Chapter 13 — Fire Behind the Line

Analysis results from the central chemical laboratory were sent back on a Monday morning, just as Thien Ly was finishing her night shift. Trong Khiem called as soon as he received the report, his voice had rarely sounded so urgent.

"Can you come to my office now? I think we just found the most important link ever."

When Thien Ly was present, Trong Khiem had already spread out the analysis report on the table, next to it was a map marking the locations of fires, both old and new. "The solvent sample taken from the scene of the boarding house, and the ash sample I just got back from the archives of the Vinh Thinh warehouse fire eight years ago - both contain the same rare compound, a specialized industrial solvent with a very long scientific name, but the key point is that it is only produced by a few factories across the country, and is especially heat-stable, burning slowly but maintaining high intensity for a long time."

"You mean the catalyst used to burn Vinh Thinh warehouse eight years ago and the catalyst used in recent fires are completely the same?" Thien Ly asked, her voice shaking with surprise.

"Identical in terms of chemical composition, down to the mixing ratio." Trong Khiem nodded and pointed to the spectrum analysis chart attached to the report. "The probability of this being a coincidence is almost zero. This means that either the same person did both, or there was a single source of catalyst used throughout the past eight years."

Thien Ly felt a cold current run down her spine. "So can we trace that supply?"

"I have contacted both factories that produce this solvent." Trong Khiem said, turning to the next page in the file. "One of the two factories confirmed that it sold a large shipment to an individual named Pham Van Khoa, nearly nine years ago, and continued to have small, scattered orders until recently."

"Who is Pham Van Khoa?" Thien Ly asked.

"I looked it up. He used to work in construction, specialized in demolition and material handling, and had a degree in industrial chemicals." Trong Khiem opened a portrait photo extracted from the citizen identification file and placed it on the table. "Forty years old, with no official criminal record, but according to some unofficial sources I've gathered, he has a nickname in the circle of 'The Fire Department', and is rumored to specialize in 'special' demolition jobs — buildings that need to disappear quickly without leaving too many traceable traces."

Thien Ly looked at the photo, trying to remember every facial feature of the man who may have been the one who directly lit the fire that took her father's life. "Where is he now?"

"That's the problem." Trong Khiem sighed. "His household registration address was no longer valid many years ago. There is no information about his current residence, no bank account in the owner's name that I can trace. He has almost disappeared from all official management systems, which is very unusual for an ordinary citizen."

"So that means he is deliberately remaining anonymous, someone is helping him hide his identity." Thien Ly said, piecing together the pieces of information.

"Very likely." Trong Khiem nodded. "And that further strengthens the theory that he was not acting alone, but was an instrument of a larger network, with enough resources to protect him from detection."

He stood up and went to the map hanging on the wall, where he had marked all the fires with red pins. "Look here, Thien Ly. If Pham Van Khoa is really the direct cause of all six fires — the recent five and the Vinh Thinh warehouse eight years ago — then he must have had a financial connection with the person who hired him. Money cannot just disappear without leaving any trace."

"So we need to find cash flow." Thien Ly said, her eyes lit up with a new direction.

"Exactly. I am asking for orders from superiors to coordinate with the economic police, requesting a review of unusual financial transactions related to Prosperity Land Group, especially expenses without clear invoices and documents, disguised as construction or consulting costs." Trong Khiem said, his face full of concentration of someone who is getting closer to the finish line.

Thien Ly sat down, looking at the map with red pins marking each fire scene, feeling more clearly than ever the true scale of what they were facing. This was not a spontaneous crime, but an organized campaign, lasting eight years, with the participation of many different links - a professional arsonist, a powerful person in the fire department, and a real estate tycoon behind it all.

"Mr. Khiem," she said softly, "if we find Pham Van Khoa, will he confess who hired him?"

"It depends on whether we have enough legal leverage." Trong Khiem replied in a matter-of-fact tone. "If we only arrest him on a simple arson charge, he can choose to stay silent and accept a prison sentence, hoping that his employer will take care of his family in the future. But if we have enough evidence to prove that he was involved in a fatal case, with a much more serious sentence, he may consider cooperating to receive leniency."

"So we need to prove that he was the one who caused my father's death." Thien Ly said, her voice sharp with determination.

"That's right." Trong Khiem looked at her, his eyes were both serious and filled with deep sympathy. "And I believe that, with what we have collected — Mr. Tam Rang's testimony, Mr. Thien's confirmation of the doctored report, and now the scientific evidence of the same catalyst — we are very close to proving it."

That afternoon, when Thien Ly left Trong Khiem's office, she felt a surge of complex emotions - both a strong hope that justice was finally about to be served, and a constant worry about the dangers that lay ahead. Whoever was behind all of this had proven his ruthlessness and calculation with each fire, and she wasn't sure that they would sit idly by knowing the investigation was getting closer and closer to the truth.

On the way home, she stopped by her mother's fabric stall and saw her packing up her goods and preparing to close. "Mom, can I sell it today?"

"It's normal, baby." Ms. Van Khanh replied, her hands still quickly folding the remaining cloth. "Why does your face look so tense?"

"It's nothing mom, I'm just a little tired after the shift." Thien Ly said, trying to smile reassuringly, even though she couldn't dispel the growing feeling of insecurity.

She helped her mother clean up the stalls, and helped her push the cart carrying goods home through the small streets of Dong Kieu, where the street lights began to come on as dusk fell. Looking at the old houses close together and the familiar shops that have been associated with her entire childhood, Thien Ly suddenly realized that she was protecting not only the truth for her own family, but also an entire community, a part of the memory and identity of the city she loves.

Passing by Mr. Nghiep's half-burnt carpentry workshop, now just an empty space covered with temporary corrugated iron, Thien Ly stopped for a moment. Mr. Nghiep was standing inside, diligently picking up the few remaining pieces of unburned wood, perhaps with the faint hope that one day he could rebuild the factory, although everyone knew that was almost impossible with the small amount of insurance money he received.

"Is that Ms. Ly?" He looked up, his face much more haggard than when she saw him after the fire. "Have you and the investigator found any clues?"

"We are trying our best, Mr. Nghiep." Thien Ly replied, her heart aching at the image of an elderly man trying to cling to what was left of a lifetime of building. "I promise I won't let this fade into oblivion."

Mr. Nghiep nodded, did not say anything more, just returned to his work of picking up things. Thien Ly looked at his hunched back for a moment, then continued to push the cart with her mother home, even more determined that her and Trong Khiem's efforts must bring worthy results, not only for her father, but for all the simple people who have lost a part of their lives because of the greed of others.

That night, before going to bed, she received one last text message from Trong Khiem: "I just received information that there is an abandoned demolition factory on the outskirts of the city, once under Pham Van Khoa's name a few years ago. Tomorrow I will go check it out. Do you want to come with me?"

Thien Ly did not hesitate and immediately typed the answer: "Yes. I will go with you."

She put down the phone, looked up at the ceiling in the dark, felt her heart beat strongly both from anxiety and from a growing belief that they were on the right track. Tomorrow, perhaps, will be another important turning point on the long journey of finding the truth that she has pursued for the past eight years.