Chapter 15 — The Code in the Tangerine Garden

Heavy rain fell immediately after the police left the garden.

Water poured through the old ditch, pulling leaves and small branches into strips. Mrs. Man closed the door of the hut, telling everyone not to go out, but the knocking in the background continued. Three hours, one break, then two hours.

Thu used the broomstick to knock again.

From below came a reply.

Quan made a video call from the hospital. He looked at the screen, heard a tapping sound.

“The hut floor is empty,” he said. “Mrs. Man, is the hut built on the old tank?”

"Partly. Tan said not to dig in the kitchen."

"Why?"

“You said the ground is weak.”

Lam shines a light along the edge of the floor. A brick moved out of line, rainwater flowed through the gap and disappeared. He pried open the brick. Below is a small hole, big enough to fit your hand through. Cold and humid air blew up.

Huy took the key that Dung dropped. The six-part circle fits into a bronze lock beneath the base.

“Mrs. Luu's key,” Mai said. “My mother died before she could give it to Uncle Tan.”

“Where did Dung get it from?” Thu asked.

"Maybe from my mother's old house. After she passed away, people moved the furniture."

Huy installed the key. The lock turns, but does not open. Quan looked at the video and told everyone to turn around a quarter turn. This time there was a popping sound from below.

The hut's floor sank at an angle.

Everyone step back. A stone step appeared, leading down into the darkness. Water from rain flows through the wall, but the middle part is drier. Mrs. Man took the oil lamp and went down first.

“I know this room before,” she said. “But I thought it was covered up.”

The staircase has seven steps. The sixth step is engraved with a circle, the seventh step is engraved with the letter L. At the end of the stairs is a narrow room with walls built of old bricks. One side connects to the tank; On the other side there is a locked iron door.

On the wall hang pieces of wood with the date the valve was opened. There are seven pieces, but the last piece is removed.

Quan instructed over the phone: "Find the auxiliary valve. The room may still be connected to the main tank."

Huy used a flashlight. Under the layer of moss there is a round cap. When opened, water from the pipe overflows into the narrow space. On the edge of the lid is a six-dot mark.

“This is where the water is divided,” he said.

Thu looked at the iron door. The circle key does not fit the door lock. Mai took from the cloth bag a silver ring engraved with the letter L, which they found under the fruitless tree. She tried inserting the ring into a small slot on the handle. A latch inside popped out.

The door opens.

There is no treasure inside. There is only a low iron cabinet, seven drawers, and a stone table. The sixth compartment is empty. The seventh compartment has oil-wrapped envelopes.

The letter was not opened in a hurry. She took photos, recorded the location and asked the village chief to testify via phone call. Mrs. Man read the number of each compartment. Huy recorded the time. Lam filmed the whole thing.

Quan on the screen said: "Open it."

The letter tore off the wrapping.

Inside is the original waterway use and protection agreement, with seven signatures. Ms. Luu's signature has fingerprints next to it. The last line clearly states:

“Land can be transferred to another person, but the right to travel, repair, receive water and call the contributor's name does not end with the transfer of land.”

Below there is a separate appendix regarding the tank area: any new construction within sixty-six steps must be approved by six households.

Thu held the paper and couldn't breathe for a few seconds.

“They need to remove this addendum,” she said.

Huy looked at the coordinates in the appendix. “Industrial wells are within range.”

Mai put her hand on her mother's signature. “My mother kept her name here.”

In the envelope there was another piece of paper, a letter Thu's father wrote to his three children:

“If If you can read it, it means someone else tried to get it first. I'm sorry for turning protecting a promise into a game of code-finding. I thought you guys needed a reason to stay together. Actually, you just need to be told the truth sooner.”

Quan read over the phone. He did not cry, but turned his face towards the hospital window.

“He apologized late,” he said.

“But still sorry,” Lam replied.

The letter continues reading:

“The last payment I haven't paid to Mrs. Luu's house is not because I forgot. Mrs. Mai did not accept money. She accepted the right to be called by name. We keep money in the water group account to use to repair the tank when needed. If you sell, you must ask Mai what she wants, and cannot use money as an answer."

Mai was silent. The rain hit the hut floor.

“My mother didn't want the money,” she said. “But she wanted to have a place to stand when people were meeting.”

“You have that place,” Thu said.

“Don't give it to me. Please read my name in the minutes.”

Thu nodded.

In the fifth drawer there is a photo album. A photo shows Khai standing in the tank room, holding a copy of the certificate. The photo was taken from a high angle, perhaps by an old camera that the family did not know about. Another photo shows Dung connecting a test tube. The last photo is Ms. Van giving an envelope to Mr. Nghiem at the cafe.

“Did the company meet with Mr. Nghiem?” Huy asked.

“Maybe they want to buy copies,” Thu said.

Mai looked at the photo. “Mr. Nghiem does not sell.”

“But the envelope is still there.”

Lam found a memory card in the seventh compartment, with an L symbol. He plugged it into the camera. The video was recorded with a hidden camera in the tank room, recording the date Dung placed the phone under the stairs. The camera angle shows Dung and Khai arguing.

