The Watchmaker's Will"
For the next ten minutes, working against the invisible countdown of the expiring hour, the two men carefully weighed and selected stones, using Vikram's mechanical balance scale from his backpack to match the precise measurements required by the watchmaker’s trap.
With sweat dripping from his forehead despite the subterranean chill, Vikram stood before the table. "On my count, Dev. We swap the items simultaneously. You take the ledger and drop the granite block. I’ll take the watch and the vial, and replace them with the compass and the knife. It has to be fluid."
"Ready," Devashish said, his hands positioning over the ancient book.
"One... two... three... move!"