running east and west crossed the
other, leading in one direction to Leeds and the west, in the other to
Hull.

About half-way between Selby and Hull, at a place called Staddlethorpe,
a line branched off and ran south-westerly through Goole to Doncaster.
Selby, Staddlethorpe, and Doncaster therefore formed a railway triangle,
one of the sides of which, produced, led to Hull. From this it followed,
as indeed the inspector had known, that passengers to and from Hull had
two points of connection with the main line, either direct to Selby, or
through Goole to Doncaster.

He began to study the trains. The first northwards was the 4 p.m.
dining-car express from King's Cross to Newcastle. It left Doncaster
at 7.56 and reached Selby at 8.21. Would Archer travel by it? And if he
did, what would be his next move?

For nearly an hour Willis sat huddled up in the corner of a seat, his
eye on Archer in the distance, and his mind wrestling with the problem.
For nearly an hour he racked his brains without result, then suddenly
a devastating idea flashed before his consciousness, leaving him rigid
with dismay. For a moment his mind refused to accept so disastrous a
possibility, but as he continued to think over it he found that one
puzzling and unrelated fact after another took on a different complexion
from that it had formerly borne; that, moreover, it dropped into place
and became part of a connected whole.

to the North
|
|
|Selby Stsaalethorpt Hull
_x____________x______x_____x________x_______x______
Leeds | / Ferriby Hassle
| x Goole
| /
| /
| /
|/
x Dorcaster
|
from London

He saw now why Archer could not discuss Madeleine's letter over the
telephone, but was able to arrange in that way for the interview with
Beamish. He understood why Archer, standing at his study window, had
mentioned the call at eleven next morning. He realized that Benson's
amendment was probably arranged by Archer on the previous evening. He
saw why the Girondin had left the Lesque without her full cargo, and
why she was loading barrels at Ferriby. He knew who it was he had seen
passing in the other train as his own reached Doncaster, and he grasped
the reason for Archer's visit to Selby. In a word, he saw he had been
hoaxed--f