The walk from the police station to Burchill’s house took no more than twenty minutes. Number 84, New Station Street, was the last in the row of neat, three-storey terrace houses that had sprung up alongside the lines that terminated at Hartley Central. The Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway had been late coming to the town, despite the pleas and protestations of the local industrialists and because of the difficult terrain leading into the valley. There had been similar difficulties with the construction of Hartley Canal in the early years of the century. In consequence, water and rail followed the same route through the narrow gap in the hills that surrounded the town. Now there were two stations, Hartley Central and Hartley North, the first mainly for passengers, the second dedicated to goods.

As Watson...

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