Chapter 26 — Shrimp Street Without Name

Three days after Mr. Son's last call, Hai Yen decided to visit Mrs. Ut Phuong, partly to update the situation, partly because of an uneasy feeling that kept urging her to not be able to rest assured without seeing with her own eyes that she was still safe. She invited Kien to go with her this time, and they both agreed to go early in the morning, when the roads were still empty, to minimize the possibility of being followed.

When they arrived at the familiar row of motels next to the town bus station, an unusual feeling crept into Hai Yen's heart right from the first steps. Ms. Ut Phuong's room door was ajar, not locked as usual, as she once said she was always careful to lock the door every time she went out, even for just a few minutes.

"Miss Phuong," Hai Yen called, gently pushing the door open, her heart beating faster when there was no answer.

The room was empty, the furniture was still intact, there were no signs of a search or a fight, but the sudden absence in the early morning, when she was usually at home preparing lottery tickets to sell, made both of them worried.

They asked about the innkeeper, a middle-aged woman who was cleaning the common hallway. "Miss Phuong? Early this morning, two strange men came to check on her, dressed smartly and driving a black car. I saw Miss Phuong talking to them for a while in the yard, her face pale, then she quickly went into her room to pack some things, told me she had urgent business and had to leave for a few days, and told me to keep the room for her."

“Did you hear what they said?” Kien asked, his voice tense.

"I'm not sure, I only vaguely heard some paperwork being mentioned, and it seemed like the name of a company was mentioned, it sounded like Dai Duong or something," the innkeeper replied, her eyes showing concern when she recognized the faces of the two guests in front of her. "What's going on, you two? Is Miss Phuong in trouble?"

“We're also trying to find out,” Hai Yen replied, trying to keep her voice calm even though inside she was really panicking. "Do you have Ms. Phuong's phone number? We called but didn't answer."

The landlady found the number and gave it to them, but when Hai Yen called, the phone said the subscriber could not be reached, even though it was the exact number she had saved from the last time they met.

The two of them stood silently in the inn's yard, the originally peaceful morning air now becoming heavy and oppressive. Kien was the first to break the silence.

“We need to calm down,” he said, although his voice couldn't hide the worry. "Maybe she was simply scared and voluntarily stayed away for a while after being approached by two strangers. That doesn't necessarily mean she was in danger."

“But if she just ran away, why did she turn off the phone completely, leaving no way of contact?” Hai Yen asked, her voice trembling. “She knows I need to contact her, she promised to keep in touch.”

Kien had no answer, just placed his hand on her shoulder, a quiet comforting gesture. They asked a few more nearby neighbors, but no one knew anything more than confirming the image of two strange men, politely dressed, driving a black car with an unknown license plate.

“I think we need to tell lawyer Hoang about this right away,” Hai Yen said, pulling out her phone. “If Ms. Ut Phuong is truly in danger because she gave me evidence, I need to know what to do next to protect her, and ourselves.”

Attorney Hoang, after listening on the phone, Advise them to immediately report to local police that a person related to the case under investigation shows signs of unusual disappearance, and at the same time speed up the process of filing an official complaint instead of waiting further.

“The situation has changed,” lawyer Hoang said, her voice serious over the phone. "If someone is truly trying to isolate or intimidate witnesses, we don't have time to wait for perfect records. You two need to file today, with what is available, and ask the investigating agency to take urgent witness protection measures."

Hai Yen hung up the phone, looked at Kien, and both understood that all the careful and slow plans they had previously outlined had to give way to a new urgency, when the life of a woman who had quietly kept the truth for ten years could be directly threatened just because she trusted it to the right person.

That same morning, they drove straight to the nearest district police headquarters, filed a report about Ms. Ut Phuong's unusual disappearance after being found by two strangers, along with the official complaint that lawyer Hoang had helped them complete the night before, attaching all the evidence they had collected over the past month.

The officer receiving the application, a relatively young lieutenant, initially appeared quite indifferent when hearing about the connection to the Ocean Group, but when Hai Yen presented each piece of evidence clearly and coherently, accompanied by documents prepared properly by the lawyer, his attitude gradually became more serious.

“You left complete contact information,” the lieutenant said, taking careful notes. "We will forward this file to superiors for review, and at the same time send someone to verify Ms. Ut Phuong's case. But I must say first, a person voluntarily leaving the residence, less than 24 hours, cannot be considered an official disappearance according to regulations, we need more time to verify."

“I understand the regulations,” Hai Yen replied, trying to keep her voice calm even though impatience was rising in her heart. “But I would like you to note that she was an important witness in the case I just reported, and her disappearance, even though it was only a few hours, was accompanied by obvious unusual signs — two strangers, a hasty trip without saying goodbye, the phone turned off immediately after.”

The lieutenant nodded, promising to report all details to his superiors and to contact him as soon as he had new information. Leaving the police headquarters, Hai Yen and Kien could not hide their disappointment at the somewhat slow response of the administrative system, even though they both understood that it was a necessary process to avoid hasty and unfounded accusations.

“We can't just sit and wait,” Hai Yen said as they reached the parking lot, her voice determined. “I want to go back to that town, ask more questions, see if anyone else saw which direction that black car was going.”

“I agree,” Kien replied. "But let me call a few more acquaintances at the toll booths on the road to see if there are any cameras that can record license plates. That might be the fastest clue."

In the afternoon, when they returned to the town area, news of the incident had spread in the small hamlet surrounding the boarding house. A few other neighbors, after hearing the story, dared to add that they had also seen a similar car parked around the neighborhood. This area several times in the past week, as if he had been silently watching before taking action.

Late that night, when the two were almost exhausted after a long day of running around, Kien received a call from a friend working at the expressway toll station, confirming that a car with an out-of-province license plate, registered under the name of a self-driving car rental company, passed the station at the right time in question, heading towards Ca Mau city.

“That's not decisive evidence,” Kien said, his voice still tense after breaking the news to Hai Yen. “But at least we have a direction to keep following, instead of completely losing track.”

Hai Yen nodded, looking out at the darkness outside the window, her heart heavy with a fear that she had never experienced since she started this journey: the fear that, for the first time, another innocent person may be paying the price directly, right now, just for trusting and helping her.

She reopened her phone, looked at the last conversation with Mrs. Ut Phuong, re-read every short text message the two had exchanged since that emotional meeting. She blamed herself for not arranging a more thorough safety plan for her, and for not foreseeing that the very act of handing over the notebook could make her the next target in the chain of people being drawn into this dangerous spiral one after another.

“This is not your fault,” Kien said, as if reading her tormenting thoughts. "Miss Phuong voluntarily gave me the notebook. She understands the risks better than anyone. What we need to do now is not to torment her, but to find her as quickly as possible."

Hai Yen nodded, trying to put aside the feeling of guilt, focusing all her mind on planning the next steps, even though in her heart she knew that tonight would be a long night full of worries before there was any more news about Ms. Ut Phuong's fate.