Robin Ballantyne is investigating the murder of a British man in Beijing. Is his death linked to a recent series of brutal attacks on women? In a city thick with paranoia and corruption, Robin struggles to separate rumour from reality. Meanwhile, Chinese private detective Song rescues a young boy from a fire on a building site. With witnesses appearing from the murky surrounds, bloody clothes on the ground but no body, and flames blazing around him, Song panics and flees still clutching the boy. From the smog of the capital to the poverty-stricken countryside, Song and Robin must unravel the truth before they find themselves silenced...