Chapter 6 — Lottery Ticket On The Last Train

An did not bring the ticket to Van Phuc station.

He brought a copy printed on anti-counterfeit paper, and the real one was in the fuel tank of the motorbike Hanh borrowed. Hanh sent the call location to the police, but they needed time to get an intervention order.

Van Phuc Station has been abandoned since the new line opened. The waiting room still has a row of wooden chairs and the train timetable is eaten by termites. An walked in when it started to rain and saw Vinh standing in the middle of the room with two people wearing work clothes.

Ly sat behind the glass, her hands tied but awake. She shook her head as An held up the copy.

Vinh held the paper up under the flashlight. “Do you think I don't know that real paper has security fibers?”

“I know you know.”

An pressed the button in his pocket. Hanh is transmitting audio to a line of reporters and police. He said loudly: "Hao used the group ticket money to buy fake spare parts. Quan intended to hand over the hard drive to me. You guys kidnapped Ly to erase witnesses."

Vinh punched An in the face. “No one trusts a mechanic.”

“But they will believe the bill.”

An threw the copy on the table. On it is a QR code leading to the entire contract that has been sent to four editorial offices. Vinh paused.

One person in the group took off his visor. That's Khai, the head of the night shift. He looked at Ly and said: "I just want to get the record back. Hao keeps my son."

Khai pointed to the side door. An ran to untie Ly's rope. Outside in the yard, the sound of a car braking suddenly. The police rushed in, but Vinh was able to burn a USB in his pocket.

Hanh appeared behind the fence, her face covered in mud. She said the recording was live; The whole city is listening.

Vinh was arrested, and Hao disappeared.

In Khai and An's hands, he received an old memory card. Khai confessed that he hid it in the signal box but it was taken; he only had time to copy part of it.

An opens the file. The last image is of his father standing under the White Stone Bridge, telling Quan: "If they keep me quiet, use the ticket to pull them into the light."

Behind his father, Hao is holding a hammer.

Khai asked to speak to An privately. He said after the accident, Hao gave each member of the investigation an envelope. An's father refused, but Khai accepted because his son was having surgery. From then on, he carried a debt he could not repay.

“I deleted the camera the night Quan got on the train,” Khai said. "But I don't know who the dead person is. I was just following orders."

An asked what the Q key opens. Khai replied that it was the technical compartment under the station, where Quan hid the black box before being followed. They arrived at the cabin at dawn. On the wall there is a row of symbols, each symbol matches a ticket that was used to pay.

In the middle is number 17B.

An uses the key. The door opened, revealing a wooden box covered in fabric. Inside there was no hard drive but dozens of tapes, each with a date and station name. Quan interviewed workers about brake failures, "support" payments and recipients.

A roll recording Father An's voice. He clearly stated that he had reported to Hao about the fake spare parts, but the station chief asked him to keep quiet to keep the contract. Hao responded by saying: "If everyone could listen, this line wouldn't be able to run."

An turned off the tape. Khai said the investigator wanted him to hand over everything for sealing. An agreed, but asked to make three copies and send them to three different addresses.

“Are you afraid of being robbed?”

“I'm afraid there's once again only one record left.”

Outside the compartment, the freight train whistle sounded. The red bag woman walked past the door without turning around. An recognized her from the audio in Quan's phone.

Older brother ran after her, but the woman had already boarded a moving freight car. On the station platform, only the ticket was torn in half.