Chapter 2

But why would a nurse with a permanent public-sector position date someone from such a different social world?

Lệ Hồng explained:

“He was my first love. We really loved each other.”

I involuntarily thought of Tuyết Mai’s story.

“Did your relationship begin in high school?” I asked.

She grew wary, then nodded slightly.

At first, I only suspected his death might relate to the old incident in the cinema.

Lệ Hồng proved far more forthcoming than I expected.

It would be no exaggeration to say everything had begun with Đông Minh.

Lệ Hồng had invited Tuyết Mai to the film that changed their lives.

The thugs who stopped them that day were Đông Minh’s friends.

One wanted to meet and pursue Tuyết Mai.

Through Đông Minh, he had asked Lệ Hồng to arrange an opportunity.

Even she had not expected such an absolute rejection.

Tuyết Mai did not even want to be friends.

Humiliated, the man grew angry.

The standoff lasted quite a while.

Fortunately, Đông Minh was there.

In the end, nothing actually happened.

Only…

No one expected Ninh and Huy to witness it.

When she finished, I immediately noticed an inconsistency.

“If you were both there, why were the rumors only about Tuyết Mai?”

“Because… he was targeting Mai.”

“Ninh had pursued her and been rejected. He held a grudge…”

So that was it.

Her explanation left me with complicated feelings.

Every year, we received at least a hundred reports of slander and attacks on people’s reputations.

Most arose from personal grudges.

Especially sexual rumors intended to ruin women’s reputations.

Never underestimate the evil in people’s hearts.

Moreover, spreading such rumors was generally left to the injured party to pursue through civil proceedings.

Most cases ended in mediation or an apology.

Very few reached a courtroom.

By then, the officers examining the scene had preliminary findings.

No weapon.

No fingerprints.

No suspicious hair or biological traces.

The killer had deliberately cleaned up before leaving.

The building’s entrance camera did indeed show Tuyết Mai.

It did not establish that she was the killer.

There was a rear entrance too.

Even if she was the only person recorded entering and leaving during the time of Đông Minh’s murder, we could not exclude someone else.

We needed to find her quickly.

And find the weapon.

Just then, Lệ Hồng offered another lead.

“If… if Mai really did this… I may know where she’ll go.”

“What?”

I asked at once.

“She’ll go to… Tăng Tuấn Thành.”

Her meaning was clear.

If Tuyết Mai had truly lost control…

If she wanted to kill everyone who had hurt her in one night…

Tuấn Thành could not be left off the list.

According to Lệ Hồng, he had attended their high school one year below them.

Back then, he had not known Tuyết Mai at all.

There had been no connection between them.

Until he was admitted to the same university.

After a year away from school for treatment and recovery, Tuyết Mai had finally begun emerging from the darkness.

She left home to study in an unfamiliar city.

One belief had sustained her through depression and helped her pass the entrance exams:

“If I go far enough, I can escape the old rumors.”

Tuấn Thành destroyed that last hope.

After learning that she attended the same university, he began shamelessly approaching her.

His purpose was obvious.

He wanted to take advantage of her.

In the stories he had heard, she was an easy girl anyone could play with.

Naturally, she refused and blocked him.

Humiliated, he grew angry.

Once again, malicious lies about her spread through her university.

That was why she dropped out.

And why she finally collapsed completely.

What about Tuấn Thành?

After graduating, he returned home, found stable work, and lived quite comfortably.

Lệ Hồng spoke through tears.

“The bad people are all doing so well.”

“Settling down, getting married, having children…”

“Only Mai was left in hell…”

“Anyone would go mad… Anyone would want to destroy them…”

I immediately called Tuấn and told him to find Tuấn Thành.

I stayed.

Because Lệ Hồng had revealed a serious problem in our conversation.

Perhaps she was not an outsider.

The relationships among the three were delicate.

She and Tuyết Mai were best friends.

Đông Minh was her first love of many years.

Yet he had also helped send Tuyết Mai’s life in a different direction.

He was one of the causes of her tragedy.

Lệ Hồng could not have been unaware of Tuyết Mai’s hatred for him.

His dying so easily was suspicious.

If she had truly wanted to save him, he should at least have had a chance to escape.

So I asked:

“Have you and Đông Minh been together continuously since high school?”

She lowered her head.

“No… We broke up and got back together many times…”

“How long was the last breakup? When did you reunite?”

After a silence, she said:

“Two or three years… We got back together… a little over a month ago.”

Separated for two or three years.

Reunited for just over a month.

Then the man died.

A more frightening possibility formed in my mind.

Perhaps she had not merely failed to wish him alive.

Perhaps she had wanted him dead.

It is extremely difficult for an intruder to erase every trace of a murder in an unfamiliar home.

With help from someone inside, it becomes much easier.

She was Tuyết Mai’s closest friend.

Her words suggested she fully approved of Tuyết Mai’s killings.

Could she be an accomplice?

Had she even reunited with Đông Minh solely to kill him?

I knew she would not volunteer a confession.

So I did not confront her with my theory.

Instead, we examined his death scene thoroughly, missing no lead.

Since they lived together, however, there were countless traces of her everyday presence.

That was unavoidable.

The forensic pathologist arrived and gave a preliminary finding.

Đông Minh’s throat had been cut while he slept.

He had then died of asphyxiation associated with blood loss and an obstructed airway.

We investigated through the night.

At dawn, Tuấn finally brought good news.

Tuyết Mai had been caught.

As predicted, she had appeared near Tuấn Thành’s home.

Before she could react, Tuấn and his team subdued her.

We seized a sharp knife from her.

Tuấn Thành, meanwhile, was still fast asleep.

When Tuấn knocked, he did not even know how close he had come to disaster.

We placed Tuyết Mai in criminal detention.

We also summoned her father, Chí Quân, her best friend, Lệ Hồng, and the oblivious Tuấn Thành to assist with the investigation.