Greed always invites disaster, and men only repent after they've taken a beating. That is an eternal, unchanging truth. I tried to treat him kindly and he pushed his luck without end. The lackey, who had been walking all over me, was now trembling like a leaf.
"Feel like answering properly now?"
"Th-The butler of the Heinlein house!"
His lips were as light as a feather.
He hadn't received orders from Count Heinlein directly. The count had sent the lackey into the slum through his butler, and the kidnapping of Viola had been outsourced to the Bull. The count had built himself an escape hatch in advance.
A very cunning bastard. If things went wrong, he could deny everything and claim the butler and the lackey had acted on their own. Splitting hairs over wording is a noble's art of survival.
