There was shocked silence in the room for so long Dooku wondered if his guests would say anything. He could tell from their expressions they were skeptical of his proclamation and he couldn't blame them. Palpatine was a very careful man, no ties linking him to any of the events he'd been directly involved in over the years. As Darth Sidious, he'd always worn his hood up and changed his voice when he spoke so no one could recognize him.

"A bold accusation without any evidence." Obi-Wan rubbed his chin thoughtfully. "Especially as the leader of the Separatists. You could be using it as a ploy to take over while everyone else is distracted by your claims."

Padmé nodded. "I agree. Even with evidence, most would be hard-pressed to believe it wasn't forged. Palpatine gained a lot of enemies when elected and many of them have produced compelling arguments that were proven to be false."

"Either that or he's really good at covering his tracks." Anakin pointed out. "The richer you are, the easier it is to make your involvement disappear and make everyone think the other party was lying. Slavers do it all the time and get away with it, so why wouldn't the Sith? The Dark Side of the Force encourages deceit and allows their works to be hidden in the shadows. The Chancellor makes a great deal of money because of his post and can do whatever he wants with it, including pull small amounts enough amounts not to be detected from any bank in the Republic that no one can trace because it's such common currency."

"His account would still show him drawing the money out."

"Not necessarily, Padmé. Hutts hide transactions all the time from each other and they have so much wealth that banks or vaults ran by the clans are necessary to keep their money safe. Jabba is the only prominent Hutt I've ever heard of who refuses to use them, yet no one knows where he keeps his money."

Obi-Wan looked thoughtful. "It could be possible that all of those methods are used. No one would question a small amount coming out of an account now and then. It would be dismissed as some frivalous purchase and overlooked if the statement was ever reviewed. Likewise, when you have a lot of money it is easier to ensure that any withdrawals made never actually showed on the account. And not everyone uses banks, while others never keep all their money in a place where anyone with the right clearance can see."

"It would be pretty easy to hide a safe or something in one of the many secret rooms in the Senate building. I've heard rumors there are hundreds, though I only know of the ones near my office and conference room."

Dooku felt his lips twitch. "An excellent observation, Senator Amidala. I know quite a few of the passages personally, but only the highest elected official is given the blueprints, which according to the oath they take, they must never divulge in it's entirety for their own safety. The architect who designed the building made it so no invader or assassin could figure out the labrynth of corridors without a previously given route by someone on the inside."

"Unless they use the Force to find their way."

"A fair point Skywalker, although such an act would alert the Jedi to the Sith in their midst prematurely. A Jedi could find their way given enough time, but the Order has been stretched thin since before I left and doesn't have time for such luxuries as exploring local buildings."

"Anakin used to end up in the lower levels of Coruscant when he was younger, much to my chagrin." Obi-Wan gestured to his Padawan, who had the decency to look embarrassed. "He showed me the tunnels he'd found and one of them connected to the Senate building. I didn't think much of it at the time since I knew there were escape routes out of there, though I did wonder why that one in particular was so near the seedy neighborhood... even if that would be the last place anyone would look for an important official."

"Your Padawan found that exit?" Dooku raised an eyebrow. "If you take the right turns once inside, I know eventually you can find a secret room behind the Chancellor's office he often keeps things in he doesn't want others to find."

"Think you could locate the room again to see if there is anything we could use as evidence?"

"Perhaps, Senator Amidala. I haven't been to Coruscant to 'check in' for a while, so I could arrange a little trip. In the meantime, I suggest you all return to the Capitol and speak as little as possible about what we've discussed." He paused to answer his comm, listening to the Geonosian on the other end before he made a series of clicking words in response before he ended the call. "As for your bounty hunter Master Kenobi, you might find he actually did a full circle around Geonosis and headed towards Tatooine. The Geonisians have extensive security cameras all around this planet and have been watchful ever since you said their least favorite words. His Highness personally informed me they spotted a slaver ship sneak off and around the planet via the asteroid field. Apparently they thought they'd go unnoticed if they leapt from asteroid to asteroid when they assumed they were out of view, which they may well have done if you hadn't said something."

Obi-Wan nodded. "Thank you, Count. I had a tracker on Fett's ship, but he probably disabled it long ago, so finding his exact location at this point would take more time than we can spare. You think it would be okay for us to leave?"

"I smoothed things over on your behalf just now. They were more than happy to take my word this was all a misunderstanding of your intentions once they saw the bounty hunter class ship." Dooku watched them stand at once, bade them good bye and saw the Nabooian starship take off on with Obi-Wan's damaged Delta-7 in tow his private security monitor screen.