Chapter Four: Condemned by the Camera

They fled by the fire stairs. At Chen Xiulan's address, they found a burned apartment. A neighbor said she had died in a fire overnight; police had removed every paper item. In the ash, Lu found half a parking ledger. On the night of the crash, Chen had written: Two occupants. Driver conscious. Passenger exited early. Hidden inside was an unsent photograph. Zhao's taxi stood at the intersection while a man climbed from the passenger side. His severed-eye tattoo and profile were clear. Tang recognized him. “Gu Huai, security director at Mingjing Technology. Public records say he was overseas.” Wen studied the back. It bore an old Municipal Archive stamp and a time: Tomorrow, 9:00 p.m.—evidence digitization and destruction. Lu closed the ledger.