I contacted the public transportation company by phone and learned that the driver had not found a bag in the tram. I also tried in vain to check enquire at the lost and found office. We accepted the fact that someone unknown had found the bag and kept its contents. I started looking for replacement documents and took care of replacing the lock in the house. About a week passed. I was at work and the phone rang. Jana was on the line and described to me, somewhat nervously, a strange telephone conversation she had with an unknown person a while ago. He told her in a cold voice that if she wanted to get my lost bag back, she should show up at the terminal station of a certain tram line in Prague in about half an hour. We had mixed feelings about this: on the one hand, it was positive that there was a hint and hope that the bag would be returned, but on the other hand, the method of return chosen by the finder was suspicious. It was reminiscent of the practices of blackmailers. How did he even get my wife’s phone number? I thought about it. I had a small directory in my bag with the names, addresses and telephone numbers of my friends. There must have been a few dozen of them. They all had a first and last name. The only name was without a surname: JANA.
Somehow, strangely, the person must have guessed that she was the one to whom the find was to be reported. But why such a strict requirement for the place and time of the handover? I wanted to drop everything and move quickly from Dejvice to Krč (both are quite distant quarters in Prague) to take care of it myself, but there was no time. We agreed that Jana would go to the meeting point as requested by the finder, but not alone, but accompanied by a colleague from her lab. Fortunately, our fears were not confirmed. The finder was not a criminal. He also brought the bag with my documents, the keys, the neckless for my mother in-law and the wallet, although admittedly empty. He claimed that there was no money in the bag when we found it and it was clear that he had kept the cash as a reward. This in no way dampened our joy and we were grateful for his efforts to return the bag. And how he came to the conclusion that Jana was the right person to talk to remains a mystery. The adventure we had is forever etched in our memories, and for the next forty years neither Jana nor I forgot a single bag anywhere.