Eric, so I’m guessing you were hired just because you were going to be on this train. I’m also guessing the whole thing was arranged in something of a hurry, because this was your employers’ only opportunity to get to Sir Dennis before he took up his new position. But I have to ask, Eric: why did you break Sir Dennis’s neck? That was so obviously foul play. If you didn’t want to shoot him, why not try to make it look like an accident?’
‘That was the plan,’ said Eric. ‘But the little shit wouldn’t cooperate.’
He knew he shouldn’t be talking to me, but he couldn’t stop himself. He needed to explain to someone how clever he’d been, and how close he’d come to getting away with it. I encouraged him with steady eye contact and lots of nodding, to keep him talking. I wanted him focused on me and not on the gun at Penny’s head.
‘My employers wanted me to make it look like some kind of accident,’ said Eric. ‘Because that would be so much more humiliating than a murder. It would suit their purposes, they said, to make Sir Dennis look so dumb he didn’t even last long enough to take up his new position. And then the men who chose him for the job would look even more stupid. My employers only had this one chance to get to Sir Dennis before he disappeared behind proper levels of protection, so they gave me the job and half the money in advance, and left it all up to me.
‘You think you’re so smart, everything worked out … You got some of it right, but did you really think we’d leave it to chance, as to whether Sir Dennis would need to use the toilet before we got to Bath? No, my employers used one of their psychics to subtly influence a very minor security person. Just enough to have him slip a little something into Sir Dennis’s drink. So all I had to do was shut down the lights in the next carriage, kick all the people out and wait. The plan was to lure him into the dark, slam his head against something hard, make sure he was dead and then raise the alarm. It would look like he’d tripped and hurt himself, because he was stupid enough to wander around in the dark on his own. Trust me, people do dumber things on trains all the time. And no one would ever suspect I had anything to do with it! Why would they? I’m just a railway guard.
‘My employers only gave me this gun because I insisted on it. I needed to be sure I could protect myself if anything went wrong. I was getting ready to throw it away – we were getting close to Bath and I couldn’t afford for anyone to find it on me – when I heard you messing about in the empty carriage.’
He paused, frowning. I quickly prompted him, to keep him talking.
‘So what went wrong with Sir Dennis, Eric?’
‘Something made him suspicious,’ Eric said reluctantly. ‘I had no trouble at all luring him into the unlit carriage; he was only too happy to assist a mere menial with a problem that was too big for him. I got behind Sir Dennis easily enough, but then he suddenly turned round and looked at me. He shouldn’t have done that. He had no reason to do that! He saw me reaching for him, and he went for me. I couldn’t believe it … a little weasel like him. Maybe getting so close to the important job he’d always wanted made him brave – or desperate.
‘I had no choice but to put him in a choke hold and break his neck.’ Eric smiled briefly. ‘I took this self-defence course, you see, organized by the rail company. All the train staff had to take it, so we could learn to defend ourselves against angry passengers. Commuters can get really upset when they’ve been left standing in a stopped train for ages. Most of the staff treated the course as a laugh, but I took it seriously. And when they showed us the choke hold and told us to be very careful or we could break someone’s neck … I remembered.
‘After Sir Dennis was dead, I had to think quickly. Like you said, there was no way I could pass off a broken neck as an accident.’
‘So you arranged the body on the toilet,’ I said, keeping Eric’s attention fixed on me. ‘To confuse us as to when he died, and make it look as if he’d been murdered in a room locked from the inside. Classic murder mystery stuff. You moved suspicion away from yourself by banging loudly on the toilet door. You knew someone would be bound to come out from First Class, to see what was going on.’
‘I thought it would be the bodyguard,’ said Eric. ‘And he didn’t look smart enough to make any trouble. But, of course, I didn’t know about you.’
‘I thought you looked a little surprised when I was the one who appeared to see what was happening,’ I said. ‘But you went straight into your act anyway, pretending you’d only just arrived and that you were worried because Sir Dennis had been in the toilet for so long. And then you made up the story of the darkened carriage being locked and guarded, so that I’d fix my suspicions on the passengers in First Class. Hoping that would keep me occupied all the way to Bath. But the only way you could show me what had happened to Sir Dennis was to use your remote control to unlock the toilet door. And that was what gave you away.’
‘That’s what happens when you have to improvise,’ said Eric.
‘I have to ask, Eric,’ I said carefully. ‘Since you didn’t know Sir Dennis, why did you agree to kill a complete stranger for some secret group you’d probably never even heard of?’
‘For the money, of course,’ said Eric. ‘The rail company has been talking about getting rid of guards on trains, and I’m too old to find another job.’
‘Who hired you?’ I said.
‘You’ll never know,’ said Eric.
‘Excuse me,’ said Penny. ‘Can I ask a question?’
Eric looked at her, startled, as though he’d forgotten she was there.
‘What?’
‘Why did you tell the tea lady what had happened to Sir Dennis and then let her through?’
Eric seemed honestly stumped for a moment, thrown by a question he hadn’t been expecting.
‘Because she made such an effort to get it out of me. And because I thought it would be funny.’
‘But why did you kill her afterwards?’ said Penny.
