Neon Ledger

Bai Lu, the top dancer at the Paramount Ballroom, used champagne and tango as cover while decoding secret messages amid the scent of powder and perfume. Rose perfume became the deadly code she used to contact the Juntong. A neon-lit ledger recording Japanese fleet movements turned up in her dressing room, exposing a secret deal between a Japanese military attaché and the French consul. At a tango ball, the blade in a dance shoe slit open a naval uniform's inner pocket. The lingering scent of perfume on the suit of the French Concession police chief's former lover led to the Japanese consul, while an invitation to a cruise ship banquet concealed cyanide powder. Beneath the crystal chandeliers, the waltz hid deadly danger.

The plan to blow up a cruise ship on the Huangpu River was set in motion. A fuse hidden in the slit of a cheongsam flashed in sync with a pocket-watch timer. As the fleet deployment map turned to ash, Bai Lu plunged into the river's treacherous currents.