← Platform 3 · The Killer Boarded at Midnight

One thief, 151 tickets.

A warm-up case in the style of the book: Agnes Wren’s notebook on one side, the company ledger on the other.

Time 0:00

The Missing Pearls

Mrs Strand travelled three nights running and only missed her pearls at Varo. Agnes Wren’s notebook describes the passenger. The ledger holds every ticket sold.

Company ledgerTickets left 151

Solved!

The book is one long case in three acts: 6,000 tickets, 24 clues, a false name to unmask and a murder to explain. About 6 to 9 hours of solving.

Get the book on Amazon (opens in a new tab)

More free puzzles: Train Tracks, Night Train and Ghost Stations. Review puzzle books? We give out free PDF copies.

How to play

Some time in the last week of November 1937, Mrs Ottilie Strand’s pearls left the Midnight Star without her. Agnes Wren saw who took them and, as always, wrote down everything about the ticket except the name.

Read Agnes’s note and the clue in the box. The box is the rule.
Cross out every ticket that doesn’t fit. Apply each clue only to the tickets still standing.
When one ticket is left, you’ve found the thief’s false name.

A warm-up case written for this page, with its own ledger. It spoils nothing in the book.

The line and the train

HALHalden1 section BRKBrennick1 section MFLMarrow Falls1 section OSTOstervale1 section KJNKestrel Junction1 section WYCWyndham Cross1 section LOWLowmoor1 section VARVaro

BRK–OST is 2 sections; HAL–VAR is 7.

Cars: 1–3 Second Class, 5–6 First Class, 7–9 Sleeper.

Seats come in pairs: 1 is beside 2, 3 beside 4, and so on. 2 is not beside 3. Car-Seat 6-14 means car 6, seat 14.

Pay: C cash, Q cheque, A company account, S season pass. Sold: the station’s booking office, or GRD for the guard on board.

The Killer Boarded at Midnight 6,000 tickets · 24 clues · 3 acts · Paperback Buy on Amazon (opens in a new tab)