The Ashford delegation had been using its authority to hold a door open.
Lyra recognized the crest when the storage clerk bent to lift the metal slab.
“That can’t be it,” he said.
He turned the polished face toward the light.
It was it.
The catalog placed the plaque among furniture because it had traveled with a ceremonial bench. Somebody had discovered an additional useful property during unpacking.
“The draft’s persistent,” the clerk explained.
Felix inspected the slab’s thickness.
