Chapter One: Zero in Ten Minutes

Even the scar over his left eyebrow was perfect. Only one detail was wrong. The man in the recording tapped the desk twice with his index finger. Shen always used his middle finger when thinking. “Synthetic video,” he said. “We will test it,” Chen replied. “Your accounts and passport are frozen. He Linchuan and Lin Wanxing are missing. You are the only one left.” Released after midnight while the warrant was prepared, Shen slipped through the hotel laundry and returned to the bridal room. The crack was empty. In lipstick, someone had written: FIFTY THOUSAND. NORTH SHORE. SURVIVE THE OPEN. A four-pointed star followed—the mark Wanxing used to identify hidden layers in restored paintings.