Read Chapter 3: Chapter 3

Camille Lefèvre found the report on her desk at nine fifteen, flagged by an automatic alert. As an archivist in the Department of Provenance, she was supposed to ignore night-guard fantasies. But Julien Moreau had a reputation for being precise. The photograph attached to his report showed an object that did not match the database photograph in one small detail.

In the night photograph, the casket’s clasp was broken. In the database image, it was whole.

Camille zoomed in. The break was clean, recent. She pulled the physical file for OA 11472 and found it suspiciously complete: acquisition letters, a royal inventory entry, even a lithograph from 1840 showing the casket in a display case.

But the paper was too white. The ink had no fading. The file felt like a stage set.

She sent a message to Julien: We need to talk.