13
That was the entire process of how I caught Cao Mẫn—or, more precisely, his twin younger brother, Cao Tuấn.
“That’s right. I was Cao Mẫn’s shadow.”
Under questioning, Cao Tuấn admitted that it had all been planned.
“For the sake of the magic, we shared one identity for years.”
They used the same name, had the same profession, and even shared a girlfriend.
“But Trần Triết stole our magic and drove us into a corner. We had to get revenge, even if it cost us our lives. What could be more thrilling than a magic trick where the magician dies and comes back to life?”
Captain Phương’s face was expressionless. Clearly, he didn’t believe him.
“Then why was it your brother who died that day, and not you?”
Cao Tuấn answered coolly, “He said it was a great honor to give his life for magic.”
But Captain Phương immediately exposed his lie. “The night before the case, Cao Mẫn booked an extravagant candlelit dinner. If he really wanted to die, why book dinner?”
14
Captain Phương found a clue in the backstage surveillance footage.
“When the equipment was inspected, there was a paint stain on the hem of Cao Mẫn’s shirt. But just five minutes later, the person who walked out didn’t have it. You tampered with the props.”
Cao Tuấn was silent for a long time before giving a second statement.
“The body-cutting trick that night was originally supposed to end with Cao Mẫn faking his death in front of everyone, then coming back to life to the astonishment of the whole audience.”
“I used to be perfectly willing to be his shadow.”
This was a story of brothers turning against each other.
“We loved magic from the time we were little. Cao Mẫn was outgoing and more charismatic onstage, while I liked studying the technical side. Being twins gave us an advantage, and we quickly gained some recognition in our hometown. After moving to the city, we became Trần Triết’s students. But he never valued us or intended to pass down his greatest secrets. Back then, all I wanted was to recreate ancient magic tricks, and I was nearly successful…”
Hatred flared in his eyes.
“But Cao Mẫn secretly sold my research to Trần Triết.”
That was when the brothers’ conflict began.
“He’d put me down since we were kids, saying I didn’t have what it took to stand onstage. But after performing a few times, I realized I could do it too. I suggested we split up and work independently. Cao Mẫn agreed to my face, but later he staged an accident.”
He took off his gloves, revealing two severed fingers.
“I loved Trang Vãn Vãn and didn’t want to share my girlfriend. But Cao Mẫn, because he had a chance to perform at the Lệ Đô Theater, went and flirted with Phương Minh Châu.”
That meant Cao Tuấn, as the shadow, had no choice but to back down.
“A shadow has no right to choose.” He slowly raised his head.
“So I decided to kill him.”
15
I became the key figure in the case.
I firmly denied it. “I never knew he had a younger brother. Cao Mẫn only ever told me his parents had divorced when he was little. So… they were twins from the same embryo? No wonder the DNA tests matched completely.”
The policewoman looked at me skeptically. “You lived with them for so long. You never noticed anything?”
I shook my head weakly but firmly. “There was no way to tell. It wasn’t just me—even their teacher and coworkers couldn’t tell, right?”
They had even made the same fake mole and shared the same scars.
The policewoman continued taking my statement.
“You lived together in the same space. You really never suspected anything?”
I murmured, “I was the one who prepared Cao Mẫn’s body for burial. What could I have suspected?”
“Cao Tuấn left clues for me? But I told Captain Phương right from the start. He thought I was so grief-stricken that I was hallucinating. Later, I did what he said and saw a psychiatrist. Here, you can look at the certificate.”
The psychiatrist’s conclusion was clearly written in my medical file: post-traumatic stress disorder, mild hallucinatory disorder.
I said with sincere regret, “I never imagined someone had been following me all along. If only I’d realized sooner… I wouldn’t have been spun around in their game.”
16
Cao Tuấn was sentenced to thirty years in prison.
To the very end, I never met him once.
He asked a policewoman to send me a paper rose. I understood it was an apology.
Back then, whenever we fought, the one who always apologized first… was Cao Tuấn.
I clutched the paper rose, remembering our old days as tears fell onto its delicate petals.
Everything that had happened… was only a memory now.
17
After resigning, I sold my house and emigrated.
I applied to a prestigious university, planning to continue my education.
Everything went smoothly.
Before I left, I went to the Lệ Đô Theater to see a play.
Shakespeare’s The Tempest.
Onstage, an actor declaimed in the strongest voice he could muster: “Hell and night are breeding crimes in this place. They must reveal their faces to the world.”
Amid thunderous applause, a woman sat down beside me.
Long hair, almond-shaped eyes, a delicate air… none other than Lệ Đô’s heiress, Phương Minh Châu.
“Ms. Trang, you’ve worked hard.”
