Just before dawn, Dinios Kol slips back from his night with a stranger and finds Tira Malo waiting outside his lodgings. Malo teases Kol about where he has been, then accompanies him to the Imperial Treasury bank when morning business begins.

At the bank, Kol and Malo meet Signum Tufwa, the Treasury officer who handled Mineti Sujedo on the tenth of Hajnal. Tufwa explains that Sujedo’s identity and rank were verified through a balmleaf pad that responds to authorized blood, then shows them the secure Iyalet vault where confidential imperial materials are stored. According to Tufwa, Sujedo successfully opened a Treasury officer’s box, was left alone in the vault as procedure required, and spent less than five minutes there making his deposit.

Kol presses for practical details. Tufwa says Sujedo’s box later contained only royal tax projections, but Kol notes that Sujedo entered with a bag that seemed larger than mere papers and left with it empty. Kol also learns that the other vault boxes could be checked for tampering by precise weighing, though opening them is restricted. Kol questions Tufwa about Sujedo’s appearance and height, gathering facts even if he cannot yet explain their importance.

When Kol and Malo report back, Ana first asks a single crucial question: whether Sujedo was ever alone in the Treasury vault. Once Kol confirms that he was, Ana immediately treats this as a major breakthrough. She concludes that more than one crime was committed on the tenth of Hajnal and decides they must go to Old Town, speak with the Treasury prificto, and reexamine the bank as a crime scene.