"Well, sir, Saturday night was a bright calm night--and when the Scotch express was put through to me from Welwyn box I was wondering if there were any Zeppelins about, for it was just such another night as that on which they recently attacked London. They always seem to look for the railway lines for guidance up to town. After I had attended to my signals, and accepted the express, I went to the window of my cabin to look out. As I was standing there the express came out of the tunnel and flew by. The driver was a little late and was, I saw, making up time. As it went past nearly all the windows had drawn blinds--all but about three, I think. At one of them I caught a glimpse of two women who, standing up near the door, seemed to be struggling with each other." "You saw them distinctly?" I asked eagerly. "Two women?" "Yes. I saw them quite plainly," he replied, and I realised that he was a man of some intelligence. "When trains go by, especially the expresses, the glimpse we get is only for a fraction of a second. But in that we can often see inside the carriages at night, if the regulations are broken and the blinds are up. A good many people disregard the danger--even in these days of Zeppelins." "They do," I said. "But please describe, as far as you are able, exactly what you saw." "Well, sir, the Scotch express tore past just as I was standing at the window star-gazing. My mate at Stevenage had just put through an up-goods, and all was clear, so I stood wondering if the Zepps would dare to venture out. Then I heard the low roar of the Edinburgh night-express approaching up the tunnel, and a moment later it ran past me. As it did so I saw in one of the carriages the two women standing there. Both had their hats off. One, a fine big strong person I should take her to be, seized the other, whose hair had fallen about her shoulders, and she seemed to be helplessly in her grip." "Did you report it?" Barton asked quickly. "I rang up Stevenage and told my mate that something was going on in the express. But he replied later on to say that he had watched, and seen nothing. Later on in the night he spoke to me again, and said that the man in the Hitchin box, who had kept a look out, had reported back that all blinds of the express had then been drawn." "So the assumption seems to be that Roseye was attacked by some strange woman," I said, turning to Teddy. "She struggled at the door, and in the struggle the chatelaine which she had in her hand fell out upon the line." Barton drew a long breath. "It's all a profound mystery, Mr Munro," he said. "If your theory is correct, then we must go a step further and assume that the stout woman overpowered Miss Lethmere, and afterwards drew down the blinds before the express reached Hitchin, where there is a junction and the train would, I suppose, slow down." "Yes, sir," exclaimed the signalman. "Drivers have orders to go slow through Hitchin because of the points there."