Norwich took a hard drag on his cigarette, then tilted his head back and exhaled a somewhat irregular smoke ring.
He crushed the cigarette out in the ashtray, then looked up at Vladimir, his face wearing a complicated expression somewhere between laughter and tears.
Vladimir met his gaze calmly, his expression unchanged.
The two stared at each other for a while before Norwich finally let out a long sigh and shook his head.
"Since things have come to this, some matters have to be made clear.
Vladimir, do you remember when the two of us attended the police academy together, then graduated and started working together?"
Norwich suddenly brought up events from many years ago, leaving Vladimir momentarily stunned. He had no idea what Norwich was trying to achieve.
Still, he nodded impassively, indicating that he remembered.
Norwich grinned and continued.
"Back at school, I was always the best in our class. You could be considered the second-best.
Many times, you wanted to compete with me and beat me just once, but unfortunately, every attempt ended in failure.
Even after we started working, I was promoted ahead of you every time.
Neither of us had any backing, and neither of us was ever favored by any important figure. So after struggling for all those years, we were both still only the lowest-ranking precinct chiefs.
I had it a little better. Since my jurisdiction was near the wholesale Big Market, I could skim a little extra on the side.
You had it worse. You were near the university district, where there was plenty to deal with and endless work, but absolutely no extra income.
Sigh, when I think about it, I really don't know how we got through those years..."
Vladimir frowned. He had no idea what Norwich meant by suddenly