In the beginning, I used to go to the Café de l’Union at around lunchtime. I could permit myself such an easygoing life since having been dismissed from my position at the United Zealand Banks. I had received a huge payout: they were buying my silence. I knew things that would have compromised important people in the bank. Such practices are to be found in economic circles: blackmail is thwarted by means of a hefty redundancy payment...

• Necredinciosul / The Unbeliever

• Ion Vianu