Guy Fawkes Night, 1857. Joel Heygate is the popular stationmaster
at Exeter St David's railway station Â- an impressive figure of a
man replete with frock coat and top hat, bushy eyebrows and walrus
moustache. But when the charred remains of a body are discovered in
the embers of the town's annual Bonfire Night celebration, everyone
is horrified when it becomes clear that they belong to Mr Heygate.
The South Devon Railway contacts Scotland Yard for their
assistance, and Superintendant Edward Tallis sends the Railway
Detective Inspector Robert Colbeck and his assistant Victor Leeming
to Exeter with all due haste. They quickly unearth three suspects,
but are they missing something? It is only when Heygate's diary
turns up unexpectedly that the truth becomes clear and a fourth
suspect emerges. As Colbeck closes in on the killer, he finds
himself in mortal danger - can justice prevail? Or will his beloved
Madeleine be robbed of a husband on the very eve of their marriage?
