The Symmetry of Guilt

In 1923 Beijing, as the Cao Kun bribery scandal ravages the Republic, a legislator is found murdered. The accused is his secretary, Wen Zhai—a man of unnerving self-discipline whose every waking minute is ritualized. The evidence is overwhelming. But at the final trial, defense attorney Huo Ying uncovers a single logical impossibility buried in the crime scene, upending the case and revealing that extreme order can conceal the most dangerous chaos.