examined, but not deemed a suspect because of his 14 years of service to the company. Tester had been seen at the SER offices while the train was still en route to Folkestone, so was also discounted as a potential thief. A reward of £300 was soon advertised in several newspapers for information regarding the case. Discovery, investigation and arrest Pierce and Agar began to melt down the bars to create new, smaller bars of , although they briefly set fire to the floor of Cambridge Villa when one of the crucibles cracked, spilling molten gold. Relations between Agar and Kay deteriorated around this time, and he moved out of their house to stay with Pierce while they continued to process and dispose of the bullion. £2,500 of bullion was sold to Saward, acting as a fence, and the proceeds split evenly between Agar, Pierce, Tester and Burgess. Burgess invested his earnings in Turkish bonds, and shares in the brewing company Reid & Co; Pierce opened a betting shop near Covent Garden, telling friends he had won the capital by betting on Saucebox in the St Leger Stakes horse race at long odds. Tester put his money into Spanish Active bonds. That September he left the SER and became the general manager of a Swedish railway company. At around the time Agar had separated from Kay, he met Emily Campbell, a 19-year-old prostitute, and the two began a relationship; Campbell's pimp, William Humphreys, took umbrage at the loss of her earnings. To overcome any problems, Agar lent Humphreys £235. When he went to collect the repaid money, he was arrested as one of Humphreys's associates passed him a bag of coins. Police stated that this was the proceeds of a cheque fraud in which he was involved and he was charged accordingly; Agar stated he knew nothing of the fraud, and he was trying to collect the money he had lent. Appearing at the Old Bailey in September 1855 on the charge of "feloniously forging and uttering an order for the payment of 700L [£700], with intend to defraud", Agar was found guilty and sentenced to penal transportation for life. Awaiting transportation in Pentonville Prison, Agar arranged for his solicitor, Thomas Wontner, to use the £3,000 Agar had in his bank account, and give it to Pierce with instructions that it should be used to support Kay and their child.