Chapter 2 — Guardian of the Frescoes

"Here. Ms. Minh Duong received three tubes, then all of them disappeared. At that time, everyone was busy chasing the smugglers of artifacts, no one investigated carefully."
Teacher Ha opened the notebook and pointed to the page.
“Who wrote this word?”
Kieu Thanh Le says:
“It must be Ms. Minh Duong.”
Teacher Ha slammed the notebook on the table.
"When writing the word Duong, Tham Minh Duong never extended the last stroke. She said doing so was like a knife strike that couldn't be retracted in time. A restorer of a painting must not let his hand fly."
The blood on Kieu Thanh Le's face immediately receded by half. Luc Nghien Chu picked up the notebook.
“Teacher, relying on just one word cannot prove anything.”
“So what about this?”
Teacher Ha pulled out a crumpled materials receipt from the bottom of the box.
"This is the paper that I signed that year. Minh Duong only received one tube of glue, the remaining two tubes were received by Kieu Thanh Le."
Kieu Thanh Le quickly said:
"I just remembered wrongly. It's been five years, who can remember everything clearly?"
Teacher Ha stared at her.
“If you don't remember clearly, why did you put this fake notebook at the top?”
The records room was silent for a moment. A young manager stood at the door holding a box, unable to enter and unable to leave. Luc Nghien Chu finally spoke up.
“Thanh Le, please explain.”
Kieu Thanh Le said with red eyes:
"I didn't know it was a fake book. Nghien Chu, would you rather believe an old piece of paper than believe the days, months, and years I've been with you?"
She mentioned those five years, and indeed Luc Nghien Chu said nothing more. I stood next to him, watching him slowly put down the materials receipt. Teacher Ha burst out laughing.
“Luc Nghien Chu, you are even blinder than five years ago.”
Luc Nghien Chu's face became unsightly.
“Teacher.”
“Don't call me teacher.”
Teacher Ha picked up the materials receipt slip and put it in the evidence bag.
"That year you said Tham Minh Duong betrayed you, I didn't believe it. After each piece of evidence was presented, I had to accept it. I accepted it for five years, losing sleep every night. Now in the wall I dug up a body of a woman who also died five years ago, but you still want to speak for Kieu Thanh Le?"
Kieu Thanh Le burst into tears.
"Teacher Ha, I know you always favor Minh Duong. But that year I also almost died. I still have a wound on my back from being cut by cultural smugglers."
She turned around to take off her coat. Luc Nghien Chu stopped.
"Enough."
Kieu Thanh Le jumped into his arms.
"Nghien Chu, I'm scared. I'm really scared that you guys will pour dirty water on me because of a dead person."
I looked at Luc Nghien Chu's hand on her shoulder. His voice lowered.
“No one blames me.”
Teacher Ha took the evidence bag and walked to the door, turned around and looked at the copy of my remains testing report.
“If that skeleton is really Minh Duong, I want to see how you guys are still alive.”
No one answered. Kieu Thanh Le buried her face in Luc Nghien Chu's lap, the corners of her mouth could not hide the smile. She won so skillfully. Just as skillfully as that night five years ago, when she stuffed my restored knife next to the body of an artifact smuggler. On the day the test results came back, my father personally went to the assessment center. I stood behind him, watching the staff bring the report.
“Captain Tham, confirmed have the status of a dead person.”
Dad opened the first page. His hand stopped at the edge of the paper. Luc Nghien Chu also came. He stood at the door, his voice tense.
“Who is it?”
The staff looked at the two of them.
"The deceased was related by blood to him and his wife."
Dad raised his head. Staff added:
“She is Tham Minh Duong.”
The report slipped from his father's hand and fell to the gray tile floor. Luc Nghien Chu bent down to pick it up. When he turned to the page with the photo, his whole body seemed to have been drained of strength. His elbow collided with the edge of the table, emitting a dull sound.
“How is that possible?”
Dad grabbed the corner of the table, trying to force a few words out of his throat.
“Didn't it run away already?”
The staff frowned:
“Based on the bone condition, before death, the victim was controlled by serious external force. The head and limbs were nailed with iron nails. Before her death, she showed no signs of running away for a long time. There was only very little food left in the stomach, perhaps it had been detained for a period of time."
Luc Nghien Chu stared at the report.
“What about time of death?”
“It coincides very well with the time of the incident at the ancient temple five years ago.”
Dad suddenly roared:
“Retest!”
The employee was frightened by the shout and took half a step back.
“Captain Tham, we've done it twice already.”
"Redo!"
Dad pressed the report on the table.
“How could it die in the wall? It's obvious that he ran after the smugglers of cultural artifacts and even took the mural away!”
The staff didn't dare say anything. Luc Nghien Chu took the report, turned around and walked out. Dad chased after me.
“Nghien Chu, where are you going?”
“Go find Kieu Thanh Le.”
I followed them and rushed out of the assessment center. The car runs very fast. All along the way, Luc Nghien Chu did not say a word. Only the report in his hand was squeezed until it was wrinkled. When she got home, Kieu Thanh Le was reading comics to her two children.