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MURDER on a
LONDON EXPRESS CHRISTINE CUNANAN helps solve a mystery on the historic BRITISH PULLMAN
V
Apart from taking guests back in time to the glorious age of travel, this train is also a favorite venue for milestone birthdays and anniversaries, and for special events like wedding proposals and celebrations.
ictoria Station is cavernous and perpetually busy, and we were running late, so I was anxious about making it through the crowds to our train on time, departing at 1120 AM sharp. This was not just any train, after all. We were on a one-of-a-kind voyage on the British Pullman, a private luxury train consisting of 11 immaculately restored vintage carriages that would take us through England’s countryside the old-fashioned way, with white-gloved waiters serving champagne and a sixcourse gourmet lunch as we gazed at the passing scenery.
It makes scheduled departures every month, and we were lucky enough to find ourselves in London on the day of one of these, which is why I booked a trip. We were celebrating nothing in particular – save for, as always, life itself – but I thought that this would be an excellent and most interesting way to enjoy the picturesque county of Kent.
PICTURE PRETTY Fortunately, the train presented itself rather beautifully so that we did not have to strain to find it. Painted in pale yellow cream and chocolate brown, with brass hardware polished shiny as the buttons on a Buckingham Palace guard’s uniform, it stood out immediately on Platform 1 amidst the sea of tired grey commuter trains weaving noisily in and out of the station. Next to each carriage was a smiling attendant smartly attired in the uniform of old.
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The mystery on the British Pullman is a work in progress, with each passenger making it as real as he or she wants it to be. Luckily for us, we had a carriage full of enthusiastic murder theorists intent on solving it and having a wonderful time.
The British Pullman has its own lounge at one end of the station so it is not just a matter of boarding the train. After simple check-in procedures and a cup of tea here, we were escorted to our carriage, the Audrey.
ABOUT THE AUDREY The Audrey carriage of the British Pullman is one of the most beautiful, with 12 different marquetry panels of landscape scenes. She made her debut as a train carriage on New Year’s Day 1933 as part of the world’s first all-electric Pullman train. She has spent 40 years in service and traveled over 4.3 million kilometers, during which time she was used regularly by members of the British Royal Family.
TRAIN WITH A PAST Each carriage of the British Pullman is decorated differently, and each has a storied past, if not a glorious pedigree. Ours was right at the top in terms of both. It was damaged in the air raids of World War II and it once formed part of another historic train called the Brighton Belle. In its years of service, it had the pleasure of transporting Queen Elizabeth II, Prince Philip, and Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother, before welcoming us more ordinary mortals as passengers on that humid morning in June. Inside, the Audrey was a craftsman’s dream. Exotic art deco marquetry and veneered panels formed backdrops for elegant salons with velvet armchairs and tables with starched linen and gleaming silverware, framed by art deco light fixtures.
We entered the carriage and walked past these lovely intimate tables to a private salon in the middle. Comfortably seating four but set for two in our case, it was like a perfectly formed cocoon of a jewel box with gilded doors that could shut the world out if we wanted to.
PARTNERS IN CRIME Within conversational distance from us were a lively group of executives who had taken the entire adjacent car and several couples. One of the couples looked like they were on their first date – and what an amazing first date idea this is, if you’re planning to impress – while the others were clearly celebrating special moments in their lives. And yet another pair came in the form of two gentlemen from the same office who gave me the impression that they had taken the day off to do something wonderful and completely refreshing. I only know this because they had taken the time to say hello to everyone in a very congenial way, clearly gearing up for the big task at hand.
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GUESTS ON A MISSION Yes, we were not just out for a fine meal on a palace on wheels, we had a mystery to solve. Even before we left Victoria Station, an aristocrat with a fiancée, a mistress and a greedy butler would be murdered in the posh neighborhood of Kensington, and we were challenged to find the guilty party before the train rolled back into London and in between copious glasses of champagne. This was part of the fun, giving this rail journey a reason for being apart from offering a nostalgic luxury experience. Over the course of five hours, a series of personalities in period costumes sauntered, danced, glided or stomped their way through the carriages; each offered a short introduction, a primer on the murder, and
a vehement denial of his or her culpability. A nurse and the aristocrat’s son even gave us their two pounds’ worth on the likely murderer – naming no one they liked, obviously.
the impoverished nurse, especially as the aristocrat’s former lover swanned about in pearls and silks declaring she was far too wealthy to fall in love with him, or to murder him, just for money.
Then we were encouraged to interrogate – or at least to make conversation – with each one, spontaneity being the fuel for this adventure-in-the-making. The story on each train journey is a work in progress, with each passenger making the experience as real as he or she wants it to be. Luckily for us, we had a carriage full of enthusiastic murder theorists intent on solving the mystery and having a wonderful time.
In the spirit of the drama unfolding before us, I then asked aloud, “Are you really as rich as you say you are?”
All of us thought the murder was likely to be about the money, so our instincts zoomed in on the butler and
The lady instantly put on a horrified face. Then without missing a beat, she remarked in a very upper-class cutting accent, causing us all to break into laughter: “What a terribly rude question.” In the end, it was the butler who did it, and the announcement was we espied London in the distance. And, for some reason, everyone was happy but none of us were terribly surprised. n
THE BELMOND BRITISH PULLMAN www.belmond.com
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