The Intaglio Matrix

The cold open

Midnight rain lashed the soaring arched windows of the Pantheon Auction House, casting distorted reflections across rows of illuminated velvet vitrines. Behind the mahogany desk of the private mezzanine gallery, Julian Sterling lay face-down across his ledgers, his skull caved in by a catastrophic blow from a six-pound ancient bronze coining matrix. Blood pooled over scattered Hellenistic gold staters, while the heavy cast-bronze die rested on the Persian carpet beside his shattered reading spectacles.

The victim

Julian Sterling, 54, director of the Pantheon Numismatic Auction House and private antiquities lender

The lineup

• Heath Montgomery
• Simone Calthorpe
• Zachary Frayne
• Lenore Voss