"A gift horse you want us to put all of- our employer's money on." responded Louis, his voice a little wry, "That's the kind of gift which you can regret receiving the rest of your life."
But as wary as Louis might be, they were in a bind. Even if the audit didn't discover any of the company's illegal activities, the OIR's letter had included a lot of very, very pointed interrogatories. The company wasn't going to make it out with its balance sheet intact- and so the only way to hide the money was to remove it from the balance sheets, and not in the amateurish way which most people did. An accredited foreign merchant might be the only solution.
...but nobody made this much money without being suspicious about it.
"It may be that you can help Frederick's sister in some capacity." Louis said, his entire demeanor suddenly cheerful once again, "Then let us discuss terms of our investment- and your collateral."
"Collateral!" Hodgekins said, looking like the sun had just broken across his face, "Yes, yes, of course, we must have some insurance, mustn't we?"
~~~
As Louis and Hodgekins sprung their demands on Darus, his senses were probing the far corners of the manse- if manor you could call it. Really, it was more along the lines of a particularly large townhouse than a proper estate. Thankfully, big or small, he didn't have to range far to keep track of the signature of the single woman in the house.
She was up in the hallway directly above the room, close by- perhaps kneeling, pressing her ear to the floor. Obviously she was trying to hear what was happening in the house beneath her, an odd practice for someone nominally in charge of the house. She was small, whoever she was, perhaps five foot even, and there was no scent of magic on her. She was distinctly curious, that was the main thing. Not exactly at ease, but not nervous either, just very, very curious.
