Good evening. Welcome to the Just Sleep podcast. I'm Tasia, your host.

Every week, I will read you an old story to help you relax, put the stressful day behind you, and drift off to sleep.

Occasionally, we will run ads in order to cover the costs of the production of the podcast.

Rest assured, there will be no ads during or after the story.

If you prefer an ad-free and intro-free show, you can join Just Sleep Premium.

Visit JustSleeppodcast.com slash support for more information.

Tonight, I will be reading a short story from the book Tales of Mystery by Arthur Conan Doyle.

Sherlock Holmes makes a brief appearance in this story, though not by name.

The story is The Lost Special.

So lie down, close your eyes, and let me read you a story.

The Confession of Herbert De Lernak, now lying under sentence of death at Marseilles, has thrown a light upon one of the most inexplicable crimes of the century, an incident, which is, I believe,

absolutely unprecedented in the criminal annals of any country.

Although there is a reluctance to discuss the matter in official circles,

and little information has been given to the press,

there are still indications that the statement of this arch-criminal is corroborated by the facts,

and that we have at last found a solution

for most astounding business. As the matter is eight years old, and its importance was somewhat

obscured by a political crisis, which was engaging the public attention at the time,

it may be as well to state the facts as far as we have been able to

ascertain them. They are collated from the Liverpool papers of that date, from the proceedings of

the inquest upon John Slater, the engine driver, and from the records of the London and West

Coast Railway Company, which have been courteously put on my disposal.

...