Read Chapter 2: Chapter 2

At seven in the morning, Julien filed an incident report. At seven forty, the head of security called him into a windowless office.

“There’s nothing missing,” the head said, scrolling through a tablet. “The system shows C-17 holds eleven objects, all accounted for. No new accessions.”

“Then somebody broke in to leave a gift?”

“Maybe the door wasn’t locked properly during the last inventory. The object you saw is listed.”

Julien leaned forward. “Listed? I checked the shelf. No label.”

The head turned the tablet. On screen, the museum’s collection database displayed a colour photograph of the reliquary casket. The record was crisp.

Inventory number: OA 11472 Date of entry: 12 March 1824 Provenance: Acquired by the Musée Royal, Paris, under Charles X

“That’s impossible,” Julien said. “I worked this wing for eight years. I’ve never seen that object.”

The head shrugged. “The system says it has existed for two hundred years.”