The Great Train Robbery

Harranby questions Agar, who initially denies knowing Pierce or anything about the heist. Harranby pretends to read Agar’s past criminal record from a piece of paper and says that Agar will likely be sent to Australia for his next offense. Three days later, Agar confesses everything he knows about Pierce and the heist in exchange for a lenient sentence. On November 13, authorities raid Pierce’s house, but he is away in Manchester attending a boxing match.

The authorities take Agar to the boxing match, where he identifies Pierce (a.k.a. John Simms), who is arrested. Pierce tells Harranby, “You’ll never hold me” (266). By November 19, Pierce, Burgess, and Agar are all being held at Newgate Prison. Miriam and Barlow are still at large and the money is still missing, so the press is not informed of the arrests.

On November 22, Harranby interviews Pierce, who refuses to tell him anything. To encourage him to talk, Harranby moves Pierce to the “dreaded” Coldbath Fields prison. However, when Harranby interviews Pierce again four weeks later, he still refuses to talk. Prime Minister Lord Palmerston presses Harranby to close the case and find the money. In an interview on February 6, Pierce reveals that the gold is at the crypt in St. John’s Wood, but when the authorities search this location, they find no gold. In March of 1857, the Times of London reports on Pierce’s arrest. A trial date for the co-conspirators is set for July 12, 1857.

Burgess and Agar give their testimony first during the trial, but they do not have many of the details. Meanwhile, there is rampant speculation about the criminal mastermind, Pierce. However, on the day Pierce gives his testimony, the public is distracted by the “Indian Mutiny,” an uprising of people in India against the British colonial authorities. In June, Indian soldiers known as sepoys massacre 1,000 British citizens after the siege of Cawnpore, and by July, the British public is clamoring for revenge.

Pierce is proud and remorseless in his testimony. He says that he last saw Barlow when Barlow visited him in prison six days prior, at which time they discussed how Pierce plans to escape. On August 1, Pierce criticizes Lord Cardigan for his role in the charge of the light brigade. The papers report little of this part of the trial.

On August 2, the prosecutor asks Pierce why he did the heist. Pierce responds, “I wanted the money” (279). He is then taken from the Old Bailey, the courthouse in London, in handcuffs. As he is being escorted to the prison van, a woman (presumably Miriam in disguise) kisses him on the mouth and likely slips him some handcuff keys. Later, the police guards are found in a gutter; they have been beaten up by Barlow. Piece, Barlow, and Miriam are never found.

Burgess is sentenced to two years in prison, where he dies of cholera. Agar is sent to Australia after all, where he later dies a wealthy man in Sydney. Mr. Harranby dies after being kicked in the head by a horse that he was whipping. Elizabeth Trent marries and has four children. Henry Fowler dies of “unknown causes.” In 1862, Pierce, Barlow, and Miriam are said to be in Paris, and six years later, they are said to be in New York, but these reports remain unconfirmed, and authorities never find the stolen gold.