The sound of jazz from a musical statue of Canadian icon Oscar Peterson still fills the evening air in Ottawa.
The sculpture of the musician, born in Montreal, is a well-known landmark in the capital and it famously sums up the city's laid-back outlook.
But it stands just yards from the National War Memorial where a soldier was shot dead and in the neon-lit night-time streets of downtown Ottawa the bronze figure is reflecting the blue flashing lights of police cars.
Oscar Peterson's wide grin serves only to highlight the contrast in a city where something fundamental seems to have changed.
"I've come to listen to the wonderful music," says a city worker sitting on the bench that also serves as a sculpted piano stool for Oscar, "but it keeps getting drowned out by sirens."
Nearby, Peter Henderson tells me how he keeps thinking about the soldier's gloves. He was one of the first on the scene and saw the ceremonial honour guard on the ground seconds after he had been shot.
"It got to me to see his white gloves. A young man struck down. I knew from the moment I saw him that he had suffered catastrophic injuries. Just seeing those gloves made it real for me," he said.
Canadians themselves occasionally poke fun at the "sleepy" capital where life was always considered to be relatively safe.
"Tranquil Canada" no more. One of the most secure nations in the world has been shaken into the dark reality that other countries have faced for some time and it is apparently paying a heavy toll for its support for the fight against Islamic State.
Local radio reporter Andrew Pinsent believes time is up for Canada's more open way of life.
"I think people will definitely be more vigilant after something like this, after seeing that it can hit so close to home. I think everybody is kind of still reeling from the shock of what happened," he said.
"I suspect that we'll now see people looking over their shoulders."
A few months ago the Oscar Peterson sculpture was vandalised by someone who painted tears falling from his eyes.
The tears may have been removed, but there is no mistaking the sombre mood among fellow countrymen in mourning.
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