43 As Thick as ThievesHarry Diamond had taken the train across London before leaving the city and arriving at one of Hertfordshire’s leafy commuter belt dormitory town. The journey had taken almost three hours - more than the normal journey time thanks to staff shortages caused by the rampaging flu pandemic. Essential services were teetering on the edge of collapse as the population either fell sick or quarantined themselves in their homes in an attempt to avoid infection. The train carriages were strangely eerie, being completely empty apart from the occasional essential worker travelling to or from work. Leaving the station, Diamond crossed the car park to a pathway that disappeared through a rather dark and dank tunnel underneath the railway line before emerging by the riverside. Diamon
