> As a forensic pathology intern, I walk straight into a headless corpse case on my first day.
> My mentor, Lin Feng, is as cold as ice. “Can’t handle it? Leave now. Don’t waste my time.”
> The decomposing woman on the autopsy table has no head or hands, yet her neck shows signs of a vital reaction.
> Fighting back a wave of nausea, I point out, “She was beheaded while she was still alive.”
> At last, a hint of warmth enters Lin Feng’s eyes. “Intern, you’re staying.”
> The final report says the motive was a crime of passion, followed by destruction of evidence, dismemberment, and disposal of the body.
> But as I sort through the evidence, I feel a tiny scrap of police uniform fabric caught between the victim’s fingers.
