Chapter One: Price Tags on the Lens

“Lead authenticator credit, independent review authority, and suspension of the lot.” “You are not worth that price.” Jianwei adjusted the silver frame. “I am not the item being valued today.” By afternoon, she had every file. Ultraviolet light exposed a concealed pickup address: Hengfeng Bonded Warehouse, the former site of a counterfeit workshop shut down three years earlier. She photographed casting bubbles in the clasp, retrieved the brand’s historic stitch specifications, and sealed the evidence in chronological order. Then she emailed the consignor, Gu Mingzhu. “Your property may have been exchanged before intake. I can prove it. Come in person, and do not notify Cheng Yan.”