Location Changed

Emma had three questions about the missing box. Had it left the trust? Had the storage company received it? Was it still there?

Fiona called on Tuesday morning. The records team had found a clearer copy of the 2012 transfer list. It showed the name of a storage company and a number for the box. There was also a date beside the line.

“Does that mean the company received it?” Emma asked.

“No,” Fiona replied. “This is the trust's list of boxes prepared for collection. We haven't found the company's receipt.”

Emma wrote prepared for collection in her notebook. It was a useful fact, but not the answer she wanted.

Sarah suggested calling the company. Emma agreed, but first she asked Fiona whether the trust could make the enquiry. The papers might contain private information about former students.

Later Fiona reported that the company had changed its name some years earlier. An old public notice confirmed the change, but it said nothing about the missing box.

“So we have the right company?” Sarah asked.

“We have a possible link between two names. We still need its records.”

Emma looked again at the 2012 list. There were small marks in a column headed Collected. The line for the authorisation book had a mark too.

“Then it was collected,” Sarah said.

“The trust marked it as collected. We need to know who made the mark and whether the company agreed.”

That afternoon Fiona sent an update. The company had agreed to search its historical records, but had not confirmed receiving the box. It would answer the trust, not Emma, because the trust was the customer.

Helen Ward also wrote. Her cousin could not find any papers showing that a grant payment had arrived. Helen reminded Emma that an old document might simply have been lost. Emma thanked her and made no further request.

As evening fell, Emma placed the transfer list beside her notes about payments. The two problems looked similar. In both cases a record described an action, but did not prove that it had been completed.

She drew three boxes across the page: Prepared, Collected, Received.

Then Fiona's final message arrived. The storage company had located an old index entry under the box number. The entry gave no contents, only the words Location changed.

Emma stared at the screen. The box might not have vanished at all. But she still had no idea where it had gone.