Ministry of Justice (sequel). From “Miss Smilla’s Feeling for Snow” by Peter Hoeg. “And yet once in a while a slippery character happens to stay in the system. Someone who can hide his true nature until it’s too late. Until he’s made himself relatively indispensable, so it would be difficult for the Ministry to do without him. This type of person will never reach the top. But he can get part way up. Maybe even as far as the position of investigators for the district attorney. By that time he would be too old – and maybe even too competent – to be dispensable. But he has made too much trouble to be promoted upward. This kind of person would be a pebble in the Ministry’s shoe. It doesn’t really hurt, but it’s annoying. With time, they would try to put this kind of person into niche. Where they could draw on his stubbornness and memory, but where they could keep him out of the public eye. Maybe he would end up taking on special assignments. Like intelligence work, where staying out of the spotlight is part of the job”.