Chapter 8 — A Promise At The Cable Car Station

Mai opened Ms. Hanh's door when she heard the three scheduled knocks. She was wearing a thin sweater, her hair was tied up quickly, and she was holding a small flashlight in her hand. As soon as they saw Duy, Mai stepped out onto the porch and looked at the slope.

“The car's gone,” she said. “But they left an envelope in the crack of the door.”

“Are you open?” Duy asked.

"Not yet."

Linh realized that Mai was only a few years younger than Duy, her face was still young but her eyes were used to being on guard. She stood behind the door, not asking who was Linh.

“This is Linh,” Duy introduced. “Khai's son.”

Mai looked at Linh with a fleeting look of surprise. “You're the one with half the ticket?”

Linh nodded.

“Come in,” Mai said. “Don't stand on the street.”

Ms. Hanh's house is cramped, the living room is next to the kitchen. On the table is a stack of bank papers neatly folded, each sheet has a yellow sticky note attached. Mai pulled out a chair for Linh, then placed the envelope in the middle of the table.

“They didn't put the sender's name on it,” she said. “There's only one sentence: 'Exchange house for box'.”

Duy didn't open it right away. He used his gloves to take his phone and take pictures of the front, back, and glue edges. Linh noted the time and location the envelope was found.

Mai looks at how they do it. “Did you learn this from your mother?”

“From work.”

“Mom would laugh if she knew you brought the record-making process into family matters.”

“Mom didn't laugh much in her last years.”

The words made the whole table quiet down. Mai untied the paper and flipped to the first page. "This is a loan adjustment notice. The bank said the debt is secured by our house. But the contract number is not the same as the one mom used to keep."

Linh holds a copy. She read the date of creation, loan code and signature. “This contract was signed in 2011, after your mother passed away?”

“Mom died in 2022.”

“So you can't sign.”

“The signature is father's.”

Duy looked at the paper. “Father passed away in 2014.”

“The bank said this is a renewal contract signed by the heir.”

“Do you sign?” Linh asked.

"I signed a confirmation of information when I was twenty-two years old. I did not sign a loan."

Mai pulled out another sheet. "This is the copy they sent last week. The borrower's signature is blurred but the beneficiary account name is Van Lo Equipment Company. That company has been dissolved."

Linh looked at Duy. “Your family's debt may be directly related to the equipment advance.”

"I know."

“Have you ever asked the bank for original documents?”

"Three times. They said it was stored outside the system and had to wait for review."

Mai smiled faintly. “Wait until they sell the house.”

Linh continued reading. An appendix states “solidarity obligations of the end recipient”. The last recipient's name was crossed out and replaced with Duy's father's name. The correction has a stamp but no signature.

“There are signs of editing,” she said. “But we need the original and appraisal.”

Duy opened the envelope. Inside is an old photo taken in front of Van Lo station. Seven people stood next to the first cabin. Linh recognized her father, mother Duy and Mr. Khang. Vinh stood at the edge of the photo, facing the other direction. On the back of the photo are the words:

“When both halves are complete, ask the person standing outside the frame.”

“Who is the person standing outside the frame?” Mai asked.

“Vinh,” Duy replied.

"He's not standing outside. He's in the picture."

“Look closely,” Linh said.

In the right corner, behind Mr. Khang's shoulder, there is a white wall. The photographer was definitely standing there. However, the photo was cut off before reaching the wall, as if someone had deliberately excluded a person.

Mai took a small magnifying glass from the drawer. “There is also a date stamp on the back of the photo. August 19, 2009.”

“The year debt begins,” Duy speak.

“And five boxes were stored,” Linh added.

The sound of a car passing by the house startled Mai. She turned off the living room lights. Three people looked through the curtain. A motorbike stopped at the beginning of the alley, the driver wearing a hat to cover his face. He didn't come down, just looked at the house and left.

“Do they know you're here?” Duy asked.

"Maybe."

“Did you tell anyone about the bank call?”

"Are not."

“Do you know?”

Mai looked at him. "Tu called me while Linh and I were at the station. He told me not to stay home, saying someone asked about the ticket."

Linh noticed the way Mai said Tu's name. There was no look of trust, nor fear; It was like she was used to the half-true, half-wrong warnings from him.

“What else did Tu say?” Linh asked.

"He said if you see a silver truck, stay away. I asked why, he said because the driver was not Vinh."

“But we saw Vinh's car,” Duy said.

“Have I ever shown you Vinh's photo?”

Mai shook her head. “I only know the name.”

Linh placed the old photo next to the envelope. “It's possible that someone used Vinh's name to scare people, while the person behind it was someone else.”

“Who has access to the cabin, storage lockers, bank records and knows the box delivery schedule?” Duy asked.

No one answered.

Mai flipped the notebook to the last page. “There's something you haven't seen yet.”

She provided a statement of her school expenses. Next to it is a red note: "Suspension of scholarship when family fails to complete collateral."

“My scholarship is provided by the school,” Duy said.

"It was withdrawn because the bank sent a notice about the debt. They said the family had disputed assets so they couldn't confirm the circumstances."

Linh felt her chest tighten. The debt is more than just the house; it has spread to whether Mai can continue studying or not.

