Chapter 4 — Lottery Ticket On The Last Train

An went to the station with Hanh but did not tell her that he had received the message.

The two people stood at platform number three, where the last train usually stops before turning around. Hanh brought a tape recorder. An carried a fake ticket, and the real one was hidden in the lining of his jacket.

At 11:40 p.m., a man walked out of the duty room. It was Khai, the head of the night shift, who signed the camera report which took seventeen minutes. Khai looked around and asked: "Why do you still keep it?"

“Because my father can't speak anymore.”

Khai bowed his head. He admitted that Quan went to the station three times to find the original recording. Before he died, Quan asked Khai to keep a hard drive in the old signal box. But then, Khai was forced to sign the handover document.

“Who forced you?” Hanh asked.

"Hao. He said if I didn't sign, my son would lose his job at the factory."

Khai gave An a key, but the train whistle sounded. A freight train passed by, obscuring the station platform. When the train passed, Khai disappeared.

An ran to the signal room. The old lock opened, inside there was only an empty tin box and the smell of burning wires. On the lid of the box is engraved the letter **Q**.

Hanh took out her phone and took a picture. “The army already knows that the people at the station are not trustworthy.”

A small explosion echoed from the tracks. An saw sparks running along the signal box. He pulled Hanh out before the circuit breaker caught fire.

The next morning, the station chief announced that the fire was caused by an electrical short circuit. But An picked up a piece of burned plastic with a product code printed on it, the exact type of equipment Hao Logistics sold to the railway.

Hanh suggested posting immediately. An shook his head. “If we post without a hard drive, they will say we are making it up.”

He returned to the motel room and turned on Quan's phone. The password is the date of the accident. In the hidden folder there was a twelve-second video: An's father arguing with Hao next to a box of spare parts.

His father said: "If the brakes are replaced with this type, the carriage will not be able to stop at the White Stone Bridge."

The video ends with the sound of a heavy object falling.

As soon as I looked back, my phone automatically deleted the file. The system displays a single message: **This account has been accessed from your device.**

An gave the phone to the technician and asked to extract the access log. The device was controlled from a network address in the Hao Logistics office area. The visitor used Quan's authentication code, meaning he had worked closely with the deceased or had obtained the phone before boarding the train.

Hanh found the name of the person in charge of the warehouse: Dat, an employee who was fired after the White Stone Bridge accident. Dat once filed a complaint against Hao and then withdrew it overnight. When the two arrived at his house, the door was locked, but the dog inside barked continuously.

An called Dat's number. A woman's voice answered, saying he was at the hospital. Hanh checked the patient list and discovered that Dat had never been hospitalized. The woman changed her tone and asked An if she had the ticket with her.

Hanh signaled to record. An lied that the ticket was given to the lottery company. The other person was silent and then turned off the phone.

That night, An received an unsendered parcel. Inside is the key to the station's engineering room and a track map, with three red points marked on it. The end point is located right below the Hao Logistics warehouse.

An wanted to leave immediately, but Hanh forced him to leave. She pointed out his shaking hand. An didn't realize he had been tightening his helmet for too long.

Late at night, the phone made a sound again. Not a call, but a recording of his father's voice said before the accident: “If they change the brakes, they will need someone to sign for them.”

An remembers the name of the current station chief. He used to be the secretary of the investigation team in the past.

He sent a message to the station chief: **I know who signed for my father.**

The response came immediately: **So you know why he died.**

An looked up. Hanh stood outside the window pointing at the opposite roof. A person is using a long lens to observe the motel room.