On the morning of Monday 23rd December, Jamie Buckby takes the commuter riverboat from his home in St Mary's, southeast London, to work in Central London, noting that his good friend and neighbour Kit Roper has not turned up for the 7.30am service they usually catch together. At the London Eye, where he disembarks for his job in a cafe behind the South Bank Centre, Jamie is met by the police. Kit has been reported missing by his wife.