Neither of them had reached an agreement at yesterday's dinner with "Gold Tooth."
The man clearly thought little of Renato, a lowly Constable. He had not even offered a single gold coin as a bribe, merely sitting at the table making idle conversation.
Still, knowing that Councilman Orton stood behind the Wolf Gang, and having received instructions from his immediate superior, Renato had gone along with the man's conciliatory words and played the friendly brother. On the surface, at least, the drinks had flowed in a reasonably cordial atmosphere.
But the connection between the Wolf Gang and the Dakoul Cult... remained a thorn in Renato's mind. So yesterday afternoon, he had quietly visited the Inner District to call on Aldo, the famous private detective he had met during the Hearn family murder case.
Renato felt he had been discreet enough. He had only commissioned the man to investigate disappearances in the slums, without mentioning the Wolf Gang or the cult at all.
He had also paid the detective only fifteen Silver Crowns. It was a small sum, making it look as though a Constable was outsourcing work to improve his case clearance rate, rather than anything suspicious.
Despite the detective's outstanding powers of deduction, Renato had not held out much hope. He had not paid much, after all. It was merely a casual attempt to buy himself some peace of mind.
Now Renato sat idly in the rest area, watching the opponent he would face in the final.
He was already guaranteed second place, for the simple reason that his semifinal opponent had forfeited. There was no need to think about it-this had to be the Security Department's doing.
They had probably seen Renato reach the semifinals undefeated and decided to hand him second place outright, making themselves look a