A review of sealed mail lists, transfer marks and the ridge carrier book finds a gap between the total in the public summary and the conditions recorded at the mail branch between Underway and Flint Ridge. The difference does not prove that anyone misstated the file. It shows what the public count leaves out: the packet list is copied before the ridge carrier accepts the seal.
The sealed mail lists, transfer marks and the ridge carrier book lists 63 sealed packets with a mark at both route transfers; the previous window lists 61. Niri Flint checked both against paired readings from the source and the last occupied branch. The source was checked against a second copy held by Kip Copper. No dated correction to either copy was present when the comparison closed.
The tunnel office counts a packet at dispatch. The ridge office counts it after the seal is checked. The office has not supplied a separate measure that would settle the disagreement, so the two explanations remain competing accounts.
This report supports a narrower finding: the count is repeatable, but it is not enough to decide how a sender checks a packet that changes hands between the tunnel and ridge routes.
The clerk closes this route file and gives the next window a fresh walk. The board closed this docket after it added a second branch mark for the next passage window. The next window starts with a fresh record.
