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Sykes said in his trial in 1848, “The key is everything in the lay, the problem and the solution.”
    Thus it was Edward Pierce’s unquestioned assumption in planning the train robbery that he must first obtain copies of all the necessary keys. And he must do this by gaining access to the keys themselves, for although there was a new method of using wax “blanks” and inserting them into the locks of the actual safes, this technique was undependable. Safes of the period were usually left unguarded for this reason.
    The true criminal focus was upon the keys to the safe, wherever they might be. The copying process presented no difficulty: wax impressions of the key could be made in a few moments. And any premises containing a key could be cracked with relative ease.
    But, if one stops to think of it, a key is really rather small. It can be concealed in the most unlikely places; it can be hidden almost anywhere on a person’s body, or in a room. Particularly a Victorian room, where even so ordinary an item of furniture as a wastebasket was likely to be covered in cloth, layers of fringes, and decorative rings of tassels.
    We forget how extraordinarily cluttered Victorian rooms were. Innumerable hiding places were provided by the prevailing décor of the period. Furthermore, the Victorians themselves adored secret compartments and concealed spaces; a mid-century writing desk was advertised as “containing 110 compartments, including many most artfully concealed from detection.” Even the ornate hearths, found in every room of a house, offered dozens of places to hide an object as small as a key.
    Thus, in the mid-Victorian period, information about the location of a key was almost as useful as an actual copy of the key itself. A thief seeking a wax impression might break into a house if he knew exactly where the key was hidden, or even if he knew in which room it was hidden. But if he did not know where in the house it was, the difficulty of making a thorough search—silently, in a house full of residents and servants, usinga single shaded lantern that threw only a “bull’s-eye” spot of light—was so great as to be not worth the attempt in the first instance.
    Therefore, Pierce directed his attention to discovering where Mr. Edgar Trent, senior partner of the firm of Huddleston & Bradford, kept his key.
    The first question was whether Mr. Trent kept his key in the bank. Junior clerks of Huddleston & Bradford took their dinner at one o’clock at a pub called the Horse and Rider, across the street from the firm. This was a smallish establishment, crowded and warm at the noon dinner hour. Pierce struck up an acquaintance with one of the clerks, a young man named Rivers.
    Normally, the servants and junior clerks of the bank were wary of casual acquaintances, for one never knew when one was talking to a criminal out of twig; but Rivers was relaxed, in the knowledge that the bank was impregnable to burglary—and recognizing, perhaps, that he had a deal of resentment toward the source of his employment.
    In this regard, one may profitably record the revised “Rules for Office Staff” posted by Mr. Trent in early 1854. These were as follows:
      1. Godliness, cleanliness and punctuality are the necessities of a good business.
      2. The firm has reduced the working day to the hours from 8:30 a.m. to 7 p.m.
      3. Daily prayers will be held each morning in the main office. The clerical staff will be present.
      4. Clothing will be of a sober nature. The clerical staff will not disport themselves in a raiment of bright color.
      5. A stove is provided for the benefit of the clerical staff. It is recommended that each member of theclerical staff bring 4 lbs. of coal each day during cold weather.
      6. No member of the clerical staff may leave the room without permission from Mr. Roberts. The calls of nature are permitted and clerical staff may use the garden beyond the second gate. This area must be kept clean and