Selona released one arm but maintained her grip on the other to lead Reyn through the nearest door, which led into a supply closet.
Reyn blinked, trying to adjust to the sudden darkness. She and Selona were jammed against shelves packed with all manners of things she couldn’t make out, and she thought a broom handle might be caught in her bustle. “Selona?”
“What did you say about the banknotes?” Selona whispered.
Feeling foolish, Reyn whispered back, “I asked why the ones in the columns labeled Farleigh Street and Velale Square were different from the rest.”
“Different how?”
“The details on the fabric over the man’s arm didn’t match. I mean, they matched each other, but not the rest of the notes on the table.”
“You spotted a difference in the time I was talking to Zevrio?”
“Yes.”
“Come on.”
Without another word, Selona spilled them back into the hallway. She shoved the broom that accompanied Reyn back into the closet and towed her back toward the room they had left minutes earlier.
Throwing open the door, Selona pushed Reyn in and quickly closed the door behind them both. She ignored the glare Zevrio directed at them both. Picking up one banknote from the Velale Square column and the one on its right, she shoved them at Reyn. “Where’s the difference?”
Reyn pointed. “Right here. The cross hatching doesn’t align with the tip of the sword on this one. It is a touch lower.”
Selona held the notes up in front of her own face and squinted. Then she frowned and whipped them behind her back. She stood there, her arms behind her, moving as she did something to the banknotes out of sight. A moment later, she held them out again. “Which one is from Velale?”
Reyn pointed to the one on the left.
Selona’s mouth dropped open. Zevrio was also staring at Reyn in shock by this point.
Selona put the banknotes back in their respective columns. “Turn around.”
Selona looked so serious, Reyn didn’t even bother to protest. She turned around.
“You may look now.” Selona stood a little farther away, two banknotes once again in her hands. “Which one is from Farleigh?”
Reyn pointed to the one on the right.
“You are not even close enough to make out the crosshatching!”
“The blue ink is a little more violet on that one, as well.”
“Turn around again.”
With a sigh, Reyn complied. When Selona gave her permission to look once again, she had another two banknotes in her hand. Reyn didn’t wait for the question. “Those are both from Farleigh or Velale.”
“This is amazing.” Selona placed the notes back on the table, one in the Farleigh group, one with Velale. She looked at Zevrio, who had watched the entire spectacle without comment. “Go pull the most recent deposits.”
He nodded and left.
“Selona, what is going on?”
The other woman’s face went through a series of contortions that hinted at strong emotions, but nothing Reyn could interpret. “I can’t actually tell you. Not until I talk to . . . someone else.”
“Fine. Should I assume that I won’t be needing my novel for the rest of the afternoon?”
Selona nodded. “If you’ll indulge me until we have to leave, I’d appreciate it.”
When his dooropened without so much as the courtesy of a knock, it didn’t surprise Velario to find his cousin barreling into his office. Not that she was supposed to be here. She should have been across town at the High Street bank.
