'Two people, leaping from the train,' said Lugg, rubbing his chin as he meditated. 'Surely, some of the other passengers would have spotted them doing that.'
'Only if they happened to be looking out of the window at the time. This, as you can see, is near the end of the train. There are only two carriages and a guard's van behind it. Naturally,' he went on, 'we'll speak to all the passengers who were on that train last night but, since there were so few of them, I doubt that we'll find a witness.'
'No, Inspector. If someone had seen people hopping off the train, they'd have reported it by now. The killer obviously chose the point to jump off very carefully.'
'Someone who knows this line well.'
Colbeck continued with his meticulous examination of the body and the carriage while Lugg looked on with fascination. After searching the dead man's pockets, Colbeck lifted the head so that he could slip the Bible out from under it. He opened it at the page with the marker in it and read the text.
'Amazing how his head came to rest on that, isn't it?' said Lugg with his characteristic chuckle. 'Almost as if God's hand was at work.'
'It was the killer's hand, Sergeant,' announced Colbeck. 'He put the Bible there deliberately so that he could leave us this message.'
'Message?'
'St Paul's Epistle to the Romans – chapter 12. He's Crossed out verse 19 in order to make his point.'
'And what's that?'
'Something that every Christian knows – Vengeance is mine; I will repay, saith the Lord.' He closed the Bible and put it aside. 'It seems as if someone is determined to do the Lord's work for Him.'
Victor Leeming had been efficient. having taken statements from the guard and the stationmaster, he had located a handful of passengers who had travelled on the train the previous evening and spoken to them as well. When he saw Colbeck coming down the platform towards him with Sergeant Lugg, he went swiftly forward to meet the Inspector.
'One of the managers of the South Eastern Railway is here, sir,' He said. 'He wants to know when the service can be resumed – so do all the people you see queuing outside the ticket office.'
'As soon as the body is removed,' said Colbeck, 'the train is all theirs, but I'd recommend that they detach that particular carriage. nobody will want to travel in it now, anyway. Can you pass that on, Sergeant Lugg?'
'Yes, Inspector,' replied Lugg, 'and I've got men standing by with a stretcher – and with a blanket. The chaplain deserves to be covered when we carry him past that mob. I'm not having them goggling at Mr Jones. It's indecent.'
'Well, Victor,' said Colbeck as the policeman waddled off, 'have you discovered anything of value?'
'Not really, sir.'
'I thought not.'
'It was getting dark by the time that the train reached Maidstone last night so the guard couldn't see much when he glanced in through the windows. To be honest,' he added, 'I doubt if he even looked. He was too anxious to get home to his supper.'
'What about the stationmaster? Albert someone, I gather.'
'Albert Scranton, crusty old soul. He recognised all the people who got off that train and said that everything looked perfectly normal. He wonders if the murder could have happened during the night.'
'While the train was out of commission?'
'Yes, Inspector – after he'd closed the station.'
'And how did the chaplain come to be in the railway carriage of a train that wasn't going anywhere?'
'That's what I asked him,' said Leeming. 'Mr Scranton reckoned that he could have been tricked into meeting someone here.'
'Impossible,' said Colbeck, dismissing the notion at once. 'There was a ticket in the dead man's pocket showing that he was travelling from Paddock Wood to Maidstone. Since he didn't get off here, he must have been killed during the journey.'
'So where did the murderer get off?'
'Somewhere on the other side of Yalding station.'
Leeming blinked. 'While the train was still moving?'
'Yes, Victor. It's only three miles or so between Paddock Wood and Yalding. The chaplain must have been dispatched shortly after the train left so that the pair of them had time to make their escape.'
'The pair of them?'
'I'm fairly certain that he had an accomplice.'
'You mean that woman?'
'Let's be off,' said Colbeck, using a hand to ease him into a walk. 'I'll give you all the details on the way there.'
'Where are we going, sir?'
'To prison, Victor.'
Henry Ferriday was more apprehensive than ever. Unable to sit still, he paced nervously up and down his office in the vain hope that movement would ease the tension that he felt. A rap on the door startled him and he called for the visitor to identify himself before he allowed him in. It was one of the men on duty at the prison gate, bringing news that two detectives from Scotland Yard were waiting to see him. Minutes later, Robert Colbeck and Victor Leeming were escorted to the governor's office. When the Sergeant was introduced to Ferriday, he was given a clammy handshake. All three men sat down.
'This is an appalling business,' said Ferriday, still reeling from the shock. 'Quite appalling.'
'You have my deepest sympathy,' said Colbeck, softly. 'I know how much you relied on the chaplain.'
'Narcissus was vital to the running of this prison, Inspector. He exerted such influence over the inmates. I don't know how we'll manage without him. He's irreplaceable.'
'Is it true that he had a death threat some weeks ago?' Ferriday was taken aback. 'How on earth do you know that?'
'That's immaterial. It was in connection with the execution of Nathan Hawkshaw, wasn't it?'
'Yes, it was.'
'Did you happen to see the note?'
'Of course. Narcissus and I had no secrets between us.'
'Can you recall what it said?'
'Very little, Inspector. Something to the effect of 'We'll kill you for this, you Welsh bastard' – only the spelling was dreadful. It was clearly written by an ignorant man.'
'Ignorant men can still nurture a passion for revenge.'
'Did you take the threat seriously?' asked Leeming.
'Yes, Sergeant.'
'And what about the chaplain?'
'Narcissus shrugged it off,' said Ferriday, 'and threw the note away. He refused to be frightened by anything. That was his downfall.'
'Did he take no precautions outside the prison?' said Colbeck.
'He didn't need to, Inspector. Well, you've met him. He was a big man, strong enough to look after himself. And having worked with villains for so long, he had a second sense where danger was concerned.'
'Not in this case,' observed Leeming.
'Do we have any idea what actually happened?' said Ferriday, looking from one to the other. 'All I know is that his body was discovered in a railway carriage this morning. How was he murdered?'
Colbeck gave him a brief account of his examination of the murder scene and told him that the body had now been removed from the train. The governor flinched when he heard about the Bible being placed under the head of the dead man and the verse that had been picked out.
'What kind of vile heathen are we dealing with here?' he shouted.
'A very clever one,' admitted Colbeck. 'This is the second murder that he's committed on a train and he's
