'That's better,' said Leeming, settling gratefully into the back of a cab as it moved away. 'I feel safe now.'

'My only concern is for the safety of the passengers on the Brighton Express,' said Colbeck, worriedly. 'The train was almost full. According to the telegraph, there have been some fatalities. The chances are that others may die of their injuries in due course.'

'You know my opinion, Inspector. Railways are dangerous.'

'That's not borne out by the statistics, Victor. Millions of passengers travel by rail each year in complete safety. Of the accidents reported, the majority are relatively minor and involve no loss of life.'

'What about the engine that exploded last year, Inspector?'

'It was a regrettable but highly unusual incident.'

'The driver and his fireman were blown to pieces.'

'Yes, Victor,' admitted Colbeck. 'And so was an engine fitter.'

He remembered the tragedy only too well. A locomotive due to take an early train to Littlehampton had exploded inside the engine shed at Brighton. The building had been wrecked, paving stones had been uprooted and one wall of an adjacent omnibus station had been shaken to its foundations. The three men beside the locomotive had been blown apart. The head of the engine fitter had been discovered in the road outside and one of the driver's legs was hurled two hundred yards before smashing through a window and ending up on the breakfast table of a boarding house.

'The boiler burst,' recalled Leeming, gloomily. 'I read about it. This company has had a lot of accidents in the past.'