He smiled at her. ‘I had no choice. She came back from her little visit to First Class all fired up about Sir Dennis’s murder. She told me she was actually a private detective working undercover and started firing all sorts of questions at me. I couldn’t have that, so I just chose my moment carefully, caught her by surprise and broke her neck, like I did with Sir Dennis. Then all I had to do was use my remote control to open an exterior door and throw her body off the train.’
‘But why leave her trolley in the deserted carriage?’ I said.
His smile became a sneer. ‘As a distraction, of course. While you were thinking about that, and about her, you wouldn’t be thinking about me.’
I eased forward a step, and Penny hurried to come up with another question to hold Eric’s attention.
‘When you put out the lights in the next carriage, weren’t you worried people would start asking questions?’
Eric actually smirked. ‘These carriages are so ancient they’re always having problems. None of the passengers even questioned me when I told them the lights wouldn’t be coming back on again. No one ever questions a guard.’
He stood up a little straighter and smiled mockingly at everyone.
‘Enough talking. It’s time to put an end to this. When we finally roll into Bath and they open up this carriage, all they’re going to find in First Class is a whole bunch of dead bodies, to add to the mystery of Sir Dennis being murdered in a toilet locked from the inside. Not quite the result my employers were hoping for, but it should be humiliating enough for Sir Dennis to suit them. And I’ll just get off the train with the rest of the staff and walk away … to my all-expenses-paid retirement.’
He pushed Penny away from him. She stumbled forward, caught off balance, and I moved quickly to grab her and put her behind me, shielding her body with mine. Eric smiled at me. His eyes were bright and he was grinning broadly. This was his moment, and he was loving every bit of it.
‘Can’t afford to get her blood on me. They might notice that in Bath. Don’t any of you think about trying to jump me! I still have an ace up my sleeve. You were right, Mr Jones, I’m not a professional. Not like you. But I still have something you don’t.’
He reached inside his jacket with his free hand and pulled out the remote control. He hit a button and all the lights in the carriage went out.
It was immediately pitch-black, with not even a glimmer of light coming in through the windows. The passengers cried out in shock and fear. Unlike them, though, I could see in the dark. I could make out Eric, standing perfectly still, completely at home in the dark and happily savouring what he was going to do next. He didn’t need to see us, to kill us. He knew where we were. I pushed Penny away from me, and she made a startled sound as she fell backwards. Eric immediately turned his gun in that direction, but I was already surging forward inhumanly quickly. I slammed into him, forcing his gun hand up and driving him back. He managed to get off one shot, but only into the carriage roof.
And then a sudden blast of light filled the carriage, dazzling both of us. Eric seized the moment to throw me off him, and I fell backwards, sprawling on the floor. Sita was standing in the aisle. Somehow she’d found one of the carriage’s emergency flares and ignited it. The fierce green light filled the carriage. Eric aimed his gun at Sita. Brian threw himself forward, putting himself between Sita and the gun. Eric laughed breathlessly and shot him. The impact threw Brian back against Sita, and they both sat down hard on the floor. Sita dropped the flare and it rolled down the aisle, the green light jumping and flashing.
Rupert and Howard were both on their feet and heading for Eric. He aimed his gun at Howard, to shoot him at point-blank range. Rupert slammed into Howard, knocking him to one side and out of the line of fire. Eric aimed at Rupert, who froze.
Penny yelled Eric’s name as she came charging down the aisle. Eric turned his gun on her. I forced myself up on to my feet and moved to put my body between Penny and Eric, readying myself for one last desperate lunge, while knowing even with my speed it wouldn’t be enough to get to him in time. But I had to try, because I couldn’t let anything happen to Penny. Eric aimed his gun at me, his finger tightening on the trigger. And Penny darted past me and hit Eric square in the nuts with her rolled-up copy of the Fortean Times before he could switch his aim to her.
All of Eric’s breath shot out of him in a pained gasp, and he sank to his knees. I was quickly there to grab the gun from his hand. I hit Eric over the head with it, in just the right spot, and he fell forward on to his face and took no further interest in the proceedings. I knelt down beside him, prised the remote control out of his hand and turned the carriage lights back on.
I looked to where Sita was kneeling beside Brian, pressing a folded handkerchief against a bloody wound in his side.
‘Hold that in place,’ she said. ‘I know it must hurt like hell, but a wound there isn’t going to kill you.’
‘What do you know about gunshot wounds?’ said Brian. All the colour had drained out of his face, which was beaded with sweat, but he kept his voice steady.
‘My dad’s an army officer.’
‘I should have known.’
‘How did you know where to find the emergency flare?’ said Brian.
‘I did my research before I got on this train. First rule of the journalist: know what you’re getting into. I put it in my pocket earlier, to use if the killer came after me.’
‘Good thinking,’ said Brian.
‘Why did you risk your life to protect me?’ said Sita.
‘It’s the job,’ said Brian.
‘Not because you fancied me?’
‘Well, maybe that, too.’
‘You’ll last till we get to Bath,’ said Sita. ‘And then I’d better get a decent interview out of you.’
‘I can do that,’ said Brian.
They shared a smile.
I turned to Penny, who brandished her rolled-up magazine triumphantly.
‘I saw that in a movie once. Always wanted to try it.’
‘Nice timing,’ I said.
And then the carriage slowed down in a series of jolts as the train finally pulled into Bath Spa station, right on time.