Vendetta Quotes

“my house?’ Moscati gestured regretfully. ‘It’s out of my hands, Zen. Now this new squad exists, all applications for protection have to be routed through them. It’s so they can draw up a map of potential threats at any given time, then put it on the computer and see if any overall patterns emerge. Or so they claim. If you ask me, they’re just protecting their territory. Either way, my hands are tied, unfortunately. If I start allocating men to protection duties they’ll cry foul and we’ll never hear the end of it.’ Zen nodded and turned to leave. From a bureaucratic point of view, the logic of Moscati’s position was flawless. He knew only too well that it would be a sheer waste of time to point out any discrepancy between that logic and common sense. As the working day for state employees came to an end, doors could be heard opening all over the Ministry. The corridors began to hum with voices which, amplified by the resonant acoustic, rapidly became a babble, a tumult which prefigured the crowds surging invisibly towards the entrance hall where Zen stood waiting. Within a minute they were everywhere. The enormous staircase was barely able to contain the human throng eager to get home, have lunch and relax, or else hasten to their clandestine afternoon jobs in the booming black economy, ‘the Italy that works’,”
― Michael Dibdin, Vendetta