Early-type retired galaxies (RGs, i.e. galaxies which no longer form stars) can be divided into two classes: those with no emission lines, here dubbed lineless RGs, and those with emission lines, dubbed liny RGs. Both types of galaxies contain hot low-mass evolved stars (HOLMES) which emit ionizing photons. The difference must thus lie in the presence or absence of a reservoir of ionizable gas. From a volume-limited sample of 38 038 elliptical galaxies, we explore differences in physical properties between liny and lineless using data from the SDSS, WISE, and GALEX catalogues. To avoid biases in the comparison, we pair-match liny and lineless in stellar mass, redshift, and half-light Petrosian radius. We detect marginal differences in their optical stellar ages and NUV luminosities, indicating that liny RGs have an excess of intermediate-age (0.1–5 Gyr) stellar populations. Liny RGs show higher dust attenuation and W3 luminosities than their lineless counterparts. We also find that the amount of warm gas needed to explain the observed Hα luminosity in liny RGs is 105–108 M⊙, and that their [N ii] /[O ii] emission-line ratios are typical of those of the most massive star-forming galaxies. Taken together, these results rules out the following sources for the warm gas in liny RGs: mass-loss from intermediate-mass stars, mergers with metal-poor galaxies and intergalactic streams. They imply instead an inflow of enriched gas previously expelled from the galaxy or a merger with a metal-rich galaxy. The ionization source and the origin of the gas producing the emission lines are thus disconnected.