Twenty-Nine
The mild winter weather, which the city had enjoyed late into the season, came to an abrupt halt early Monday morning. The city awoke to the pounding of icy rain, driven by a southerly gale that felt as if it had blown in from Antarctica. The early morning storm brought down trees and power lines. With traffic lights out all over the city, the morning traffic flow descended into chaos.
The Incident Room slowly filled with officers who stood around in their overcoats, with hot coffees in their hands, waiting for the heating to make a difference to the ambient temperature of the room. It was nine o’clock before the equipment in the plant room was pumping out sufficient heat for people to take off their coats. By then, most members of DI West’s and DI Reid’s teams had arrived.
