That evening, the down train from London dropped off a solitary passenger at Ramsdon, a man of middling height, shabbily dressed, with broad shoulders and lengthy arms and an unusual breadth and depth of chest. His face was obscured by a thick growth of dark curly hair, beard, moustache, and whiskers, all overgrown and unkempt, and as he approached the platform with a somewhat slow and ungainly walk, the lad stationed at the gate to collect tickets grinned amusedly and called to one of the porters nearby.
