Chapter Four: The Drawer at 3:17

At 3:09 a.m., the city hospital morgue was brighter than it had been on film. Lin used her forensic clearance to open the door. Shen followed with the warm outtake clenched in his hand. The innermost refrigerated drawer stood slightly ajar, leaking a thread of blackness. The second hand on the wall clock moved as if it had to consider every consequence first. “What is your ID doing in that shot?” Lin asked. Shen had no answer. His work badge had supposedly burned three years ago. But the one in the film was new, and its younger photograph wore the calm expression of someone expecting this night. 3:16. A gurney rattled down the corridor. A man in a white coat rounded the corner, half his face hidden by the drawer.