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the afternoon. One of them is scheduled at 1:25, the other at 2:40. From there, the next train does not
pass until 5:15.”
“And that is most likely the reason he changed his methodology,” said Emma.
“Were the women who were attacked from the train too, Sir?” Davy asked. “Or did they live in
the town where the crimes occurred?”
“A reasonable question, Davy,” Trevor said. “But a bit premature. I shall give you particulars
about the victims in a minute, but for now let’s stick to the question of how our criminal was using the
trains.”
“Here’s my notion,” said Emma. “The first two times he gets off the train in the afternoon,
finding a deserted depot and a town full of women, most of the men either having long since
commuted to work in the factories or else they’re laboring out in the fields. He finds his victim, rapes
her, and is left, just as Tom suggests, with a sizable wait before the next train. I am happy to say that I
don’t know how long it takes for an assault of this nature to be instigated and concluded, but I can’t
imagine it would fill a block of time between 1:25 and 2:40.” She glanced around the circle, but the
four men provided no further illumination, so she shrugged and continued. “Once the act is finished,
our man must hide and somehow find a way to safely avoid detection until he can catch the next train.
But this is risky in the extreme. They say that most women who are so attacked do not confess it, but
if either of the first two women he raped had happened to tell, then Tom is quite right. He would
have the whole village around his ears within minutes. People swarming about in pursuit of him and
most obviously looking around the depot, the train being the only swift and anonymous way a stranger
would have of getting out of town.”
“Bravo,” Rayley said, taking off his glasses and blowing forcefully on the lenses. He had been
in Paris when Emma had joined the group and initially he had been skeptical about the contributions a
schoolmaster’s daughter could bring to the world of crime. But Emma had continued to impress him,
one Tuesday night after the next.
“Just so,” said Tom. “He has some sort of close call after the second rape perhaps, so he
changes his methodology. This time he gets off of the train at some earlier time and hides before the
rape, rather than after. He bides his time until he knows a train is due, then commits the rape and
swiftly boards the train. He’s on his way well before his victim has time to alert her townspeople, if
indeed she is inclined to do so.”
“But his mere presence would be alarming,” Rayley said. “He’s already raped two women,