THE SPARE PARTS BOX

On her first day as a student in the Department of Human Anatomy, Lam thi
Nguyen finds the body she is about to dissect is a surprisingly young woman.
Due to an administrative failure to register the acquisition of the body the
professor orders it to be removed. Some months later, Lam has been given a
head to dissect for a special project. Although now separated from the
remainder of the body, Lam recognizes the head as that of the young woman
whose body was removed on her first day in anatomy. The head comes to the
attention of forensic experts who find evidence of death due to severe
asphyxia and homicide is a possibility, but the police fail to pursue investigation.
Despite threats of career ruination, Lam remains convinced of malfeasance
and believes she has the obligation to find the cause of death. She forces
the unhappy cooperation of one of the detectives, and reluctantly accepts the
help of an aggressive female reporter. The ultimate conclusions depend
heavily on forensic investigation.