Chapter 13 — A Promise At The Cable Car Station

The rescue team took Mr. Khang to the medical room behind Ms. Nam's restaurant. Outside, the captain asked everyone to stay away from the filing cabinet, but no one trusted the key in his hand. Linh placed the tin box on the shop table, between Mr. Khang's teapot and medicine bag.

Do Thanh Nam was held back by a security guard. He did not resist, just repeated that he received orders from a man named Quang. The man in the raincoat with the triangle ring disappeared amid the chaos at the station.

“Is Quang the captain's real name?” Mai asked.

“No,” Duy replied. “His name is Hung.”

“So who is Quang?”

Mr. Khang lay on the bed, eyes staring at the ceiling. “Project manager in 2009. Nguyen Minh Quang.”

Linh took her father's letter. "Uncle said Duy's father had that name on the loan paper."

“Because Vinh used his name to represent the final recipient.”

Duy stepped forward. “Is my father related to Quang?”

"No. You two only have the same middle name in the abbreviation system. Vinh took advantage of this error."

“Such an error cannot cause the bank to transfer debt.”

"It's not an error. It's a series of documents prepared to look like an error."

Mr. Khang propped himself up and sat up. Mai supported his back. “I will open the book.”

“Where is the book?” Linh asked.

“In the shop.”

Mrs. Nam walked over and took the small key from her neck. She opened the drawer under the tea counter and pulled out a notebook with a worn brown cloth cover. The cover has no name, just a triangle sewn with red thread.

“How long have you been keeping it?” Duy asked.

“Since the day my mother gave it to me.”

“Why didn't you give it sooner?”

“Because it's not enough for two half tickets.”

Linh placed the ticket on the cover of the book. No response. Duy placed the remaining piece next to it. Mrs. Nam nodded and opened the first page.

The book records time, temperature, wind speed and condition of each piece of wire. Mr. Khang's letters are even, small, squeezed between the columns. The August 2009 pages have many red ink marks.

“This is the day the landslide occurred,” Mr. Khang said. "I recorded at 06:20, the traction increased abnormally. At 07:10, the spare brake equipment was not yet delivered. At 08:40, the management team requested to open a test route."

Duy looked at the page. “My mother used to say that cable can only run after 9:00 a.m.”

"Yes. But Vinh said there was a special order."

“Who signed?”

Mr. Khang turned the page. The signature part is torn, but next to it there is still a line reading "Supervisor: Le Thi Man".

“My mother,” Duy said.

"She did not sign to open the route. She wrote a warning."

Linh looked at the strokes of the pen. “Here comes the word ‘disagree’.”

“Then the page was torn.”

“Who tore?”

Mr. Khang shut up.

Tu stood outside the door and heard that before saying: "Me."

Duy is back. “You tore?”

"I took the page out of the trash. Someone tore it up first, I just picked up the rest."

“And you keep it?”

“I gave it to Vinh.”

The air in the shop thickened. Linh looked at Tu, waiting for him to continue.

"Vinh said that if I handed over the page, he would pay for my father's medicine. My father at that time had kidney failure and needed dialysis. I believed him."

“Did he pay?” Mai asked.

"Pay it once. Then my father passed away."

“You kept quiet because of the medicine money?” Duy asked.

"Because I accepted money. When you receive something dirty, people can force you to look at it as a debt."

Mr. Khang coughed. "Tu told me. I told him not to continue. But at that time I was also scared."

Linh turned over the book. One folded page contains detailed drawings. On it is the line diagram, the location of the cable weighing room and a note: "Transfer the appendix after the supervisor leaves the shift."

“When does the supervisor leave shift?” she asked.

“08:25,” Mr. Khang replied. "Mom Duy had to go to the lower station because there was a cabin with a faulty door."

“And at 08:40, the line was opened for testing.”

"Correct."

Duy squeezed the edge of the table. “My mother was pulled out of the room just as they changed the annex.”

“She was suspicious. So she gave me half the ticket and asked me to keep it until someone came along.”

“Why are the two half tickets of different years?”

“So that no one can use half as evidence. 2008 was the date the line received the equipment, 2009 was the date the appendix was changed.”

Linh took a photo of the notebook page. A drop of water fell from Mr. Khang's hair to the edge of the paper. She used a towel to blot it, not touching the ink.

“Do you have the original torn page?”

"Have."

Mr. Khang pointed to the small wooden cabinet behind the desk. Mrs. Nam took the key and opened the second compartment. Inside was a plastic envelope, containing three pieces of paper assembled with clear tape.

Linh placed them on a white sheet of paper. The text appears:

“I, Le Thi Man, do not agree to open the route before having two sets of spare brakes. The person requesting to change the signature is Nguyen Minh Quang. The person who directly brought the appendix was Tran Quang Vinh."

The last part is signed by Duy's mother, dated August 19, 2009.

Duy closed his eyes. He didn't cry, just sat for a long time.

Mai touched his shoulder. “Read it.”

“I read it.”

“Then say something.”

Duy opened his eyes and looked at Linh. “Your mother did not sign voluntarily. Your father also doesn't know all the papers."

“But the debt is still there.”

“Because the rest choose to stay quiet.”

Mr. Khang reached towards the box. “Open it.”

Linh and Duy looked at each other. The captain stood outside on the field, with two bankers next to him. Hung signaled he wanted to talk, but Duy pulled the curtain.

“Are you sure?” Linh asked.

