The effects bag fitted inside Eli’s coat, but he carried it in his hands.
The case-office worker had checked the release with him and kept the items still required for examination. What remained was a small collection: Nara’s identification, a purse, a comb with two teeth missing, the personal letter and the personal objects listed at the river. The office had sealed them again for return. Eli had signed as the person making the journey, with no authority to decide what her sister should show him afterward.
Tessa walked beside him until they reached the receiving room. Nara’s sister had asked for both of them. At the door, however, she looked first at Eli’s hands.
“Is that everything?”
“Everything released for return,” he said. “Some material is still with the examination.”
She nodded without inviting them to sit. A case-office representative waited near the wall, carrying a copy of the inventory. The sister’s coat lay across a chair. She had been here long enough to take it off and not long enough to stop looking ready to leave.
Eli placed the bag on the table. The plastic made a harsh sound in the quiet room.
“Who put her things in there?”
