Ning had asked Ren and Tao to meet in the guest hall after breakfast. The long table was empty except for a water jug and the route sheet. Bai sat at one end. Han Yue took the chair near the door, leaving the place beside the exit open so the drivers would not feel boxed in.
Courier Lin arrived last. He had slept in the room by the gate and carried the dispatch case with him. “I can say what I received,” he told Ning. “I can’t say what happened at the depot before I got there.”
“That is why we’re taking each account separately,” Ning said. “Tell me what you saw, not what you think someone meant.”
Ren began. He had driven the second wagon from the depot to White Orchard. A worker changed the label on an added box after the first manifest had been signed. Ren remembered the gray sleeve, the brass ring, and the scar. He had not seen the old number or the box’s contents.
Tao spoke next. He had been asked to put the box in the rear wagon and keep it upright. He did not know who had loaded it or why it was added. He remembered seeing a green wax seal at the river stop and had assumed the box replaced one with a damaged corner.
