The silence in the briefing room of the Lakeport Police Sub-bureau was no longer merely tense; it had become absolute, a vacuum where the only sound was the low, electric hum of the surveillance equipment. Ambrose Ward stood perfectly still, his hands loosely clasped behind his back, watching Gareth Quinn with a look of detached curiosity.
To Quinn, this calm was infuriating. It was the look of a man who knew something the rest of the world didn't—the look of a player who had already seen his opponent’s final card. Gareth Quinn, the Director of the Lakeport Development Authority, prided himself on being a master of political alignment. He had spent decades cultivating a circle of powerful friends, and he wasn't about to let a "Young Turk" from a backwater district like Fairhaven dismantle
