‘Why on earth should he do that, Father?’ she asked. ‘In the first place, Robert may not even be responsible for the investigation. And even if he is, how could he possibly know that you drove the train on which murder was committed?’

He gave a grudging nod. ‘There is that, I suppose.’

‘You’ll just have to wait.’

‘Well, it won’t be for long,’ he said, ‘because I’m certain that he’ll be in charge of the case. The LNWR would be mad not to ask for him. It’s only a matter of time before he discovers that I was on the footplate this morning. That will bring him running.’

‘But you didn’t see anything of interest.’

‘Yes, I did. I saw those two policemen with their prisoner.’

‘Can you describe him?’

‘Well, he wasn’t young but, then again, you couldn’t call him an old man. As for the villain’s face, I must have been thirty-odd yards away, Maddy, so I can’t really help you.’

‘Then you won’t be able to help Robert either.’

Andrews was deflated, fearing that his offer of assistance might be turned down by Colbeck. Slumping into his chair, he racked his brains for any tiny details that he might be able to pass on in the hope of ingratiating himself with the Railway Detective. When none came to mind, he was tempted to invent some. Madeleine, meanwhile, had resumed work at her easel. He looked across at her.

‘Have you set a date yet, Maddy?’

‘You know that we haven’t,’ she replied.

‘Then it’s high time that you did.’

‘There’s no real urgency.’

‘There may not be for you,’ he complained, ‘but what about me? How can I retire when I still have you to support? I told Dirk Sowerby about it this morning. He refused to believe that I’d finally turn my back on the railway but I can’t wait to do it.’

‘You could retire tomorrow, if you wished.’

‘Not while I’ve got a daughter to feed and clothe.’

‘I don’t need you to support me anymore, Father,’ she said. ‘Now that I can sell my work, I have a fair amount of money coming in. You can’t use me as an excuse.’