1854. As the Cardiff-bound train puffs out of Paddington Station young Hugh Kellow wraps a protective arm around his large valise. He has been entrusted with a priceless silver coffee pot designed in the shape of a locomotive by his elderly silversmith employer. But two of Hugh's fellow passengers are taking an enormous interest in the young man & his priceless cargo. When a dead body is discovered in a room at the Cardiff Railway Hotel beside an empty valise the great Railway Detective Robert Colbeck & his trusty sergeant Victor Leeming are called in to investigate; & face a whole host of unexpected problems.