In July 1864 Thomas Briggs was travelling home after visiting his niece & her husband for dinner. He entered a First Class carriage on the 9.45pm Hackney service of the North London railway. At Hackney two bank clerks entered the carriage & discovered blood in the seat cushions; also on the floor windows & sides of the carriage. A bloodstained hat was found on the seat along with a broken link from a watch chain. The race to identify the killer & catch him as he flees on a boat to America was eagerly followed by citizens both sides of the Atlantic. Kate Colquhoun tells a gripping tale of a crime that shocked the nation.