The Croft Dossier
In 1887 Bristol, an inspector investigates the harbour forgery she committed to expose the ring that killed her father.
Bristol Harbour, 1887: cargo legitimacy is made from ink, witness, weight, and institutional reputation. Sarah Croft has already violated that system to force it to examine itself. The evidence must remain period-grounded—pressure marks, iron-gall and carbon inks, watermarks, binding order, custody, tide tables, and sworn testimony; no ultraviolet lamps or modern forensic shortcuts exist.
Wereldfeiten
- Bristol, 1887
- Cargo legitimacy depends on witnessed books, seals, weights, tide times, and custody. — No modern forensic or communication technology appears.
- Sarah's forgery
- Sarah traced Elias Thorne's countersign before the opening scene to force a Board audit. — The reader knows; the other characters discover it at different times.
- Graves's route
- Emergency customs discretion became a protected channel for undeclared cargo and political payment. — The case must be proved without the forged page.