Chapter 4 — Mystery At 3 A.M

Officer Ha sat in the passenger seat, constantly on the phone.

“The hotel camera was broken from three forty-two to four seventeen.”

“The camera of the store opposite also lost pictures.”

“A cleaning staff said this morning he saw a man wearing a mask, but the brim was pulled very low.”

“What about the room card swipe history?”

“There was a master card swiped on the twelfth floor.”

“Whose card is it?”

Officer Ha turned his head to look at Captain Dien.

“The night manager said the card was always kept in the drawer.”

“It's gone now.”

Khuong Hoa hugged the bag of documents tightly. She felt like she and An An were sitting on a leaky boat. Just as one hole was filled, another hole cracked. Team leader Dien turned his head to look at An An.

“Baby, I still have to ask you something.”

Khuong Hoa immediately said.

“She was greatly stimulated.”

Team leader Dien deliberately spoke slowly.

"I know."

“But now the other person not only knows where the two of you live, but also knows the hotel room.”

“There may not be just one person behind him.”

“Every detail she remembers could save her life.”

Khuong Hoa looked at An An. An An bowed her head and nodded slightly. Captain Dien asked.

“Last time, what was the last thing you saw?”

The car became quiet. An An's hand grabbed the edge of her jacket.

“The bathroom door was kicked open.”

“The person who coughed violently was the first to rush in.”

“He had a very strong smell of smoke on his body, and also had a sickly sweet scent.”

“Like orange candy gone bad.”

Team leader Dien recorded it in the notebook.

“Does he have any obvious characteristics?”

An An closed her eyes.

“The little finger on the right hand was amputated.”

Officer Ha immediately turned around. Captain Dien's pen also stopped. An An continued.

“He grabbed my hair and pulled me out.”

“The living room is full of smoke.”

“Mom was lying in front of the office door, there was blood on her face.”

Khuong Hoa's eyes immediately turned red. She really wanted to cover An An's ears and not let her continue speaking. But she also knew, the more An An talked, the greater their chance of survival. An An's voice became smaller and smaller.

“They couldn't find the key to the iron box.”

“The person wearing the gray hat is very impatient.”

“He said there was no time left, the fire truck was coming.”

“If the person in the black coat says so, burn it all.”

Khuong Hoa's nails dug deep into her palms.

“What happens after that?”

An An's eyelashes trembled.

“I heard the phone alarm.”

“It was three seven in the morning.”

“That's the time I set the bell every day to remind me to learn new words.”

“I thought I was going to die.”

“But the next second, I woke up in bed.”

“The alarm hasn't gone off yet.”

“The room was very dark.”

“My hand is right next to you.”

"I didn't have time to think, I could only wake mom first."

No one in the car spoke. This story is so wild. But everything that happened last night was so real. Captain Dien was silent for a long time, then asked a practical question.

“How did you know there was a key at the security desk on the first floor?”

An An opened her eyes.

“Last time, I heard them talking after entering the house.”

“They said the door to the first floor was locked and the spare key was taken.”

“After that, the person wearing the gray hat cursed once, saying someone left the key at the security desk.”

“So this time I bet.”

Officer Ha spoke softly.

“So she didn't guess randomly.”

Captain Dien did not respond. The car drove into the backyard of the department. Khuong Hoa and An An were taken into a testimony room without windows. A policewoman brought hot water and bread. An An held the paper cup but didn't take a sip. Team leader Dien went out to receive a few phone calls. When he returned, his face was even heavier than before.

“The ignition point in the electrical room has been identified.”

“Someone touched the main line before.”

“The tape on the fire door is not arbitrarily wrapped, but is applied from the outside to block the escape route.”

“Before the power went out, the camera in the hallway on the seventeenth floor recorded a person wearing a black coat knocking on your door.”

Khuong Hoa asked.

“Have you found that person yet?”

Captain Dien shook his head.

“But we investigated that the former boss of the training center three years ago, Luong Thua Vien, appeared near their residential area after eleven o'clock last night.”

Khuong Hoa's heart tightened.

“Didn't he move away a long time ago?”

“That's how it looks.”

Team leader Dien placed a camera photo on the table. In the photo, a middle-aged man stands in front of a convenience store outside a residential area. His face is much thinner than it was three years ago. But Khuong Hoa still recognized it. Luong Thua Vien. The person that year once told her: "Don't push things to the end." At this moment, Officer Ha pushed the door open and walked in. His voice was very low.

“Captain Dien, the scene on the seventeenth floor has been searched.”

“The bottom part of Ms. Khuong's wardrobe was pried open.”

“The iron box is gone.”