Chapter 2 — Lottery Ticket Without Name

Quan and Nhi left the motel room through the back entrance, passing through the public bathrooms. The people outside the door did not chase; he just left an envelope under the wheel.

In the envelope was a copy of Lam's death notice, stating that he died in an accident two days before the drawing date.

Nhi looked at the date. "Lam still texted you after he died?"

"Messages can be timed."

"So who has access to the phone?"

Quan remembers Lam often leaving his phone in the common locker. The locker is kept by the foreman as a spare key.

They went to the union legal department. Nhi checked the insurance records and discovered that the person who signed the death certificate was a labor broker who had never worked with Lam.

Quan said Lam had planned to quit his job and accused the factory of withholding his salary. Nhi said the worker support fund also lacks two billion.

"If Lam faked his death, who would use his name to withdraw money?"

Nhi opened the transaction log. The money was transferred through three accounts, one account was in the name of the person who declared his death many years ago.

Quan realized that the last account number matched the spare parts warehouse code where he worked part-time. The person in charge of the warehouse is Tai, the foreman's cousin.

Tai appeared at the door and said Quan should give the ticket to the insurance company. Nhi asked him what right he relied on.

Tai laughed: "I just want to protect workers."

Quan looked at the hook ring on Tai's hand. It's the same as in Ms. Sau's video.

Tai did not deny it, just said the ring was sold at the market.

At night, Quan and Nhi checked the cafeteria camera from the copy on their phone. The person wearing the safety jacket wears shoes with oil stains typical of the spare parts warehouse. Tai used to work there.

Nhi wants to report to the police. Quan was worried that the ticket would be confiscated before they found Lam.

"You're thinking the ticket is more important than the missing person?" Nhi asked.

The army was silent. He needs money, but doesn't want to become what others have written about.

Mrs. Sau called. Someone asked her about the ticket donation list, then broke the canteen camera.

Quan and Nhi arrived. On the tile floor there is a broken piece of plastic from an employee card, the code begins with the word KHO.

Ms. Sau said Lam once hid a USB in the lunch box. Quan opened the empty boxes and found a double bottom layer.

The USB contains timesheets and a locked audio file. The password is a series of ticket numbers, but the last number is missing.

Quan tried the number on the ticket. Open file.

Lam's voice rang out: "If anyone hears it, don't believe the death notice. This ticket is evidence, not a reward."

The recording ends with the sound of a metal stamping machine and a sentence: "Funds were withdrawn from the timekeeping machine room."

Quan looked at Nhi. The factory has just announced a power outage throughout the area, the engine room is being sealed.

They don't go straight to the factory. Nhi took Quan around the fish market, changing cars twice to avoid the camera. In his pocket, the ticket was sandwiched between two pieces of cardboard. Quan felt that every pothole could turn a series of numbers into a meaningless piece of paper.

At the legal office, Nhi enlarged the death notice. The hospital's seal was a millimeter off from the real one, and the file number matched an anonymous patient admitted to the hospital on the same day. Lam has never been identified by fingerprints.

“If he faked his death,” Quan said, “who would have informed the family?”

Nhi pointed to the contact phone number. That was the number of a brokerage company where the foreman used to hire seasonal workers. The company dissolved three months ago but still sends insurance invoices to the factory.

Mrs. Sau brought a stack of food coupons. On the slip, Lam often writes down the following: joke to remember who contributed the money: Phuc "one hundred, don't take away the fish", Hanh "one hundred, pay after the pay period", Tai has no coupon.

“Funds not contributed?” Quan asked.

"He said the manager didn't need to contribute. But that night he sat at the same table with Lam for a long time."

Nhi realized that at the bottom of the stack of ballots, there was a torn sheet, with only two letters "K-17" remaining. Mrs. Sau said Lam stuffed it into the lunch box and told her not to give it to anyone other than Quan.

While they spoke, the office printer automatically started. A new list slid out, listing the seven ticket contributors and the column "recipient: Quan". Quan's signature at the bottom was scanned, but the pen stroke accurately imitated his habit of lengthening the letter "Q".

Quan wanted to tear up the paper. Nhi kept it.

"Don't destroy the evidence. Just let them think this fake version can be used."

In the evening, they went to the old factory by the abandoned railway track. The gate is locked, but the security light is still on. Nhi looks at the camera; The red light on it flashes in a strange rhythm, as if it's reversing.

Quan used an electric can opener. The camera cable is connected to a wifi router not listed. The device's name is "TIME TICKETING MACHINE K-17". He plugged the USB into the maintenance port and copied a temporary folder.

Inside there are three videos. The first scene shows Lam standing in front of the computer room, the second scene shows Tai giving him an envelope, the third scene is cut off right when Lam turns his head to look towards the cameraman.

In the last frame, Quan sees a hook ring. The wearer is not Tai. Tai stood far away, and the person wearing the ring was a person wearing an insurance company jacket.

A whistle sounded. Quan and Nhi turned off the lights and slid down the drain. Two security guards ran over and said there was an intruder. They heard someone calling: "They opened K-17. Report Khanh immediately."

Khanh's name made Nhi stop. Khanh is the investment fund's chief accountant, who approves all insurance expenses. He was also the one who sent Nhi an invitation to attend next week's meeting.

Quan opens audio files from USB. Lam's voice rang out again, but this time there was another voice in the background: "If the ticket has no name, the person holding it is the one to blame."

Nhi turns off the file. “They are pre-writing a story in which you are the culprit.”

Quan looked at the engine room door in the distance. “Then we have to find Lam before their story becomes the original.”

At that moment, Quan's phone showed a new message from Lam's number: "Old hospital. Storage room. Don't go with Nhi."