The Missing Briefcase

Written by Tom Fowler

Ed Beatty arrived at the train station half an hour before boarding time. He had booked a New York to Los Angeles train ride weeks ago and looked forward to it with child-like enthusiasm. However, he did not know that one of the porters assigned to his sleeper car was none other than the infamous Robert Fennell, a convict who had escaped after a dozen years in prison. Fennell was a larger-than-life character and the most famous of his generation of criminals. Fennell, now forty-four years of age, was a cat burglar, jewel thief, safecracker and bank robber par excellence; a master of disguises and a man of seemingly endless aliases. Now, he posed as a train porter to earn a few dollars and move freely about the country to avoid law enforcement. Ed and the railroad line would soon learn this the hard way.

Ed did indeed look forward to a hard earned vacation, and the three day trip to Los Angeles to visit old friends was simply the first portion of it, for he intended to sail on a cruiseship and visit foreign ports before heading back to home and work. Boarding time for the train was ten a.m. Porter 1 warmly greeted him at the entrance to his car, took his baggage and stowed it for him in his first class cabin. Ed noticed the man to be a bit clumsy but politely said nothing.

Ed spent the remainder of the morning putting his things away. Even the staterooms on railroad trains are not overly spacious, so Ed organized as well as he could. After this, he took a short nap before lunch.

Porter 2, a distinguished looking man of perhaps forty, knocked upon Ed’s door around noon to announce that the dining room was open. Ed thought, “This man is much too elegant to be a porter on a train”, but considered that perhaps the railroad put its best foot forward for first class travelers. Moreover, Porter 2 possessed impeccable manners, as he had assisted Porter 1 in welcoming “Mr. Beatty” earlier that day and had embarrassedly apologized for momentarily forgetting Ed’s name. Ed thought nothing of it; Porter 2 had welcomed dozens of passengers aboard earlier that morning. “The poor fellow must be getting tired”, he thought.

Returning from lunch, where he had spent a pleasant hour dining with and getting to know his fellow first class travelers, Ed returned to his cabin and took another nap before dinner.

At six p.m., the third porter came on duty. Porter 3 appeared to be about forty-five and was not as friendly as the others—in fact he seemed slightly standoffish, although he was cordial and greeted Ed with a tip of his cap and politely but formally informed him that the dining car was open for the evening meal. Perhaps because he had just come on duty, Ed noticed Porter 3’s uniform to be especially well-fitted and freshly pressed.

Ed enjoyed a wonderful meal and drinks at the bar with new friends afterward. After sleeping most of the day, he wasn’t tired at all and did not return to his stateroom until almost eleven p.m. At that time, he met Porter 4 in the hallway outside his cabin. The men exchanged perfunctory greetings underneath the bright light of Ed’s door as he started to enter his room to undress for bed. Ed, a private investigator for an insurance company and a keen observer of people and places, thought Porter 4 to be a little young to be a senior porter on a major railroad line, as he could not have been more than thirty years old. Still, the youngish looking porter deftly opened the door and ushered Ed inside in what seemed to be one sweeping motion. Climbing into the comfortable stateroom bed, Ed thought no more of the graceful young porter as the excellent meal and cocktails, along with the gentle rocking of the big passenger train, quickly put him to sleep.

The next morning, Ed awoke before the breakfast announcement. As he washed and dressed to prepare for the day, he found that his briefcase, with his personal papers and foreign passport, was missing. Ed quickly reported this to the chief porter, who in turn notified passenger security.

Ed, himself an experienced investigator, had a general idea of what happened but didn’t really learn the truth until speaking with his railroad counterpart.

After explaining to Alan Webb, chief of security, what had happened, Webb shook his head and sadly said, “We learned after departing New York that one of our first class porters is, in fact, Robert Fennell. One of his prison pals told the local authorities, hoping to avoid execution next week. The problem is we don’t know which one he is, as all of the porters in your car are borrowed from other lines for this trip.”

Ed knew well Fennell’s background and reputation. Ed explained his own professional background to Webb, who welcomed having another investigative mind to assist him.

Ed said, “Well that explains how somebody could steal my briefcase from right under my nose. Fennell is the best thief in the business. He hasn’t lost his touch. Still, I believe we can figure this out. In fact, I’m pretty sure we can.”

Alan Webb asked, “What makes you think so?”

“Because I came into personal contact with all four of the first class car porters. I noticed quite a bit about them.”

“OK. What did you notice?”