“Ms. Van said that if you have the original, delete the appendix,” Khai said.

“If you don't have the original, it's ruined,” Dung replied.

“Don't overdo it. Just need the land to change its name.”

“Do you know, Mr. Huy?”

Khai laughed. “Huy only knows the price. And the one who decides is up there.”

The video ends when Khai looks straight into the camera.

“If anyone sees it, tell Mrs. Luu that her name is still there.”

“He knows the camera,” Huy said.

“Maybe he ordered it,” Lam replied.

“Or know the person who ordered it.”

At that moment, the water in the room rose rapidly. The rain caused a pipe outside to crack, causing water to pour through the wall. Quan shouted over the phone:

“Close the main valve! Otherwise the tank will be full.”

Huy ran up the stairs. Mail keeps documents in a waterproof bag. Mai took the lamp. Mrs. Man stayed behind to check the cupboard.

When Quan instructed Huy to turn the valve, a section of wall behind the safe collapsed. Behind the brick layer is a small tunnel leading to the ditch, with new shoe prints on the floor.

They followed. The shoe prints ended at an open water outlet.

Outside, water swept a person into the ditch. Huy rushed forward and pulled it up. That person was Dung, his hands were scratched and his reflective shirt was torn.

Dung coughed, still holding a piece of wet paper in his hand.

The letter grabbed it. The ink is almost completely blurred, only one line remains:

They brought Dung to the hut floor and laid him on his side to let the water drain from his lungs. Huy checked the wound, while Mai held the light. Dung woke up for a few seconds and saw the waterproof bag in Thu's hand.

“Don't let them take it,” he said.

“Who?”

“The person who changed the book.”

“You know that person?”

Dung closed his eyes. “I know the person who placed the order. I don't know who holds it."

Thu asked about the room under the hut. Dung said he was looking for a copy because Khai said the real copy had been transferred. He went through the tunnel but did not see the safe, only saw the door locked from the other side. When the rain caused the water to rise, he knocked on the wall to call person above.

“Is there anyone over there?” Lam asked.

“It could be an echo.”

“How long were you in?”

"Don't know."

Huy gave Dung the towel. “You put your phone under the tank?”

Dung did not speak.

“If you don't speak, someone else will speak for you.”

Dung looked at Huy. "I put it on record. I think if there is evidence, my mother will be called. I don't think they will destroy the tree."

Mai asked: "You took my mother's ring?"

Dung nodded very slightly. "I found it in an old box. I kept it but didn't dare give it away."

“Why put it under the tree?”

"Because Khai said he wanted everyone to think that Mrs. Luu had no power. I want to drag you back to the place where my mother once stood."

Thu does not forgive him for changing the book, but understanding the motive does not erase the consequences. She wrote down his words in the minutes for him to sign after he woke up.

Rain decreased. The irrigation expert came to inspect the tunnel and confirmed that the compartment under the hut was an auxiliary inspection passage, connecting the tank with the drainage ditch. If it is filled, the pressure will be on the wall.

Quan over the phone instructed everyone to place sandbags. Na heard it and said his grandfather once said "the tank has two doors, one for water and one for people to remember".

Letter looking at the original. The appendix says “side door must be open on maintenance day”. This is why dad doesn't hide papers in the closet: the original is in a place that needs to be opened when the user comes along.

Huy called the police and handed over Dung and all the evidence. Dung agreed to be a witness, but must bear personal responsibility.

Dung added, his voice broken: "Don't let them take it."

Thu understands that Dung is not just talking about a stack of papers. He spoke about his right to tell his mother's story, which was used as a tool by others and then thrown away. She told Mai to sit next to Dung and ask each short question so he wouldn't have to exert himself. Dung confirmed that Khai had seen the original, but did not dare to take it because the appendix had the commune seal and seven signatures. Khai wants to replace it with a copy that lacks Ms. Luu's name to turn the dispute into a matter between several households.

Mai did not ask Dung why he betrayed his mother. She just asked if he had any other records. Dung said part of the data was in the phone under the tank. They got the phone, but the original files may still be on the backup memory card attached under the cover.

Lam returned to the tank room and checked each slot. He found the memory card in black tape, covered with rubber. The file records the date Khai edited the notebook, there are no words but there is a picture of his hand turning each page. Next to her is Ms. Van, pointing to Ms. Luu's name.

The letter was not read all at once. She backed it up, sealed it and clearly recorded who had it. The lawyer reminded that the more people touch the evidence, the more likely it is to object to it.

Dung looked at the waterproof bag. “Will you put my mother's name on the record?”

"Have."

“It's not just the storytelling part.”

“Even the right to be invited into the meeting.”

Dung closed his eyes and exhaled. It was the closest thing to an apology he could say.

"The copy has been replaced. Please check the seed book."

Dung looked at them, then passed out in the water.

"The copy has been replaced. Please check the seed book."

Dung looked at them, then passed out in the water.