“What are you going to do?” she asked.

"Leaving the mountain. I applied for a job in the city."

Duy clasped his hands. “You don't need to drop out of school.”

“Where are you going to get the money to pay?”

“I will find it.”

"You've been saying that since Mom was still alive. Have you found anything yet?"

Duy shut up. Mai doesn't shout, but every word is concise and sharp. Linh understood that there had been many similar conversations between them.

“If the box proves the debt is wrong,” Linh said, “you don't need to leave the mountain for it.”

Mai looked at her. “How long does it take to prove it?”

"Don't know."

“The bank doesn't wait for us to find out.”

“So we must preserve documents before negotiating.”

Mai pulled the chair closer. “Are you really doing archiving?”

"YES."

“So can you know the fake signature?”

"I can recognize unusual signs. The final conclusion must come from the examiner."

“Then help me check dad's signature.”

Linh looks at three samples. The signature in the new contract has a long final stroke, while the signature on the old paper stops suddenly. Impossible to conclude by sight, but enough to raise questions.

“Where do you keep the original?”

“Bank holds.”

“And the copy?”

"At home."

“The house is being watched by someone else.”

Mai looked out the door. “We'll get it tonight.”

Duy objected immediately. “Not going back.”

“The copy is under the kitchen cabinet,” Mai said. “If they're looking for a house, they'll get it first.”

“Wait until morning and call the police.”

“In the morning, they can enter through the back entrance.”

Linh saw that the two brothers were about to argue. She opened the topographic map on her phone. Mai's house is three hundred meters from the main road, with an exit to the back garden and an old ditch. It can take ten minutes without the lights on.

“We don't go in for confrontation,” she said. "Just take the copy, check the door and leave. Mai is in the middle, Duy goes first, I go behind. If you see a car, turn around."

Duy look at her. “Have you ever done this before?”

“No. But I know how to move a box of files through a warehouse without cameras.”

Mai laughed for the first time. “Sounds more trustworthy than your brother.”

Duy was not happy, but did not object anymore.

Before leaving Ms. Hanh's house, Linh took photos of all the documents. Mai kept the original in a cloth bag, and Duy hid the old photo in his jacket.

Outside in the alley, the rain was lighter. Tu stood under the opposite porch, holding an umbrella.

“Where are you going?” Duy asked.

“Let's take you guys back to the station.”

“We're going back to Mai's house.”

"I know."

Linh looked at him. “You knew just in time.”

Tu turned to Mai. “The silver carriage is still around the village.”

“Who do you see driving?” Duy asked.

“No face.”

“So how do you know it's not Vinh?”

Tu did not reply.

Mai pulled the door. "If you want to help, you go first. If not, get out of the way."

Tu looked at her for a moment then stepped aside. The three people passed by, but Linh noticed that he was not going to the station. He followed about twenty meters away.

The road back to Mai's house is dark and slippery. Duy used a red light, only enough to illuminate three steps. Linh clung to Mai's shoulder as she crossed the ditch. Approaching the fence, they heard the door lock being turned.

Duy turned off the light and raised his hand to stop.

There was a shadow of a person in the yard. Not Vinh; The person was shorter, bending to open the kitchen door. A red string appeared on the cuff of his raincoat.

Mai gasped. Linh kept her mouth shut, while Duy looked around for another way.

The figure opened the door and entered the house. A beam of light swept across the kitchen.

Duy whispered: "The back way is through the garden."

They rounded the tree line. Linh touched the document bag in Mai's hand, reminding her not to let the paper rub against the branches. At the back door, Duy used the spare key. The door opened without sound.

In the kitchen, the lower cabinet had been pulled out. The stranger is looking for the right place Mai said.

Mai wanted to rush forward, but Duy held back. Linh pointed to the mirror hanging next to the kitchen. Through reflection, the other person had a metal bracelet engraved with a triangle.

Tu appeared at the front door, throwing a stone into the yard. The stranger turned around and immediately ran towards the back door. Duy pushed Linh and Mai aside. The other person bumped into the table, dropping a plastic card.

He escaped through the fence before Duy could catch up.

Linh picked up the card with a tissue. On the card is the name of the former contractor's employee: "Tran Quang Vinh".

Mai looked at the name, her face turned pale. “Vinh's last name is Tran?”

Tu stood on the porch, his voice hoarse: "No. Vo Minh Vinh changed his name to Tran Quang Vinh after leaving the team."

Duy turned back to look at him. “Since when do you know?”

“From the moment I saw the card.”

“You still hide it.”

Tu bowed his head. “Because I once helped him change his card.”

In the dark kitchen, no one continued speaking. Outside in the garden, the sound of a truck starting up rang out and then faded away. Mai opened the lower drawer and took out a copy of the contract.

On the last page, the guarantor's signature was crossed out. Below is a new person's name written in blue ink:

Nguyen Khai.

The signature next to it is not Linh's father.

Linh looked at the ink, feeling that everything in the story had just turned in a different direction. Her father may have accepted the debt, but he was not the first signatory.

A whistle sounded down from the mountainside. Duy opened his phone. The captain's message had only one line:

"The safe in the upper station was opened. The box disappeared."