Chapter 5 — Lottery Ticket On The Last Train

An no longer trusts the phone.

He removed the battery, captured every screw, and took the device to an independent technician. Hanh found a backup from the network: the video had been uploaded to a cloud account before being deleted.

To open an account, An must verify the ticket with the lottery company. Hao knows that. At noon, lawyer Vinh appeared at the station, carrying an order requesting an inventory of Quan's assets.

“Does Mr. Quan have a wife and children?” An asked.

“No one has the right to receive the reward other than the legal heir.”

“So why do you keep looking for me?”

Vinh looked straight into his eyes. “Because you're keeping something that doesn't belong to you.”

An gave the fake ticket. Vinh checked under the ultraviolet light and smiled: "This paper is not the issued type."

He knew that An used a fake ticket. Before leaving, Vinh whispered: "Your sister gets off work at six o'clock. There are three stretches on the way home from the hospital without cameras."

An called Ly. She didn't pick up the phone.

He rushed to the hospital. Ly's dressing room was empty, her employee card was broken in half. On the cabinet there is a bus ticket, on the back is the file number 17B.

Hanh stops An from running away alone. She called a lawyer and called the police, but An knew every minute counted. He opened a cloud account using the serial number on the real ticket. A new folder appears, containing a scanned copy of the brake purchase contract.

Hao Logistics replaced the equipment before the accident. The consignee is the current station master.

At the end of the folder there is a recording from An's father: "If you hear it, don't take revenge by being like them. Make the whole city see the bill."

Standing in the middle of the empty hospital room, An understood for the first time why his father kept the serial number. The ticket is not the key to receive money. It is an open code proof system.

An's phone vibrates. A video message arrives. Ly sat in a windowless room, her hands tied in front of a metal table.

The cameraman placed the fake ticket on the table.

"Exchange your sister for a real one," Vinh's voice rang out. “In one hour, Van Phuc station.”

An sat down on the floor, forcing himself to breathe slowly. Hanh called the investigator, and he asked Ly about the color of the wall behind. Ly describes a stripe of yellow paint and the sound of a generator running steadily. An recognized it as the old ticket check room at Van Phuc station, where electricity was taken from the freight train system.

They cannot wait for orders to intervene. Hanh divided into groups: one person watched the main entrance, one person checked the tunnel, and An went in through the staff door. He took off his name tag, put on a technician's shirt from the warehouse, and carried an empty tool bag.

In the tunnel, An saw a trail of mud and the smell of disinfectant. Ly's shoe prints were smaller than the guard's shoe prints. He followed to the room with yellow paint stripes. The door is not locked.

Ly sat on the chair, the rope had been loosened. She said nothing, just looked at the ceiling. An looked up and saw the camera hidden in the light bulb.

“You came alone?” a voice rang out from the speakers.

“I came with the ticket.”

“Put it under the table foot.”

An followed. While bending down, he turned on the flashlight switch according to the rhythm agreed with Hanh. Three times on, one time off.

In the hallway, the sound of shoes was heard. The watchman entered, but the back door opened just in time. Hanh rushed in and pulled Ly away. An stepped on the table leg, causing the fake ticket to slide under the generator.

Vinh appeared at the opposite door, gun pointed at the ground. “Do you think the police will be able to save your sister forever?”

An did not reply. He pointed to the real ticket lying there in his pocket and said: "You don't know you arrested the wrong person."

Vinh paused. “What do you mean?”

"Ly has changed clothes before. The person you were holding just now is an investigator."

Vinh turned around. A whistle sounded in the tunnel. He ran away, leaving behind the phone broadcasting Hao's address.