Crooked Kingdom (The Six of Crows Duology #2) - Leigh Bardugo Page 0,155

the laws of Kerch, the Merchant Council of Ketterdam agrees to act as representatives to Kuwei Yul-Bo in the legal auction of his indenture. Sacred is Ghezen and in commerce we see His hand.

Jesper blew out a long breath and looked at his father, dutifully studying commodities reports and the script Nina and Kaz had prepared for him. “My luck they said yes.”

Inej laid a hand on his arm. “It’s not too late to change course.”

“It is,” said Jesper. “It was too late a long time ago.”

Nina said nothing. She liked Colm. She cared about Jesper. But this auction was the best chance they had of getting Kuwei to Ravka and saving Grisha lives.

“The merchers are perfect marks,” said Kaz. “They’re rich and they’re smart. That makes them easy to dupe.”

“Why?” asked Wylan.

“Rich men want to believe they deserve every penny they’ve got, so they forget what they owe to chance. Smart men are always looking for loopholes. They want an opportunity to game the system.”

“So who’s the hardest mark to swindle?” asked Nina.

“The toughest mark is an honest one,” said Kaz. “Thankfully, they’re always in short supply.” He tapped the glass of the clock face, gesturing to Karl Dryden, who was still standing by the Exchange, fanning himself with his hat now that the crowd had dispersed. “Dryden inherited his fortune from his father. Since then, he’s been too timid an investor to substantially add to his wealth. He’s desperate for a chance to prove himself to the other members of the Merchant Council. We’re going to give him one.”

“What else do we know about him?” asked Nina.

Kaz almost smiled. “We know he’s represented by our good friend and dog lover, Cornelis Smeet.”

From their earlier surveillance of Cornelis Smeet’s office, they knew the attorney had runners taking documents back and forth to clients all day long, gathering necessary signatures and conveying important information. The messengers were too well paid to consider bribing—especially if one of them turned out to be among those few dreaded honest men.

And in a way, they had Van Eck to thank for the ease with which Kaz baited the trap. Dressed in stadwatch uniforms, Anika and Pim stopped Smeet’s messengers with impunity, demanding to see their identification while their bags were searched. The documents inside were confidential and sealed, but they weren’t after the documents. They just needed to plant a few crumbs to entice young Karl Dryden.

“Sometimes,” said Kaz, “a proper thief doesn’t just take. He leaves something behind.”

Working with Specht, Wylan had created a stamp that could be pressed to the back of a sealed envelope. It gave the impression that the envelope had absorbed the ink from another document, as if some thoughtless clerk had left the papers somewhere damp. When the messengers delivered Dryden’s files, if he was curious at all, he’d at least glance at the words that seemed to have leached onto his packet of papers. And he’d find something very interest ing indeed—a letter from one of Smeet’s other clients. The client’s name was unreadable, but the letter was clearly an inquiry: Did Smeet have knowledge of a farmer named Johannus Rietveld, the head of a consortium of Kerch and Zemeni jurda growers? He was taking meetings at the Geldrenner Hotel with select investors only. Would an introduction be possible?

Prior to the announcement of Kuwei’s auction, the information would have been of mild interest. Afterward, it was the kind of tip that could make fortunes.

Even before they’d baited the trap with the false letter, Kaz had Colm taking meals in the Geldrenner’s lavish purple dining room with various members of Kerch’s trade and banking community. Colm always sat a good distance away from any other customers, ordered extravagantly, and spoke with his guests in hushed tones. The content of the discussions was completely benign—talk of crop reports and interest rates—but no one in the dining room knew that. Everything was done in conspicuous view of the hotel staff, so that when members of the Merchant Council came asking about how Mister Rietveld spent his time, they got the answers that Kaz wanted them to.

Nina was present at all these meetings, playing the role of Mister Rietveld’s multilingual assistant, a Grisha Heartrender seeking work after the destruction of the House of the White Rose. Despite dousing herself in coffee extract to mislead the senses of the Kherguud, she felt exposed just sitting out in the open in the dining room. Kaz had members of the Dregs constantly watching the