Doctor Forbes was a well-meaning derelict who had fallen on hard times. He claimed to be a graduate of the class of 1902, but was found to be living as a railway hobo in 1956. Forbes was riding in the freight car that "Nothing" Yonson had used to dispose of the unconscious body of Joe Period. Yonson had thought Period was dead, so he hid the young man's body in a bass violin case and deposited it on the train car.