Time pushed forward relentlessly! Some officers mingled in small groups while others attempted to work at their desks. But, nevertheless, every person in the room would declare before the night was finished, that they had heard the seconds on the wall clock being marked off. 

Tap! Tap! First one then the other end of Matt’s pen thumped against his desk as his fingers rotated his pen like a Ferris wheel. Normally, this continuous tapping would have annoyed him, but his mind was preoccupie...