I kept my eyes fixed on the stage and didn’t turn to look at her.
But in the darkness, my hand quietly clasped hers.
She trembled uncontrollably until, little by little, she calmed down.
Before the play was over, she gave me a long, searching look, then stood and left first.
As for me, I stayed until the curtain fell.
Just like every time we’d met before.
The secret of magic…
Is to protect the secret from its own structure.
Every movement, every word, every expression the magician makes onstage—all of it is meant to conceal the secret.
So do I.
18
Cao Tuấn thought he was the one who had killed Cao Mẫn.
Of course, he had tampered with things.
But Cao Mẫn wasn’t stupid either.
As soon as he stopped trusting Cao Tuấn, he prepared a way out.
He underwent surgery in secret and hid a small pouch inside his gumsteeth.
And inside that pouch…
Was the agency’s spare key.
He thought that at a crucial moment, all he had to do was close his mouth and spit out the key to escape.
But unfortunately for him…
I had kept that key with the anesthetic for a long time.
Even a very small amount was enough to cause temporary numbness.
I knew the forensic examination procedures inside and out, and I knew how to control the dosage.
I didn’t need to take away his ability to act.
I only needed… at the moment he tried to escape…
For him to be unable to get the key out.
Every perfect magic trick…
Needs a mysterious, perfect moment like that.
Doesn’t it?
19
These two brothers… were both devils. They used their good looks and charming smiles to get close to girls. Their playing cards were laced with hallucinogens; all it took was one moment of distraction for the girls to lose consciousness.
I had once been a victim.
So had Phương Minh Châu.
And so had many other girls.
The biggest mistake of my life was accidentally walking into that bar.
Cao Mẫn was performing inside. He was funny and handsome, and he held up a card and asked me to guess what it was.
Then he drugged me and took countless photos to blackmail me.
The first time I woke up on the storeroom floor, I was in so much pain I couldn’t stand.
That devil was dressed neatly, still smiling smugly as if nothing had happened.
“You’re around dead people every day. No wonder your reaction is as dull as a corpse’s.”
When I saw those photos, I only gave a cold laugh.
Looking at my naked body was no different from looking at a corpse.
I touched death every day, after all.
But the other girls couldn’t.
Even Phương Minh Châu, despite her powerful family, suffered from depression and nearly took her own life.
Whenever we met, we chose places where we could stay well hidden.
Either in the middle of a crowded street or on a deserted riverbank with no one around.
I brought her a cup of hot cocoa and gently comforted her:
“This isn’t our fault. Don’t punish yourself for what happened.”
She gave a bitter smile, her wrists covered in crisscrossing scars.
“I can’t forget… The moment I close my eyes, it all comes back. But I can’t go to the police. Cao Mẫn was so careful; I have no evidence.”
Phương Minh Châu was born into a complicated family. If the truth came out, she would be the first one attacked.
“Ms. Trang, what are we supposed to do?” she asked despairingly.
Later, I helped prepare the body of a girl who had taken her own life.
I discovered that she, too, had been involved with Cao Mẫn.
My job is to help the dead pass on in peace.
But what does it mean to pass on in peace?
Sending the devil back to hell was the greatest peace I could offer them.
20
And so, a plan began to take shape.
I approached Cao Mẫn again.
Before long, I uncovered a secret: he had a twin brother, Cao Tuấn.
I quickly realized this was my chance.
At first glance, their bond seemed unbreakable. But when one was in the spotlight and the other in the shadows, they could never truly be secure.
It didn’t take much effort to make Cao Tuấn fall in love with me.
It was simple enough: the more infatuated I seemed with Cao Mẫn, the more jealous and resentful Cao Tuấn became.
Was it love? I wasn’t sure, either.
It was just the “suspension bridge effect.”
Something that seems easy to get, but can never quite be yours, can make a man mistake it for love.
And so, I secretly steered the brothers toward turning against each other.
Meanwhile, Phương Minh Châu kept up the pressure, forcing Cao Mẫn to make their relationship public.
Once it was public, Cao Tuấn would have no choice but to leave me alone.
We kept adjusting the plan, scrapping it and rebuilding it countless times, until every detail was flawless.
This would be our first magic trick.
And the only one of our lives.
That night, at the Lệ Đô Theater, Phương Minh Châu sat right below the stage.
The best seat in the house, with a clear view of everything.
Cao Mẫn strode confidently onto the stage and raised both hands before thousands of spectators.
“Ladies and gentlemen, thank you for waiting! Let’s witness this miracle together!”
She raised her phone and livestreamed everything.
Hundreds of miles away, I sat in an academic hall and turned on my phone.
She messaged me: “The magic trick is about to begin. Are you ready?”
I replied, “Of course.”
—THE END—