Free Deadly Beloved by Alanna Knight

has been running as usual during the past two weeks."
    "Absolutely, sir."
    "There have been no breakdowns or replacement carriages?"
    "Never, sir, without my knowledge. You can rely on that. This is my train," he said proudly, "a most reliable engine, never given us a moment's trouble."
    "Could you say definitely whether this train ran as usual at midday on Monday, January 16th?"
    The guard grinned. "It did, sir and I was on it. It was my daughter's first birthday and starting to snow heavily when we left Edinburgh. We were anxious about possible delays. Folks like to get home for their dinners and we have a lot of passengers joining and leaving the train at the intermittent stations."
    "Bearing in mind the snowfall, there were no blockages on the line, even just for a few minutes?"
    Wilson thought. "No, not that day, I'm certain. Everything went smoothly and we arrived in North Berwick on the dot of 12.45."
    "At the time you were checking the tickets, can you remember seeing anyone behaving in what you might consider an odd way?"
    "Such as, sir?"
    "Well, did you interrupt an argument, for instance?"
    Wilson thought for a moment, pushed back his cap and scratched his head. "No, sir, I can't honestly say that I saw anything at all out of the ordinary. All very normal, the gentlemen hiding behind their newspapers, as always. And the ladies reading or staring out of the window. Very well-behaved travellers, they are. Like their privacy, of course, and that day a lot of them travelled with the blinds drawn."
    "Surely that is unusual in daylight hours?"
    "Not at all, sir. The sun is low at this time of year, and what with the glare of the snow, and the smoke, it can be trying on the passengers' eyes."
    "So you don't see much of what's happening inside the compartments."
    "Not a lot. I mind my own business, Inspector," Wilson added sternly, "leave them severely alone except when I have to examine the tickets."
    And so creating the perfect opportunity for a murderer, thought Faro hopefully.
    "Were the first-class carriages crowded that day?"
    Again the guard thought. "No more than usual."
    "Were any of these compartments empty?"
    "There might have been a couple."
    "Can you remember one being occupied by a lady and gentleman travelling together?"
    Wilson grinned. "Oh yes, that was the young honeymooners, bless them. Got on at Musselburgh."
    "Tell me, do you remember a lady travelling that day in a very handsome fur cloak — sable, it was."
    "I wouldn't know sable from water rat, sir," said Wilson ruefully, "that's for sure. Besides most of our better-off lady passengers travelling first at this time of year wrap up well in their fur cloaks to keep warm. Was your lady young or old?"
    "Middle-aged."
    The guard nodded. "That's mostly the age that can afford the furs, sir." He consulted his watch. "Have to look sharp, sir. Time we were leaving."
    "I think I'll stay on. A ticket to Longniddry, if you please."
    As the train steamed out of Waverley Station, overshadowed by Carlton Hill, Faro considered that the comfort of travelling in a first-class compartment was well worth the extra expense.
    He enjoyed rail travel and regretted that it was a fairly uncommon occurrence in his life. As he studied the passing landscape, reeling down the window to have a good look at the three stations where the train halted before Longniddry, he noted that the journey so far had taken twenty minutes.
    Twenty minutes would be more than enough time to stab Mabel Kellar to death with the carving knife in a compartment with the blinds drawn.
    But if that was so, then there would have been blood spattered everywhere, far more than could be contained in the fur cloak. The murderer's clothing and hands must also have been stained. Once his gruesome job was completed, he would want to make a speedy exit from the scene of the crime. Having disposed of the evidence he presumably got out himself at Longniddry.
    Faro shook his head. The explanation was plausible, he