The other passengers had heard this and somehow it broke the silence. The old lady had been knitting what looked like a multicolored sack but now she looked up. “I love taking the train,” she announced, and for the first time I realized that she was French. Her accent was so thick you could have wrapped yourself in it to keep warm.

“It sure is one hell of a thing,” the Texan agreed. “London to Paris in three and a half hours. Great for business.”

The Texan held up his magazine. “I’m in oil. Jed Mathis is the name.”

“Why do you call your oil Jed Mathis?” Tim asked.

“I’m sorry?” Jed looked confused. He turned to the old lady. “Are you visiting your grandchildren in Paris?” he asked.

“Non!” the lady replied.

Tim dug into his pocket and pulled out a French dictionary. While he was looking up the word, she continued in English.

“I have a little cake shop in Paris. Erica Nice. That’s my name. Please, you must try some of my almond slices.” And before anyone could stop her, she’d pulled out a bag of cakes that she offererd to us all.

We were still hurtling through the darkness. Tim put away his dictionary and helped himself. At the same time, a steward approached us, pushing one of those trolleys piled up with sandwiches and coffee. He was a thin, pale man with a drooping mustache and slightly sunken eyes. The name on his badge was Marc Chabrol. I remember thinking even then that he looked nervous. A nervous traveler, I thought. But then, why would a nervous traveler work on a train?

Jed produced a wallet full of dollars and offered to buy us all coffee. A free breakfast and we hadn’t even arrived. Things were definitely looking up.

“So what do you do?” Erica Nice asked, turning to Tim.

Tim gave a crooked smile. It was meant to make him look smart but in fact he just looked as though he had a toothache. “I’m a private detective,” he said.

The steward dropped one of the coffee cups. Fortunately, he hadn’t added the water yet. Coffee granules showered over the Kit Kats.

“A private detective?” Erica trilled. “How very unusual!”

“Are you going to Paris on business?” the Texan asked.