“I was speaking mainly of the artwork,” Thrawn said. “We can learn more from that than we can from currency or gems.”
Qennto snorted. “You expecting there to be sales receipts?”
“I was thinking more of the art’s origins.” Thrawn gestured toward a set of nested tressles. “Those, for instance, were probably created by beings with an extra joint between wrist and elbow, who see largely in the blue-ultraviolet part of the spectrum.”
"The Frunchettan-sai,” Maris explained. “They have a couple of colony worlds in the Outer Rim.
“Maybe it was just luck,” Qennto said, abandoning the tressles and kneeling down beside an elaborate blue-and-white sculpt. “Let me see here … yeah, I thought so.” He looked over his shoulder at Thrawn. “How about this one?”
For a moment Thrawn studied the sculpt in silence, his eyes occasionally flicking around the rest of the room as if seeking inspiration. “The artist is humanoid,” he said at last. “Proportioned differently from humans and Chiss, with either a wider torso or longer arms.” His eyes narrowed slightly. “There’s something of a distance to his emotional state, too. I would say his people are both drawn to and yet repulsed by or fearful of the physical objects they live among.”
Qennto’s breath went out in a huff. “I don’t believe this,” he said. “That’s the Pashvi, all right.”