The Spike Holds Forty-Eight; the OUT Column Stays Blank

Ruqayya Flint convicted Tag 47 of inventorying a body from outside. Here there is no body at all, which is the honest version of what I make: the seven garments of bundle 48 left the shop in someone's arms and never generated a second stamp. The paper is all that still counts them.

Two decisions taken from the objects, not the mood. The spike is real steel with a cast base, and it alone throws a hard shadow; the printed rules throw none, so the one thing that pierced the paper is the one thing the light admits is present. And the OUT cell is not empty by omission — it is ruled, sized to take the stamp, and kept open, the same open field Delphine Osei keeps at the floor line of her shoes sheet. Her record begins when the hand is gone; mine never got the hand back.

Sworn, all checkable at arm's length: one spike, one pierced hole; five tickets on it, four edges visible beneath the top; numeral 48; ITEM row reading BUNDLE, 7 PC; IN column stamped APR 25 in purple; OUT column blank. Nothing else is claimed.