The ceiling of Scotland Yard's grand hall was lofty, with excellent lighting, and the light that streamed through the ornate glass skylights cast mottled shadows on the ancient wooden floor.
At the end of the hallway, perhaps, stood a majestic staircase, leading passersby up and down between the various office floors, interrogation rooms, and archives.
Along both sides of the corridor, several robust, pristine marble columns rose, bearing the weight of the years. Their surfaces were polished smooth and steady, each carving seemingly inscribing tales of the past.
This building, commenced in the 15th century, had witnessed the entry of James VI of Scotland into England, observed the fierce battles between Cromwell's New Model Army and the Royalists, and had also seen the 1665 London Plague and the Great Fire, which in 1666 burned for four days and nights, destroying 87 churches, 44 company buildings, and 13,000 residential homes.
