Half a Face

Pierce stared wide-eyed at the blurry, incomplete photograph on his computer screen. For an instant, his eyes lit up with excitement.

But the very next second, that surge of excitement collapsed.

Golden Legend's face really was uncovered in the photograph.

But because of the angle and lighting, Pierce could see only half of his unobscured face.

The lower half was hidden completely in the shadow of an arm, reduced to a solid patch of black.

Even the enhancement software on Pierce's computer was useless. Those black pixels were beyond recovery.

Pierce kept staring at the half-face on the screen.

Even in black and white, the eyes shining with golden light were dazzling and startling.

His gaze hardened, and he clenched his teeth. "I'll find you. I swear I will!"

He immediately sent the image to his trusted subordinates, ordering them to analyze the visible half, reconstruct the rest of the face, and find the man.

Even if someone only looked similar, he would rather kill a thousand innocent people than let the one he wanted escape!

Sure enough, not long after Pierce sent out the photograph, several reconstructed portraits came back.

Of the eight reconstructions, five showed Asian faces.

Two of the remaining three looked mixed-race. Only one showed a white man.

Pierce stared at the portraits in disbelief. Zola had sent back only half of a blurry black-and-white face. How could anyone tell his skin color?

"Why? What makes you think Golden Legend is Asian?"

Pierce sent off his question.

"Sir, that's the result of computer bone-structure and facial analysis, as well as the combined assessment of more than a dozen forensic sketch artists. Based on subtle details of his facial bones, there's even a 65 percent chance he's Chinese," a researcher said quietly.

They found it hard to