Chapter 9 — Before Retirement, I Was Demoted to Work as a Laborer

The expressions of everyone in the meeting room changed simultaneously. Tham Trieu An took the tablet and carefully watched the recording over and over again for a few seconds. On the screen, a person wearing a gray cleaning uniform, with the brim of his hat pulled down to cover most of his face, walked out of the internal area of the Chairman's office. In his hand, he held a red-covered notebook. The notebook just passed by in the blink of an eye. But the red cover color is too prominent. La Thien was the first person to turn to look at me.

"Tan Ngoc Tran, today you're the only one wearing this uniform in the entire building."

As soon as he finished speaking... Several eyes immediately turned towards me. Ha Mieu was so impatient that her face turned red.

"It's not Aunt Tan! She's in the meeting room all the time."

La Thien smirked.

"You said it doesn't count."

Trinh Hoai Nhan also spoke up.

"Chairman Tham, this proves that there is a problem. During the day she went to the twenty-ninth floor, and at night something happened to the safe. There is no such thing as a coincidence."

I stared at the recording on the screen.

"Let's rewind five minutes."

Co Nam, a young employee of the Presidential Office, looked at Tham Trieu An. He nodded slightly. Co Nam immediately took action. The video is rewinded. The other person came from the emergency stairs. Stand in front of the door for about half a second. Then take out a card... Swipe to open the internal area door.

"Is there a record of card swipes?"

Co Nam replied:

"Extracting."

La Thien immediately interjected.

"Previously, she used to manage administrative rights. It's not surprising that she still keeps the old card."

I turned to look at her.

"Director La."

"Just now in the basement, didn't you guys already prepare half a card with my name on it?"

La Thien's face immediately turned pale. I calmly continued:

"A trap..."

"Using it the second time is too clumsy."

Trinh Hoai Nhan slammed on the table.

"Stop talking nonsense!"

Tham Trieu An completely ignored him.

"Upstairs."

One twenty minutes in the morning. The whole group returned to the twenty-ninth floor. The door to the internal area of the Chairman's office is open. The safe door... Also wide open. One compartment is missing inside. Co Nam's forehead was covered in sweat.

"Dear Chairman Tham, the right to open the safe belongs only to the Chairman's Office and you."

Tham Trieu An asked:

"Who opened tonight?"

Co Nam shook his head.

"The recording system... uses backup cards."

"Where is the backup card?"

Co Nam's voice became smaller.

"According to regulations... sealed at the Administrative Center."

Once again... All eyes turned to Trinh Hoai Nhan and La Thien. La Thien bit her lips tightly.

"The backup card was handed over a long time ago. Everything cannot be blamed on the human resources department."

I squatted down and looked at the floor in front of the office door. I have never entered the internal area. The outside area was cleaned by myself. Along the edge of the tile there are still thin streaks of water left by the mop. But right next to the threshold of the internal area... There was a patch of dust that had been scrubbed clean. Those aren't shoe prints. Wheel tracks. I turned to ask Ha Mieu:

"Of the cleaning trucks, which one has a broken wheel?"

Ha Mieu immediately replied:

"Car number three."

"The right front wheel has a piece of rubber chipped on it. If you push it, it will vibrate."

I pointed to the ground.

"This stain..."

"Also the right front tire track is chipped."

Co Nam immediately turned to check. Not long after... Sanitation truck number three pushed forward. On the handle was a pair of disposable gloves. In the trunk of the car was a gray cleaning uniform. The hat was tucked in at the bottom. La Thien's eyes immediately lit up.

"This is the proof!"

She looked at me smugly.

"Tan Ngoc Tran, how else will you explain this time?"

I didn't even look at her. Just pick up the uniform and flip the collar.

"This is not my uniform."

La Thien smiled coldly.

"Aren't all cleaning uniforms the same?"

Ha Mieu said in a low voice:

"It's not the same."

"There's a code inside the collar."

I completely flipped the collar off.

"Number thirteen."

Ha Mieu immediately nodded.

"That's right. Uniform number thirteen is a spare. It was still in the basement yesterday."

Tham Trieu An looked at Mr. Ho. Lao Ho immediately replied:

"No one registered to receive the spare uniform."

I put the uniform back in the car.

"Someone took the spare uniform and pushed cart number three to the twenty-ninth floor..."

"Intentionally allowing the camera to record an image of a person wearing a cleaning outfit."

Trinh Hoai Nhan said in a deep voice:

"So maybe you prepared it in advance."

I stood up.

"Today, before nine thirty in the morning, my management rights were canceled."

"The temporary card also cannot open the supply warehouse in the basement."

Ha Mieu suddenly raised his hand.

"The key to the spare uniform locker... Director La took it yesterday."

La Thien immediately turned around.

"What nonsense are you talking about?"

Ha Mieu was startled and cowered. I looked at the girl.

"Go on."

Ha Mieu bit her lips tightly.

"Director La said he wanted to check the behavior of the cleaning staff, so he brought two spare uniforms. Only returned one set this morning."

At that moment, Co Nam hurriedly ran back.

"Dear Chairman Tham, the results of the card swipe history search have been obtained."

He handed over the paper he had just printed.

"The backup card was used to open the internal area on the twenty-ninth floor at 1:09 a.m."

"But according to regulations, backup cards must be sealed in the Administrative Center's storage cabinet."

Tham Trieu An looked straight at Trinh Hoai Nhan.

"Who manages that cabinet?"