Seven forty-three in the morning.
Joe West pushed open his office door and set a cup of stone-cold black coffee on the corner of his desk.
The bottom of the cup struck the wooden desk with a dull thud.
He did not sit down.
He simply took out a yellowed file, tore off the cover, pulled three pages from the middle, and slipped one beneath last night's case report.
The page was not completely hidden.
A line of text showed at the lower right corner.
-Particle Accelerator safety assessment report.
Joe stared at the half-exposed title for two seconds, picked up his pen, and pretended to review the parking lot brawl case.
Yang Ming's words from last night still echoed in his ears.
"Don't shove the hook into his mouth."
"Let him see something beneath the surface. He'll bite."
Footsteps sounded outside the door.
Very light.
Much steadier than before.
Joe did not look up. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw those gray sneakers stop in the doorway.
"Joe?"
Barry sounded hesitant.
"Aren't you still on leave?"
Joe turned a page, his tone no different from usual. "Singh asked me to come back and keep an eye on a robbery case. What about you? Couldn't handle three days of confinement?"
Barry stood by the door and gave a rueful smile.
"I came to end my leave."
He wore his Forensics Department uniform, and his hair was still damp, as though he had run all the way through the rain. The black metal Ring was still on his right index finger.
A heart rate monitor.
And the leash Yang Ming had put on him.
Barry walked into the office, about to set his return-to-duty application on the desk, but his gaze stopped.
On the corner of the exposed