A medical student from Boston goes to South America for a conference, but unexpectedly becomes the victim of a brutal crime. During the operation, her lung is removed, as it later turns out, not at all with the goal of saving her life. Thousands of miles away, a brilliant scientist is slowly dying of an incurable lung disease... In Chicago, a not-so-lucky private detective is tasked with finding out the identity of an unknown young man who died on a freeway and whose body is found with strange marks... A medical student. Scientist. Private detective. Three seemingly completely different people, but they are destined to learn the deep meaning of genius and madness, truth and deception. And in the end, their lives are forever connected by a single test tube of blood - the fifth test tube.