“The book is enough to prove the timeline. The box only adds documents. You guys can no longer wait.”

“What if the box has my father's signature?”

“Then call him by his correct name. No bigger, no smaller.”

Linh took two halves of the ticket. Duy placed the box in the middle of the table. She rotates the 2008 piece to the left, he turns the 2009 piece to the right. The two tear lines match, the lever mechanism pops out one step.

The box does not open completely. A small needle inside got stuck.

“Need date code,” Duy said.

Linh looked at the book. August 19, 2009.

“190809.”

Duy enters with small gear. The box vibrates, but the lid remains closed.

Mr. Khang whispered: “The day the supervisor leaves the room is not a lock day. The date the last signer receives the paper back.”

“What day?” Linh asked.

Mr. Khang looked at Tu.

Tu bowed his head. “August twenty-first.”

Linh entered 210809. The last switch clicked. But before the lid opened, a sound of broken glass echoed from the yard. The bank employee shouted. Hung pulled the curtain and saw a stone and a piece of red paper on the background.

On the paper there is only one line:

“If the box is opened in front of everyone, the first person to be caught will be the one holding the key.”

Hung turned around, clutching the key. Mrs. Nam stood in front of the shop door.

“Choose,” she said. “Keep the key or keep your people.”

Linh put her hand on the lid of the box. Duy put his hand on hers, but did not pull back.

“Open,” he said.

Linh turned the last lever. The lid of the box popped open with a small slit, revealing a layer of blue oilcloth. No one leaned in close. Duy took a photo of the position before opening it further, and Linh read each operation out loud for the rescue team and Mrs. Nam to hear.

“Opening time: 08:42. Evidence placed on the table. Witnesses included Ms. Nam, Mai, Mr. Khang, Tu and team leader Hung."

Hung looked at her. “I have not agreed to testify.”

“You are standing here. If he leaves, I clearly noted that he refused.”

The two bank employees behind Hung exchanged glances. One person took the phone, but Duy stepped forward to block the camera.

“Do not film without consent.”

“We have the right to record assets.”

“This is not the bank's property.”

Mrs. Nam slammed the bottom of the teapot on the table. “No one takes anything without a record.”

Linh opened the lid a little more. Inside are three paper bags, each with a serial number. The first bag contains the equipment purchase receipt, the second bag contains the contract appendix, and the third bag is a handwritten letter.

On the mouth of the second bag there was a cracked wax mark. The mark is not Van Lo's but is the circular symbol of an old bank. Linh took the photo.

“If the seal is cracked, someone opened it,” she said.

Mr. Khang replied: “I opened it once in 2013, but only saw the first page. I'm afraid of being discovered.”

“Did you change anything?”

"Are not."

Duy looked at Hung. “Have you ever held the box?”

Hung did not answer. One of the two bank employees spoke up: "Mr. Hung only keeps it at the request of the management board."

“Which management?” Linh asked.

The other person is silent.

Linh put her hand back in the first pocket. Before she could get the receipt out, Hung's phone rang. He listened, just said "I understand", then hung up.

“What's wrong?” Duy asked.

“The maintenance cabin at tower number 4 lost signal.”

“Is there someone up there?”

"Don't know."

Tu walked to the door and looked at the cable line. “The signal loss is due to the power being cut off.”

“Where is the source?” Linh asked.

“Weight room.”

“Who has the right to enter?”

Hung held the key tightly. “Only people with old cards.”

All eyes focused on Tu, who was wearing a triangle bracelet. He looked down at his hands.

“I don't go in there,” Tu said.

“Where were you when we opened the box?” Duy asked.

“Next to Mr. Khang.”

“Are there any witnesses?”

"Tomorrow."

Mai nodded, but her expression was uncertain. “He was next to me, but he went out to call for help for a while.”

Tu closed his eyes. “I'm going to find the rescue team.”

Linh did not pay attention to the further discussion. She opened the third bag and took out a letter with her father's handwriting. In the first line, he wrote: "If the person who opened the box has read this far, please do not believe the final list."

Linh continued reading. “The last recipient's name has been changed three times. The first time is changed on the warehouse book, the second time is changed in the loan contract, the third time is changed on the banking system. The person who did it the third time was not Vinh."

Duy looked at Hung. Hung turned around.

Outside, rescue sirens continued. An employee ran into the cabin and reported that pillar number 4 was moving backwards, with no one operating. If it touches the post, the string will be misaligned.

Duy looked at the box, then looked at the cable route. “We can't continue reading yet.”

Linh closed the lid and placed a temporary seal. “We will bring all the files with us.”

Hung stepped forward. “No. The box stays at the station.”

“You just lost the right to keep it.”

“You have no right to take it.”

Linh looked at Ms. Nam, the rescue team and the people standing outside. “I have the right to preserve my father's evidence when it is threatened. If you want to dispute, make a record in front of everyone.”

Hung did not raise his hand to stop. He just looked at the box like he was looking at something that had once saved him and was about to destroy him.

Linh wrapped the box in a waterproof bag. Duy keeps the book, Mai keeps the letter, and Mr. Khang keeps the memory of a night no one wants to name.

As soon as they walked out of the shop, a loud noise echoed from the cable line. Cabin 17 lightly collided with pillar number 4, then stopped. On the glass door appeared a painted inscription red:

“The person opening the box has been chosen.”

Duy looked at Linh. “We need to know who is choosing.”