The first guard opened Counting Room Two.
Lucian watched through a gap between the floorboards and the support beam. The man causly glanced around the room before.
"Clear." He called.
Deputy Inspector Marel entered with a clerk carrying the seizure manifests.
The inspector wore a dark municipal coat with silver binding at the cuffs. He placed one hand on the black ledger before sitting, opened it near the middle, and compared the most recent entries to the pages the clerk brought him.
Lucian remained beneath his feet.
The false ledger pressed against his ribs inside the flat case. He had reached the target. He had not completed the exchange, and the person most likely to recognize the substitution now held the original.
The warehouse floor filled with work.
Guards broke municipal seals on the first wagon. Clerks counted crates and recorded identifying marks. Laborers moved the cargo into three inspection lanes while Marel watched from the room above.
