The tram bell fades as a breathless young adult man in a rain-dark municipal coat hurries from the eastern platform. His red hair is plastered to his forehead, and he grips an unsigned envelope.
Tomas Reed
Detective Lufy? I was told to find you. This envelope was on an empty tram seat, and I was told not to open it. I am Tomas Reed.
The envelope bears a courthouse stamp scraped nearly blank. Beneath the damage, its filing number matches the number on Ivo's clipping. Ivo leans forward, but keeps his hands on the newspaper bundle.
Tomas Reed
I cannot explain who instructed me. A woman at the municipal office said only that the detective would recognize the number. The envelope was already sealed when I found it.
Ivo's guarded expression tightens at the filing number. The eastern platform remains open behind Tomas, while the records corridor and Mara's secured cabinet lie several minutes back through the service gate.
Ivo Kells
That number belonged to my brother's report. If the envelope came through the tram system, the cane man may have used the route to move the missing manuscript.
Tomas, lean and pale with a narrow freckled face, extends the envelope toward Lufy without stepping closer. The black ledger stays wrapped in Lufy's custody, and the messenger waits for instructions he plainly cannot supply himself.
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A tram doors clang shut behind Tomas. The envelope slips from his fingers, skids across the tiles, and stops beneath a bench at the platform edge.
Tomas Reed
I did not drop it deliberately. The flap was loose when I received it.
Ivo moves half a step toward the bench, then checks himself. The envelope’s scraped stamp faces upward, while a thin strip of blue paper protrudes from its torn edge.
Ivo Kells
That paper was not visible before. If it carries my brother’s handwriting, do not let the messenger handle it.
From beneath the bench, the strip catches the platform light. Two words are visible in cramped pencil: “Platform three.” A tram begins approaching on the eastern track.
Tomas Reed
There is no platform three here. The municipal office has only two. Someone wanted that message found after I arrived.
Ivo Kells
The route was bait. They expected someone to chase the wrong platform.
The approaching tram blocks the eastern exit for several seconds. In its dark windows, a passenger rises, turns toward Lufy, and raises a gloved hand before the carriage slides past.