Excerpt from the book called The Frisby Waterless Murders

“If it was fired though, threw a blowpipe, the victim would surely feel something?”

“Normally, yes it would feel like a sting, but if you were being distracted by something or someone else then you might not notice.”

“But the someone else would notice a dart in your neck.”

“So the someone else idea wouldn’t really work, so we are looking for a distraction.”

“Yes, we are especially if someone was carrying around a blowpipe. That surely would have been noticed by someone?”

“Again, not necessarily, the murderer could have used a biro or a recorder or some other small tube.”

“Once you have vacated the carriage I will ask the uniforms to perform a thorough search and see what they can find that’s tubular. A recorder would be an interesting murder weapon I have to say and would be a first for me.”

“Very different from a heavy cavalry sword, Colin.”

“Indeed, very different – do you know where the Train manager is? I should talk to him first and see what happened on the journey.”

“He’s still on the train I believe looking after the victim’s wife and signing our paperwork on behalf of the owners.”

“OK, doc I will have a look at the body when you’ve had a chance to determine the exact course of death. Oh here’s Sergeant Barnes looking all eager. Barnesy, what do you have to tell me?”

“The major did indeed have a ‘war wound’ – he was shot in the left thigh in Iraq in 1990 and so had great difficulty in sitting comfortably without having this leg stretched out in front of him.”

“So he changed seats, did he,” enquired Dr Crabtree, “mistaken identity do you think Colin?”

“Well, it’s a possibility we shall have to investigate, Dr Crabtree. Anyway, I won’t keep you – let’s get the autopsy underway. We have some statements to take and let these people go home. Some of them will have had a shock.”

Dr Crabtree smiled and returned to the train. He knew Knowles was half-hoping a member of an Amazonian tribe had fired a dart through an open window from a bridge over the track and had then climbed aboard the train and during a distraction had removed the dart unseen from the victim’s neck.

Knowles was managing to keep a reasonably open mind about the case so far, but he did know that the people on the train would soon lose patience. “Barnesy, can you and Linda start taking statements from the members of The Round Table and from the actors or members of the troupe, whatever they call themselves.”