Chapter 56 — Shrimp Street Without Name

Three weeks after four cases of victims were identified as possibly still alive abroad, news of the coordinated international rescue campaign began to make concrete progress. The lieutenant, who now regularly updates Hai Yen on the situation as an informal recognition of her role in the entire incident, announced that the authorities had located three of the four people, who were being held at a fishing facility in a neighboring country, working in near-slave conditions.

“We are coordinating with international police to organize a rescue,” he said, his tone both hopeful and cautious. “This is a complex operation, requiring coordination between many countries and organizations, and it may take several more weeks to have concrete results.”

In the meantime, Hai Yen focuses his attention again on finding the identity of the mysterious "middleman" with the scar in the corner of his eye, who has appeared in many suspicious land deals in different provinces. She and lawyers Hoang and Minh Khang organized a cross-review of all the identification descriptions collected from different witnesses, trying to build a more detailed picture of this character.

"If you put it all together," Minh Khang said, spreading out an identification sketch that a forensic artist assisted in creating based on the accounts, "we have a man about fifty years old, with a distinctive scar, a voice with a Central accent but has lived for many years in the South. This is a quite typical pattern, which can be looked up through the personnel records of companies related to the Coastal Mien Hai Group."

Lawyer Hoang proposed passing this sketch to the lieutenant to compare with the authorities' database, a process that may take time but is worth a try. While waiting for the results, Hai Yen received an unexpected call that turned the whole situation in a new direction. That is Mr. Son, who is still in witness protection, contacted via the special phone number given to him by the investigation agency to keep in touch in case of need.

“Miss Yen, I just remembered something,” he said, his voice still somewhat tense even though it was much more stable than the last time they met. "I took a look at the identification sketch you sent to the investigation team. That person, I think I know who he is."

Hai Yen's heart beats faster. “Who are you, Uncle Son?”

"When I first started working at Dai Duong, there was a person who often came to see Mr. Bao privately. He was not an official employee of the company, but had great power, everyone in the company had to be cautious," Mr. Son said, his voice slow as if trying to remember every detail. “That person's name is Hai, no, it seems to be Hoai, I don't remember exactly, I just remember he has a scar in the corner of his eye, and people often call him 'special advisor'.”

“Do you know where he is now?” Hai Yen asked, trying to keep her voice calm even though excitement was rising inside her.

“I don't know, I haven't heard of him for many years,” Mr. Son replied. “But I remember, back then, every time the company had a big problem, like it was about to decide something important related to land or licenses, he always appeared, held a secret meeting with Mr. Bao, and then disappeared immediately. there."

Hai Yen recorded every detail, her heart pounding at this important clue. “Thank you very much. This information could be the important piece of the puzzle we are looking for.”

“I just hope I can do something to help, even if it's late,” Mr. Son said, his voice low. “My daughter is now more settled in her new home. I thought, this is how I can do something to atone for some of my mistakes.”

The call ended, leaving Hai Yen with a feeling of extreme excitement. She immediately called the lieutenant, conveying information about the name "Hai" or "Hoai", the nickname "special advisor", and the direct connection to Mr. Bao. This was the first time they had a name, however incomplete, to attach to the mysterious face that had haunted their investigation for weeks.

“Hai or Hoai,” the lieutenant repeated, his voice thoughtful. “These are quite popular names, it will be difficult to narrow down the search scope based only on the name. But combined with the identification characteristics and the nickname 'special advisor', we can try to look up in the records people who have had a formal or informal working relationship with Mr. Bao."

Kien, when informed of this new development, proposed a different approach. “If this person often appears every time the company needs to make big decisions about land, he may have left traces in the records of board meetings or legal authorization documents. I will try to find out through public sources if there are any documents that mention an advisor with a similar name.”

While the group continued to dig deeper into new clues, Hai Yen couldn't help but think about this mysterious man's true role in the entire crime network. If he is the direct bridge between Mr. Bao and the forces behind the Coastal Region Group, determining his full identity could be the final key to tracking down the roots of the entire organization, including Mr. Tran Quoc Vinh, whom up to this point, they have never had the opportunity to face directly.

In the evening, while sitting down to summarize the day's developments with Kien, Hai Yen shared a thought that had haunted her for many hours. “I kept thinking, if we find this person, maybe he will be someone like Mr. Son or Ms. Tuyet — someone caught up in the crime machine not entirely by his own choice, but by circumstances.”

“Maybe,” Kien replied, his voice thoughtful. “But it's also possible that he is a completely different link, a cold, professional man with nothing to justify what he did. We will only know when we find him, and hear his story himself.”

Hai Yen nodded, feeling a mixture of curiosity and worry about what was waiting ahead, as the door leading to the final part of the panorama seemed to be gradually opening, slowly but surely, after weeks and months of persistent searching.

The next morning, Kien brought a small but promising discovery: in the minutes of a shareholder meeting of a subsidiary of the Ocean system six years ago, partially disclosed in accordance with the law, there was a mention of the name "Nguyen Dang Hoai" as a "non-permanent strategic advisor", signing a resolution. It is important to expand farming areas.

“This could be the person we're looking for,” Kien said, his voice excited. “The signature in this record, if compared with other documents, can help us confirm with certainty.”

Hai Yen immediately passed this information to the lieutenant, who confirmed that he would immediately conduct a search on Nguyen Dang Hoai's identity, see if it matches any demographic records, and find out whether he is currently residing in the locality or has moved to another place in recent years.

Just in the afternoon of the same day, a preliminary information was confirmed: a person named Nguyen Dang Hoai, born in the year seventy-two, originally from a central province, worked for a time in the real estate industry in Ho Chi Minh City before almost disappearing from all official records in the past five years, a sign often seen in people who deliberately keep a discreet lifestyle, avoiding leaving public traces.

“We are getting very close,” Hai Yen told Kien, her voice both nervous and cautious. “But I think we need to be mentally prepared, because a person who has intentionally disappeared from official records like that is definitely not easy to find, and even less easy to be forced to face the truth.”

Kien nodded in agreement, his eyes filled with determination. "But we've gone much further than we ever imagined, from an old farming area code to a specific name. I believe, if we just persevere a little longer, we will find him, no matter how well he tries to hide himself."

That night, Hai Yen wrote a new line in her notebook, right under the newly confirmed name Nguyen Dang Hoai: "Each name found is a step closer to the final truth." She closed the book, carrying with her a firm belief that, although the road ahead was still full of thorns, they were moving in the right direction, step by step, closer to the day when this entire criminal network was completely exposed under the light of justice.