Ferries stopped at nine and the towers vanished by ten. Traders walked in before dawn to a city nobody could see.
The first ferry was cancelled at 21:04. By 22:00 the harbour master had closed the river from the east docks to the old lock, and the towers on the north bank were gone from the eighth floor up.
It was the second night in a row. On the first, the trading floors had opened late and half empty. On the second, nobody waited.
The walk in
By 05:10 there was a line of people in coats on the footbridge, phones held out in front of them like torches. A ferry pilot in a yellow jacket was counting them across in groups of twenty.
"I have worked this river for thirty years," he said. "I have never been asked to guide bankers on foot."
Inside, the screens were on and the windows were white. One desk head had taped a note to the glass: the city is still there.
What the numbers did
Volumes on the main index were 4 % below a normal Monday at the open and level with it by ten. Three things moved more than usual:
- Shipping and port operators, down on two lost nights of unloading
- Ferry and river transport, down on cancelled services
- The two listed taxi firms, up sharply before lunch
Nothing else did. A market that could not see across the street priced the fog as a local delay and went back to work.
Tonight
The forecast office expects the fog to lift by noon and return after dark. The harbour master will decide at 20:00. The footbridge will be staffed either way, and the pilot says he will bring a second jacket.
