Chapter 13 — Music Without Chorus

The photo of her hand made An lose sleep, even though the doctor told her to rest. The scar on Nam's wrist may just be an old mark from the accident, but Duc Minh deliberately placed it next to the recorder. The sender wanted her to think Nam had touched the phone on August 16.

An didn't ask Nam right away. She sent photos to Tung, asking him to compare the evidence and work schedule. Tung replied after an hour: the hand is not clear enough, cannot conclude. But on the recorder was a piece of blue tape, the kind Milky Way used to mark inventoried equipment.

Vy recognized the bandage. "Department B at that time used blue tape to mark the assistant's device. Nam used to have a roll."

“Did you see him paste?”

“No. But everyone in the company can use it.”

An opened the report Nam sent Hanh. He recorded that he was in room B from eight to eleven in the morning, left before Duc Minh locked the door, and came back at four to get his things. If so, he could not have operated the machine between eleven and four o'clock, but he may have left a password on the device.

Tung called an old witness named Phat, who used to work as a security guard in the Milky Way. Phat agreed to meet at the wholesale market, where he made morning deliveries. An and Vy went with Tung, Nam stayed with Hanh.

Phat recognized An through photos online, but did not mention the accident. He said that on August 16, Duc Minh took a computer case out of room B at about one o'clock. On the delivery book, the signer is Nam.

“Have you seen Khai Nam?” Tung asked.

"I saw him in the hallway. He was arguing with a woman."

“Le Chi?”

"I don't know. The woman was wearing a hat and holding a stack of papers. Then Mr. Nam ran down the stairs."

An asked: "Where is Duc Minh?"

“In room B. He told me not to record the case in the book because it was an internal device.”

“So why are you still recording?”

Phat shrugged. "I've been a security guard for a long time. If I don't write it down, I'll pay for it if I lose it tomorrow."

He gave Tung a copy of the delivery book. Nam's signature line is different from the signature in the contract, but similar enough to cause suspicion. An looked at the signature and remembered Le Chi's appendix. Maybe it's all scanned from a template.

On the way back, Nam called. An immediately asked about the woman in the hallway.

“It's Le Chi,” he said. "She wanted me to take the record from the room. I said I didn't have the right to open it. She said if I didn't help, she would go in herself. I was afraid of being discovered and left."

“You left her with Duc Minh?”

“I thought Mrs. Diep was waiting outside.”

“I thought.”

“I was wrong.”

An did not say more. Phat gave them proof that Nam was present, but not proof that he took the phone. Tung called Hanh and asked for an order to preserve data from the southern warehouse.

That afternoon, Le Chi sent an email to An. She did not want to meet in person, but attached a document with an electronic signature. In it, she confirmed that the voice in the recording was hers, did not license it to Milky Way, and did not authorize Nam to use it. She also clearly stated: "Khai Nam is responsible for being silent, but he is not the one who erased my name."

An read the last sentence many times. The truth does not give her a single enemy. It forces everyone to stand in their right place.

Hanh used text to send a request to temporarily stop the release of the teaser. Quang Vu responded that the company would respect the court's decision, but said that Le Chi had signed an addendum transferring rights. Scanned signature is attached.

An sent the scanned copy to Le Spend. She replied almost immediately: "That's not my signature. I signed with a blue ink pen, the last stroke extending to the left."

Tung zoomed in. The signature on the appendix is black, cut close to the edge. In the corner of the file there is a time stamp edited with old software. Hanh said it was not conclusive enough but enough to request an appraisal.

Nam arrived at Mach Nuoc while it was still light. An gave him Le Chi's document.

“She said you didn't erase your name,” An said.

Nam read, his eyes turned red. “I don't deserve this sentence.”

“It's not like she's forgiving.”

"I know."

“She just differentiates between what you do and what other people do.”

Nam sat down. "I thought that if I told the truth, people would never listen to my music again. I didn't understand that the fact that they listened without knowing the truth was what I couldn't stand."

An put down the paper. “Do you have a copy of the melody?”

“I'm looking.”

“Where to find it?”

"My mother's old house was sold. The buyer moved the items to the neighborhood's common warehouse. I will ask."

“Go with Tung.”

“You don't want to go?”

“I need to process the data.”

Nam nodded. Before leaving, he placed a small envelope on the table. "This is the full report. I haven't sent it to Hanh because there is a detail I'm afraid you might know."

An open. Nam wrote that after leaving room B, he heard a loud crash. He returned to the hallway but Duc Minh had locked the door. Nam did not call security or notify Quang. He left the company because he thought that if he spoke out, his mother would lose money for medical treatment. An hour later, he received news that Lam had an accident.

An read it all without looking up.

“What did you hear?”

“A machine falls. Or a person falls.”

“You don't know?”

“I didn't open the door.”

