I opened locker 12-43 the remaining distance and inventoried its contents on the platform bench. It held twenty-three repair receipts for Hunter coats and one rent statement. Every receipt had been prepared by Edda Pell, alterations specialist.
Her stamp was faded but consistent. The signatures were not. Twenty-three different names appeared under RECEIVED FROM, each in the same narrow hand used on the change-of-address slip.
I entered the first name into the station's public directory. NO RECORD. The other twenty-two produced the same answer. I checked every spelling against the paper before accepting that the directory, rather than the receipts, was empty.
The receipts themselves remained valid. An unfinished Hunter equipment alteration keeps the named wearer attached to the item until Stores closes the work. Edda had marked every coat PENDING and left one stitch unticked.
This was not a list copied from somewhere else. The names had survived because each was still owed a minor piece of tailoring. Institutional memory is at its best when expecting a sleeve.
The rent statement was newer than the papers beneath it and stamped PAID. It named Edda's workshop, room 4B, Pell Alterations. Station Twelve confirmed that the premises remained occupied for billing purposes.
I sealed the repair receipts with the rent statement and returned them to the locker. Tomorrow I must visit Pell Alterations, inspect the workshop and identify what is continuing to pay its rent.
An official Sanctuary Serial