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The ordinary-looking guy, Tarquin explains, is Elek Tavor. He’s one of the Threads—not officially one of the smuggling group’s leaders, but influential nonetheless—and he has a tendency to see just about everything. And what Elek doesn’t see, his network of contacts and snitches and people who owe him a favor will.
The two of you walk casually over to Elek. Ashur, who is likely to attract too much suspicion, disappears into the crowd. “Don’t look up,” Tarquin says. “He’s definitely on a roof.” Of course, your first instinct is to look up, but you manage to suppress it and keep your attention on the job.
Although you phrase your question to Elek as casually as possible, he instantly knows something’s up—which turns out not to be a bad thing, because Elek and Neve have somewhat of an accord. “I’ll investigate with my contacts,” he says. “Come back in a bit and I’ll tell you what I know.”