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Wednesday, August 27, 2014

111

"So, who's the one with limited observational skills now?" Bjorn asked with a malicious smile.
"Well, we don't actually know that he's corrupted," Ante countered while looking around for a place to drop the gun.
"No, but do you have a better explanation?"
"Not really."
"So you think I'm right, then?" Bjorn asked, delighted to finally being the observant one.

Ante did not answer, putting instead the gun down on the coffee table. Then, as Bjorn pressed him for an answer he had to admit that Bjorn had a good point. But it wasn't completely impossible that Frank was the kind of person who'd spend every penny of his earnings on immediate pleasures such as those available at the casino, so he refused to give Bjorn full credit for his conclusion.

"It amazes me that no one has seen this before, though," Bjorn continued. "I mean... He has behaved like this before, hasn't he?"
"Every single time we´ve been down there," Ante confirmed. "But this was definitely his most outrageous performance so far."
"And no one has wondered about this?"
"No."
"But now that I've mentioned it, you find my explanation entirely plausible?"
"Plausible, yes. But not the only possible explanation."
"And that is why you don't want to report any concern to his superiors?" Bjorn asked, looking around to make sure that Ante and he were the only two in the room.

Ante hesitated, as if he was unsure what exactly his concern was. "But we do not know who his superiors are, do we?" he ventured as an initial objection.
"But that is not very hard to find out, is it?" Bjorn countered.
"No, maybe not. But do we really want to have Frank investigated? You think he's dangerous?"
"If he's corrupted, who knows what he might do?"
"But do you honestly think he's dangerous?"
"I don't know."
"Exactly! So why should we do anything? As long as we don't know anything, we shouldn't say anything... And Frank is a good boss, he gives us all sorts of freedoms, and if they replace him, I'm sure life will not be as good."

Bjorn had to agree with Ante's final point. Frank was an easy going boss, never too picky about the rules, and having him replaced would almost certainly lead to less freedoms. And maybe this was why everybody else too were pretending not to notice Frank's self indulgent blowouts.

"It wouldn't be very popular with our colleagues, would it?" Bjorn asked rhetorically.
"It would not," Ante agreed.

Then, as their mutual but unspoken agreement to keep quiet about Frank was sinking in, Bjorn was reminded of his conversation with John, and he broke the silence between the two by asking why Ante had offered him so little for the night shift.

"Oh... I don't know," Ante replied, clearly caught off guard by the change of subject. "I did not expect you to take my offer without haggling, I guess."
"Well, I'm not very pleased with it," Bjorn said, not hiding his disappointment.
"Yeah, but what should I have done? You accepted the offer and took the money. Should I have stopped you?"
"Yeah, you should. You should have offered me one G for the job."
"One G? Well... that would have been more than what I pay the others. Eight hundred MG would have been more like it."
"Okay... But that's what you should have offered me."
"I only had that five hundred MG token on me."
"So?"
"Well..."
"Anyway... Don't pull stunts like that on me again, will you? I like you, and I don't want to end up disliking you for stupid things like this."

Ante looked a little bothered, yet defiant. But he did not pursue the topic any further. Instead, he asked Bjorn if he had managed to change his night watch with John.

"Yes, I did," Bjorn said. "And I've noted the changes on the spread sheet in the kitchen."
"Good... And how do you plan to get your rest for the night?"
"I'll turn in early, I guess... Why?"
"So you'll be fine with a trip to Lundby tomorrow?" Ante asked.
"Yes?"
"How about us two going down there tomorrow, after breakfast?" Ante suggested. "We can have lunch at Peppe's, and explore the village. You'd like that, wouldn't you?"
"Well, that's a great idea," Bjorn answered with enthusiasm.
"So that's a deal then?"
"Sure."

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