The call came through just past seven in the evening.
Lin Suyin answered, phone pressed to her ear, her husband seated across the table, both of them having left their food untouched for several minutes.
The house had grown quieter since Shen Zihao stopped coming to family dinners, and neither of them had said much of anything since sitting down.
"Mrs. Shen." The man on the other end identified himself as calling from Qinghe Psychiatric Hospital, his tone clipped and official. "I'm calling about one of our long-term patients. You're aware of the arrangement surrounding his care."
"I'm aware."
"He's escaped." He offered no cushioning around the fact. "Sometime overnight. Staff found his room empty during morning rounds. We've searched internally since then and alerted local authorities as a precaution, though we haven't specified the nature of his case."
Lin Suyin's face immediately drained of color.
