Pierce plans to steal the gold the next time a shipment is sent, which will be on March 14, 1855. In the plan, Pierce and Agar will check bags full of lead shot. Then, Agar will ride in the luggage car, open the safes, take out the gold, and replace it with the lead shot. Then, he will throw the gold-laden bags off the train. Barlow will collect it and meet Piece and Agar at the rendezvous point in Folkestone. When the safes arrive in France, tensions between France and England will lead the countries’ respective authorities to blame each other.

However, this plan falls through when Czar Nicholas I of Russia dies on March 2, causing the shipment to be delayed until March 27. By that point, Agar is depressed, and because his chest condition has worsened, the team does not attempt the job. They get word from Susan Lang, a girl who has been flirting with Henry Fowler, that the next shipment will be delivered on April 19, but the correct date turns out to be April 18. The next shipment after that is May 22. However, on May 10, Agar tells Pierce that Burgess, the guard, has warned that the safes have been taken in for an “overhaul.