The depot keeper’s yard was crowded with handcarts, sacks, and coiled rope. Bai showed the porter a sketch of a blue wheel with a broken spoke. The porter, Huo, pointed past the repair shed.
“That one was fixed last week. The seller paid in clipped Registry coin.”
“Do you remember where he went?” Ruo asked.
“Canal road. Small wholesalers use it to avoid the main gate.” Huo rubbed his palms together. “I can show you the repair place. I don’t want the yard boss thinking I sent you after a customer.”
Ruo wrote down his name only on the inquiry copy and asked if he wanted it omitted from public reports. Huo said yes. Bai thanked him, and they followed him to the shed.
The cart’s broken wheel leaned against a wall. Its blue paint had chipped around the hub. Bai placed the clipped coin from the print shop beside the one Huo had kept from the repair. The edges had been cut in similar ways, but the marks did not match exactly.
“Same kind of clipping,” Bai said. “Not the same coin.”
“Could be the same person,” Yan said.
