The transfer officer recognized the envelope before he read its reference.
“That isn’t what I handed over,” he said.
The investigator asked him not to begin with a conclusion. “Describe what you handled.”
“A dark bag. Damaged. White strap.”
Eli felt Sera’s pencil stop beside him. The description was familiar enough to matter, not unique enough to settle every movement. He waited while the investigator established the officer’s assignment, the time and the location from which he said the bag had been collected.
The inquiry had not brought Ada’s original packet into a public hall. It used copies she had authorized and retained the originals available for examination. The officer sat in a smaller interview room with the disturbance diagram on a screen. Eli and Sera had permission to clarify their accounts; Kellan sat behind them as an agreed observer of the transfer-record questions. None was questioning him on the family’s behalf without the advocate.
“Who told you to take it?” the investigator asked.
“A supervisor at the transfer point. The belongings were to go to a controlled holding room rather than the general return shelf.”
