But just as I was heading for the door the newsreader on the television grabbed my attention with the words: ‘Reports are coming in that John Saunders, the Commissioner of the Metropolitan Police, has been shot and killed close to his home in West London.’

I stayed in the waiting room for another two hours watching the story unfold on the TV.

I learned that Saunders was shot three times when he stepped out of a car in front of his house.

He was returning home from another hellish day during which he’d given five interviews and fronted two press conferences at the Yard.

It was believed he was the victim of a sniper who targeted him with a long-range rifle.

The search for the assassin was centred on the nearby Sky Reach Hotel on Cromwell Road. It towered above the area, and from the upper floors there was a clear view of the Commissioner’s house.

‘Mr Saunders leaves a wife and two teenage daughters,’ the newsreader said. ‘It’s understood they moved out of the house early this morning and are staying at their other property in Sussex. They have been informed.’

My heart ached for his wife and kids and I could only imagine what a terrible shock it was for them. It put things in perspective for me. The loss of an unborn baby couldn’t possible compare with the loss of a husband and father. Could it?

I was familiar with the Sky Reach Hotel, a contemporary landmark in that part of the capital. I’d had no idea that the Commissioner lived in its shadow and I’d never heard of Appleton Mews.

A picture of the house, which had a blue door, appeared on the screen and the newsreader pointed out that the family owned it and it wasn’t a grace-and-favour property that went with the Commissioner’s job.

The Assistant Commissioner, a middle-aged woman named Geena Donaldson, read out a statement beneath the revolving sign outside Scotland Yard.

She confirmed that the Commissioner had died at the scene and it was believed he was murdered by the same woman who had carried out the other killings during the past week.

‘This is a sad day for the Metropolitan police and for London,’ she said. ‘John Saunders was a fine man and an excellent Commissioner.’ She had to pause there because her voice broke and it appeared that she might lose it.

But after clearing her throat, she went on, ‘I spoke to his wife Janet by phone a few minutes ago and I’ve promised her that we will track down her husband’s killer. It’s a promise I intend to keep, no matter how long it takes.’

She ended the statement by revealing that the Prime Minster would be chairing a meeting of the government’s emergency committee, COBRA, the following morning.