Nikki passed over the finished sketch. Unlike the examples of joss paper with just plain geometric shapes, the face of a prominent figure, or the stamping of household items, this featured what looked like a shrine structure with a female and male figure flanking the sides of the altar.
“This should be pretty easy to identify,” I said.
“Perhaps. The trick will be locating it. We’re relatively certain about who is engaging in transactions with this currency, but it is another matter to locate where they are holding it.”
Where would they be holding the paper. It could be anywhere. I mean, it’s just paper.
My brain latched onto something Nikki had said. A transaction.
“Some thought has occurred to you,” Nikki smiled.
“Transaction. Currency. Money. Where do you store money? In a bank.”
“Hmm. Normally true. However, remember that this is not actual legal tender. It would not be accepted, even as foreign currency, and added to a ledger.”
“What about a safe deposit box?” I smiled. “No one knows what’s in them, just the owners. Perfectly secure and guaranteed protection by the bank’s security.” I frowned. “That’s bad. There are a ton of banks all over the city, and even with your mojo, we’d still have to know which bank to look at. We’re looking at weeks of investigating people to find out their banks.”
Nikki wore a Cheshire-Cat-smile.
“What?”
“The Fairhaven Club has a vault with safety deposit boxes.”
“Well, that narrows it down, but we’d still have to find out which box or boxes have what we want.”
She tapped the side of her nose.
“What?”
She tapped her nose again.
Then I got it. “Incense,” I said.