Carlo said slowly, " Byrne has three hobbies. First, playing cards. As long as someone plays with him, he can sit there all day."
"Secondly, they like to hear secret stories and rumors, such as whose ancestor was an illegitimate child, or which lord was heavily in debt from gambling when he was young, and so on."
Third, he enjoys having people join him in mocking those he dislikes.
"And I happen to be good at all three, so in his eyes, I can not only play cards with him, but also provide him with fresh topics of conversation, and we can also mock people we don't like together. It's like finding a kindred spirit in a stinky mountain."
Isaac smirked. "So your method of negotiation is to play cards with him, chat with him, and... swear at him?"
"It should be described as the art of language in aristocratic salons. Directly insulting someone will make you seem vulgar, but if you can use an interesting way to ridicule someone from head to toe, they will think you have great taste."
Isaac felt he would probably never master this refined art of language.
But could Byrne really win over an old aristocrat like Burne just by playing cards and using his eloquence? Isaac suspected that Carlo hadn't revealed any other reasons.
"Anyway, I'll go play cards with Byrne; maybe that'll solve the coordination problem," Carlo said. "Come with me tonight; Byrne likes to play cards at the Oak Club, and we'll run into him today. You can come with me for dinner; you won't have to eat all-potato meals at the Joint Investigation Bureau."
"Boss, I'm not very good at playing cards."
"Who told you to go on stage? Just wander around here; you might even meet some people."
Isaac thought about it and realized that this was an opportunity to get in touch with the upper echelons of Vista's social circle. In a club like this, there must be quite a few people who control resources and power, and observing their words and actions should be helpful for future investigations.
In the afternoon, Isaac was assigned by Carlo to go to the archives to look through some past case files. Around 5 p. m., Carlo called him to take the railcar to the Oak Club.
After returning from the wilderness in the morning, Isaac took a shower and changed into his hunting attire. At this moment, his clothing was impeccable, at least for the club.
The Oak Club is located in a three-story building with an oak leaf emblem hanging above the entrance. According to Carlo, the club was founded by a nobleman who loved playing cards and is now a major gathering place for card players in Vista's high society.
A guard stood at the door and helped open it. A waiter in a black tailcoat came forward, clearly recognizing him. "Good evening, Mr. Schuster."
Has Byrne arrived yet?
"Mr. Byrne has arrived and is in his reserved card room. Would you like me to take you there?"
"Uh-huh."
The waiter bowed, turned to Isaac, and paused for a few seconds, seemingly waiting for his reaction.
Isaac was somewhat puzzled by the stares, when Carlo's voice drifted over from the side. "Hat and cane."
Isaac glanced around the hall and realized that none of the gentlemen sitting on the sofas and at the card tables were wearing hats or carrying canes; clearly, these were items that needed to be left at the entrance.
He removed his octagonal hat and handed it, along with his ebony cane, to the waiter. Carlo, however, neither wore a hat nor carried a cane, so this formality was unnecessary for him.
The two followed to the card room, where a waiter stopped in front of a wooden door and gently knocked. "Mr. Byrne, Mr. Schuster has arrived."
"Please come in."
In the center of the card room stood a card table, where an elderly man in his early sixties sat in a high-backed chair by the window, a dinner set before him, cutting a steak with a knife and fork. This was none other than Captain Byrne, who loved the refined art of language.
Byrne looked up, his gaze shifting from Carlo to Isaac. He didn't rush to ask about their identities, but gestured with his chin towards the chair opposite him. "Sit down."
Carlo sat down across the table without ceremony, Isaac took a chair next to him, Byrne waved to the waiter. "Two more dinners."
They didn't ask Carlo if he needed it; it seemed like that was already an unspoken understanding.
The waiter left the card room, and the room fell silent for a moment, with only the occasional clinking of knives and forks against plates. Byrne focused on cutting his steak, while Carlo leaned back in his chair and yawned, neither of them intending to speak.
This should be a kind of conventional courtesy: if one person is eating and the other is idle, they should not start a conversation at that time, so as not to disturb the diners' eating rhythm. Only when both parties are eating, or neither party is eating, is it appropriate to have a conversation.
A few minutes later, a waiter came in with a tray and placed two dinners in front of Carlo and Isaac respectively. The dinners consisted of steak with vegetables and cream soup, but there were no potatoes.
It's not that the Joint Investigation Bureau's all-potato meals were bad, but after several meals like that, Isaac was getting a bit tired of them.
Seeing that the two had finished their meal, Byrne finally spoke, his voice deep and resonant, carrying the air of someone who had always given orders. " Schuster, it's rare to see you. You've arrived early today."
"Since I'm just killing time anyway," Carlo, cutting a piece of steak and chewing it. "Hmm, this is what people should eat."
"Is the Joint Investigation Bureau's food really that bad?"
"Meetings start with potatoes, meetings end with potatoes, and then another meeting with potatoes will follow."
Byrne let out a cryptic laugh, probably mocking the Joint Investigation Bureau cafeteria for succumbing to potato dumping.
He then looked at Isaac: "And who is this?"
"My assistant is Isaac Lessing."
"... Lessing?" Byrne paused, his knife and fork still in his hand.
"Yes, it's the Lessing you're thinking of." Carlo then turned to Isaac, pointing his fork at Byrne, "Lord Alfred Byrne, Chief of City Police Force Vista, and also a classmate of your late adoptive father."
Isaac nodded to Byrne: "Mr. Byrne, it's an honor to meet you."
Byrne frowned and nodded in response, " Lessing... your father is Edward Lessing?"
"Yes."
"... He is a learned man."
It's a short sentence, but coming from a professional and critical person like Byrne, it's already quite a high compliment.
However, Byrne didn't seem inclined to continue the conversation and chatted with Carlo about some trivial topics, from the cooking time of steak to the weather in Vista.
After the meal, the waiter cleared away the cutlery and placed a deck of cards on the table. Byrne took out his cigar box, opened the lid, took out a cigar, trimmed the cut, and lit it with a match.
" Ismondton and Corotty will be here soon." He turned to Isaac, "Do you know how to play cards?"
Isaac had played a few rounds with his classmates occasionally, so he wasn't completely clueless. He was hesitating whether to join in, since it would be a bit awkward to just sit and watch the game.
Then he saw Carlo and Byrne each take out gold pounds and stack them on the table. The stack of coins was roughly estimated to be at least 20 pounds thick.
Isaac immediately abandoned the idea of playing. "I'm not playing, I'll just watch."
The wins and losses in one night of this kind of card game could amount to several months' income for someone else, which is clearly not something he could afford with his current income level.