The last sentence made the studio cold. An remembers Le Chi saying she couldn't write the missing part herself. She couldn't turn the sound of impact into evidence of murder. But Nam had to clearly say he heard, was scared and left.

“Send it to Hanh,” An said.

“Do you still want to continue?”

"I want the full data. The album is next."

Nam sent a report right at the table. Hanh called to confirm receipt. A few minutes later, an email from Duc Minh arrived: "If you want to open the warehouse, come to my office. I will show you the original tape. In return, Khai Nam must sign a paper to withdraw from the project."

Nam looked at An. “I can sign.”

"Are not."

“If you can exchange the original—”

“We don't trade a person for a piece of evidence.”

“So what to do?”

An called Hanh. "Ask to see a lawyer, document everything. If he doesn't agree, we won't go."

Duc Minh replied after ten minutes: "I will meet. But only one person can enter the room."

An looked at the clock. “Then let him speak to the recorder himself.”

After submitting the report, Nam did not leave the studio immediately. He sat in front of the window, looking at the people buying and selling on the street. An works at the machine next door, not talking. The silence between them was no longer as tense as before; it has a purpose, like a transition in music.

Le Chi sent the confirmation through her lawyer, but wanted to correct one sentence. She did not want to write "Khai Nam is not the one who erased my name" as a defense. She changed it to: "I distinguish each person's behavior, and distinguishing does not mean forgiving."

An read it to Nam. He nodded, asking to keep it as it was.

“Don't you feel uncomfortable?”

“No. She has the right.”

“Did you think you were forgiven before?”

“I think if the album is successful, people will forget.”

“It's a kind of want Others shut up for me.”

Nam did not object.

Tung found Thuan, Duc Minh's brother, who was working as a bus station manager in the West. Thuan agreed to meet on the condition that no video be recorded. Hanh explained that he could write the minutes in writing, and he accepted.

Thuan said Duc Minh used to keep a box of tapes in his house, not to listen to but as a bargaining chip. After Le Chi left the company, Duc Minh brought the box to meet Nam, saying that if he signed the addendum, the original would be "resolved". Nam didn't sign at that time, but after his mother was hospitalized, he came to her.

“My brother gave me the money,” Thuan said. “I don't know what the key or promise will be in return. But then he kept a recorder in my warehouse.”

“Is the recorder still available?” An asked.

“No. I gave it to a person named Bay to take him away."

The piece of information matches Bay's words, but it doesn't say where the device went. Thuan gave them a photo of the tape box. The label "Le Chi 12" resembles the photo Duc Minh sent An.

Nam asked: "Does your brother know that Lam will announce it?"

Thuan looked at him. “I know. He said if Lam announced it, many people would lose their jobs. I say losing your job is not like losing your life. He didn't answer.”

On the way home, Nam did not speak. An didn't ask. They went to Mach Nuoc, where Linh was practicing with a student music group. She asked Nam if he wanted to listen to the new song. He sat in the back and didn't edit the mix.

Linh sings about a locked door, but the last line changes to "I don't need someone else's key". An saw Nam nod slightly.

After the rehearsal, Linh asked An if she could make an introduction about recording rights. “I want the audience to know that the singer is not always the owner.”

“Write short, have legal sources. Don't turn it into a lecture.”

“Can you help me read?”

"Okay."

Nam said: "I will read it too."

Linh looked at him. “Just read your part.”

Nam nodded. “Yes.”

Hanh sent news that Duc Minh had submitted a response, denying the name deletion. He said the entire recording was created within the contract period, so the company had the right to edit it. Hanh requested signature verification and source data.

An reviewed the list of evidence. Tape number 07, optical disc, USB, Phuc's hard drive, blue book, black cover book, Nam report, Le Chi statement, Linh video. Each thing has limits. She clearly wrote the boundaries right next to it, so no one would mistake the puzzle piece for the complete picture.

Nam stands next to the board. “Aren't you afraid that people will find holes in your file?”

“The gap is real. Covering it is dangerous.”

“If a part is missing, they will say everything is wrong.”

“If there is a part that is wrong, we must correct that part, not delete the whole thing.”

Nam looked at the names on the board. “I used to think there had to be a seamless story for others to believe. Now I see that the truth often has many torn parts.”

“And the profession must unfortunately sew them together with lies.”

An used a pen to connect the locations on the board: theater, southern warehouse, ferry terminal, hospital, Nam's house. A path formed, but there was no one standing at the end.

That night, Lam Linh called. She said she found a tape in her mother's old junk box. The label is torn, but on the box there is a blue paint stain like tape number 07.

“Where do you want to open it?” An asked.

“At my house, with my family.”

“We will come with a lawyer.”

“Is Nam going?”

An looked at him. Nam didn't ask, just waited.

“Yes,” An replied. “But he won't touch the ice without permission.”

Lam Linh said: "I want to hear him say why he left."

Nam heard that sentence, then wrote in his notebook: “Don't dodge.”