A simple question (I hope)

[TheIntelligencePolice]

A bit of context before the question; my main character has just, begrudgingly, rescued a young man from a group of thugs. After beating off said thugs, he's scooped the young man up in a fireman's lift and legged it off with him. But unknown to him, during his rescue efforts and escape my MC has dropped something from a pocket that has his name on it.

So here we go, I need the guys and their boss to know my guys name but not his address, because they have to find him eventually, so what can he have dropped that just provides that? Also it can't be something that would be missed fairly quickly, so that rules out a bank card. I thought originally about dropping his NI card, but how many people carry that around with them nowadays.

Is there anything you guys on here could think of?

Many thanks!

 

[Bramandin]

A bit of context before the question; my main character has just, begrudgingly, rescued a young man from a group of thugs. After beating off said thugs, he's scooped the young man up in a fireman's lift and legged it off with him. But unknown to him, during his rescue efforts and escape my MC has dropped something from a pocket that has his name on it.

So here we go, I need the guys and their boss to know my guys name but not his address, because they have to find him eventually, so what can he have dropped that just provides that? Also it can't be something that would be missed fairly quickly, so that rules out a bank card. I thought originally about dropping his NI card, but how many people carry that around with them nowadays.

Is there anything you guys on here could think of?

Many thanks!

Looking through wallet:

Library card, insurance card, covid vaccination card, AAA card.

I could imagine a gym membership card being outside of his wallet and that it has his name on it even if some gyms just do a barcode.

I also have a pocket knife with my name on it.

 

[JS Wiig]

Whatever it is he drops, see if you can make the object have significance later in the story other than just learning a name, say for example the pocket knife that the villain leaves laying around and the protagonist uses to escape. Stuff like that can make for more interesting story telling.

 

[Jo Zebedee]

Library card comes to mind

 

[Mouse]

Doesn't nessecarily rule out a bank card... I have three or four (see, I don't even know!) in my purse. (Some are out of date and I think one's from my joint bank account which I don't use because I can't remember the pin).

Other ideas - Tesco clubcard. Nectar card.

 

[AllanR]

A store loyalty card --the thugs could go to the store to find out who it belongs to

 

[Margaret Note Spelling]

A monogrammed/labeled handkerchief.
An old receipt.
A letter or half-written postcard.
A secondary or tertiary credit card (if they have a primary one, they might not notice the secondary one is missing).
A labeled drawstring bag for dice (I carry one around, without any label, but I can see someone else wanting to put their name on a really nice dice bag).
A pocket-sized paperback novel with a "this belongs to" in the front (or even one of those very small Bibles).
A personal notebook that the MC carries around for, well, notes.
An old, outdated envelope with the MC's former address on it.
An envelope with only the address of the MC's P.O. Box on it. Not sure if P.O. Boxes are just an American thing or not.

 

[Wayne Mack]

Knowing the time period for the story would help. I'll assume present time.

I'd rule out anything that the character would carry in a wallet; those items would not be easily dropped. I pants pocket is also unlikely, unless the character is originally walking with hands in pocket and the item is pulled out when the character extracts his or her hands.

A cell phone might be a possibility; simply have the baddies use it and note the caller ID display on the receiving phone. A cell phone, however, could give up a lot more information that the writer may prefer to keep hidden.

A birthday or similar card might be a possibility. It is something that is large enough that it might be stuck in a side jacket pocket and would protrude enough to be knocked loose. This, however, would be unlikely to contain a first name and last name. More likely would be first name or last name with Mr. or Ms.

A prescription bottle would reveal a name as well as the address of the pharmacy that filled it. It would have to be dislodged, though, by hands coming out of a pocket or the character taking a pill and dropping it when putting the vial into a pocket.

A signed receipt, perhaps rolled up and stuck into a breast pocket. This, however, would likely reveal the address of the issuer. The baddies could get address information by interrogating the issuer.

Any sort of letter without the envelope might have name only. Again this could be rolled up and stuck in a breast pocket.

A work ID badge. It could be clipped to a lapel or waist band. This, though, would also reveal a place of employment.

 

[JS Wiig]

A prescription bottle would reveal a name as well as the address of the pharmacy that filled it. It would have to be dislodged, though, by hands coming out of a pocket or the character taking a pill and dropping it when putting the vial into a pocket.

Ooh I like the pill one! That could open up all kinds of character and later plot stuff. Of course it may not fit the OP’s story at this point.

 

[Parson]

A paper note stuffed in a front pocket could easily be pulled out with keys or currency without anyone really noticing.

*I'm not saying what made me think of this.

 

[JS Wiig]

A paper note stuffed in a front pocket could easily be pulled out with keys or currency without anyone really noticing.

*I'm not saying what made me think of this.

You saw someone else unknowingly drop it, swiftly retrieved it in their stead, said, “Excuse me ma’am, but you dropped this back there,” and graciously returned it to them.

 

[TheIntelligencePolice]

Thanks for the comments guys.

Yeah it's present day, but dropping a smart phone is definitely out, they are the kind of thing you tend to miss fairly quickly, especially as most of us are regularly on them (case in point being me, sat outside of work typing this reply out).

I think I'm going to look at using the suggestion I'd originally dismissed. An old bank card left inside a shirt pocket, with this being the first time wearing said shirt since. I think it would be fairly easy to lose something from a breast pocket in a scuffle and not really notice it.