said, “You what? Come again.”brbr“A quotation,” said Banks. “FromiAntony and Cleopatra/i.”brbr“You don’t usually go around quoting Shakespeare like a copper in a book,” Annie commented.brbr“Just something I remember from school. It seemed appropriate.”brbrThey were standing on a canal bank close to dawn watching two barges smoulder.…brbrThe canal ran through some beautiful countryside, and tonight the usually quiet rural area was floodlit and buzzing with activity, noisy with the shouts of firefighters and the crackle of personal radios. The smell of burned wood, plastic and rubber hung in the air and scratched at the back of Banks’s throat when he breathed in. All around the lit-up area, the darkness of a pre-dawn winter night pressed in, starless and cold. The media had already arrived, mostly TV crews, because fires made for good visuals, even after they had gone out, but the firefighters and police officers kept them well at bay, and the scene was secure….brbr“Christ, it’s cold,” moaned Annie, stamping from foot to foot. She was mostly obscured by an old army greatcoat she had thrown on over her jeans and polo-neck sweater. She was also wearing a matching maroon woolly hat, scarf and gloves, along with black knee-high leather boots. Her nose was red.brbr“You’d better go and talk to the firefighters,” Banks said. “Get their stories while events are still fresh in their minds. You never know, maybe one of them will warm you up a bit.”brbr“Cheeky bastard.” Annie sneezed, blew her nose and wandered off.…brbrT@' (õÂ?ÿ¾Û€  (less)