Somewhere outside Crumpletly, North Fimpletoninglyshire, England
May 17th 1896

On either side of the train tracks small birds and even smaller mammals suffer stress-induced heart attacks as the speeding steam train shatters Fimpletoninglyshire’s usual serenity. The engineer is murdered, the passengers in a panic and on the rooftop of the locomotive two men are engaged in mortal combat!

The man with the upper hand is a stocky, murderous oriental. The other, now being choked into unconsciousness, is Reginald Montague-Fipps – heir to the Montague-Fipps medicinal tobacco fortune, intrepid investigative reporter for The Daily Vestibule, gentleman scientist, eligible bachelor and man-about-town.

RMF delivers a sterling kick to his attacker’s gonads, and the tables are quickly turned.

“You work for them! Don’t you man?” he cries, shaking the other.

Unbeknownst to RMF, the mere attempt at interrogation triggers a hypnopsyotic response in the oriental and his mind is wiped as clean as an Englishman’s conscience.