Crooked Kingdom: A Sequel to Six of Crows

The leader of the mist-shrouded figures announces that Van Eck and Rietveld funneled money to the Shu. Van Eck insists that Kaz is responsible for the Rietveld scheme just as he is to blame for Alys’s abduction and Wylan’s kidnapping. However, Van Eck fails to provide any evidence that Kaz took Alys or has any connection to Rietveld.

Van Eck thought that Rollins’s Dime Lions brought Wylan to him in the chapel, but they were actually disguised Dregs. Wylan now limps into the church and says that Rollins abducted him on his father’s orders; in reality, the Dregs staged the kidnapping knowing Van Eck would be happy to have Wylan delivered to him, and Wylan simply pretended to betray his friends. Kaz explains his presence in Van Eck’s house on the night of the council meeting by saying that Van Eck “invited [him] there to broker a deal for Kuwei Yul-Bo’s indenture” and that “Pekka Rollins was waiting to ambush [him] instead” (449). Dryden realizes that Van Eck is the mysterious investor who tried to corner the market by buying up jurda farms. In light of the many accusations against Van Eck, the auctioneer says the auction cannot continue until he can verify which bidders compromised the proceedings.