Anna Matheson practices a speech in the bathroom of her compartment as the Philadelphia Phoenix begins to move, determined to appear composed while confronting six people she holds responsible for ruining her family. She recalls her childhood connection to the train, built by her family’s Union Atlantic Railroad, and notes she chose this venue because it was her father’s pride and a symbol of what was taken from her.

Seamus, her ally, knocks to confirm the train is underway and that veteran engineer Burt Chapman is at the controls, paid generously to run the route alone for the entire overnight trip to Chicago. Anna has compensated and dismissed the rest of the crew—conductors, cooks, porters, brakemen—to keep them out of harm’s way, though Seamus worries about their jobs. Anna’s focus remains on the passengers she has lured aboard under false pretenses.

Seamus reports that all guests have arrived but mentions a “wrinkle” just as an impatient voice—likely Lt. Col. Jack Lapsford—demands help from the end of the car. Anna hides, reminding Seamus to impersonate railroad staff for now, and locks her door after recognizing Lapsford’s entitled tone. The gravity of the plan hits her as she hears him.

Anna reviews her manifest, listing six targets with assigned rooms: Sal Lawrence (Car 12, Room A), Lt. Col. Jack Lapsford (Car 12, Room B), Kenneth Wentworth (Car 12, Room C), Herb Pulaski (Car 13, Room A), Edith Gerhardt (Car 13, Room B), and Judd Dodge (Car 13, Room C). She and Seamus occupy Rooms A and B in Car 11, leaving the third room empty as a buffer to keep her from acting impulsively. She insists the train cannot stop at any point, as even a brief halt could ruin her plan.

As snow begins earlier than forecast and the lights briefly flicker—common on the power-hungry Phoenix—Anna worries about a growing storm but continues preparing. She dresses deliberately in a red dress and heels, pins her father’s silver train lapel pin, and straps a concealed four-inch knife to her thigh. She avoids jewelry that could be grabbed and pins her hair up for practicality, aiming to project authority and resolve.

Memories surface of her elegant mother, Margaret Matheson, her charismatic brother Tommy, and her father, Arthur Matheson, who adored his wife and oversaw the Union Atlantic. Anna contrasts her plainer appearance with their radiance and acknowledges how their once-charmed life collapsed—Tommy first, then her father, and finally her mother’s spirit—fueling her quest for revenge.

Returning to her mirror, Anna rehearses the key line of her coming address, vowing to get justice with “irrefutable proof” that the six passengers are responsible for destroying her family. She steels herself for a grand entrance, the black briefcase by the window holding the evidence of her past and the means to secure her future.