Summer 1858. Young Imogen Burnhope and her maid Rhoda board a non-stop train to Oxford to visit Imogen's Aunt Cassandra, who is waiting on the platform of the terminus to greet them. All the passengers get off at Oxford, but the two women are nowhere to be seen. The train is searched and the coachman swears he saw them board first class, but they seem to vanish into thin air. Upon learning of his daughter's disappearance, Sir Marcus Burnhope turns to Scotland Yard for help. Inspector Colbeck and Sergeant Leeming are assigned the case and are advised to tread carefully around Sir Marcus, a member of Parliament who is used to getting what he wants. Witnesses confirming the impossible - that the women boarded the train - was it a simple case of escape? Or is there a larger, more sinister conspiracy at work? A railway detective must unravel the mysterious web of their disappearance before Imogen and Rhoda disappear into oblivion forever.Cover design and artwork used by the English-language publisher.