In the autopsy room of the Binhai Public Security Bureau, the smell of formaldehyde mingles with the dampness of the rain, filling the room beneath harsh white surgical lights. Lu Chen, head of the bureau’s major crimes unit, stands beside the autopsy table as forensic pathologist Old Chen pulls back the sheet. The victim is a young woman. Her chest has been opened with precision, her heart is missing, and the edges of the incision are as clean as those of a surgical operation.
