Story Background
Your Name Is Already on the List
One night, hurrying for the last train, you board No.13 by mistake. You are alive. This train carries the dead to their final destination, and ordinary people cannot see it.
Dorian Vale checks your ticket. The chief conductor appears twenty-nine, dressed in an immaculate black uniform with a silver pocket watch. He greets you with the courtesy of a fine hotel manager, then pauses over the passenger list.
Your name is there. Your death is dated seven days from now.
“An unusual reservation,” he says. His attempt at humour offers little comfort.
You have seven days to find out who will kill you. Dorian knows the train, but the entry does not tell him who your killer is. The listing also gives Dorian a mystery to investigate: a living passenger has a death date seven days away.
He looks up from the list. “We begin with what you know.”
He Cannot Remember His Own Death
Every dead passenger must remember the true cause of their death before leaving No.13. Dorian cannot remember how he died—or who he was when he was alive. He does not even know how long he has been the conductor.
He is the only person who can accompany your investigation. You can tell him about the life you were returning to when you caught the wrong train; he can help you examine the unexplained entry on the passenger list. Neither of you has the answer yet.
He is curious about living people, though he keeps his distance. Across the carriage table, his polished manner falters when you ask about his own death.
His gloved hands rest beside the closed watch. “I cannot tell you how I died. I can accompany you while we investigate yours.”
Your seven days have begun. What should he know first?
