Animal Detective

Chapter 134: Husky

The next day.

After receiving Lv Youwei’s approval, Shen Xin posted another reward notice on the precinct’s short video account.

It was another missing person notice.

Seeking a male homeless person seen near Dazhang Village on February 16, 2011, carrying a red-striped woven plastic bag.

He also attached the composite sketch drawn by Zhang Nanhai.

There was a portrait and a full-body picture.

A 100,000 yuan reward was offered for any useful leads.

After the reward was posted, the view and comment counts were still high.

[Have they found the killer?]

[I think so. They posted a reward for a witness before, so they must’ve found one. But why is it a beggar? From what I’ve read in the analyses, people are saying it was a roadside robbery.]

The previous reward notice had garnered a huge number of views and sparked a lot of discussion and speculation about the Xiao Hong case.

After all the discussion, the prevailing theory was a roadside robbery.

[Why would a beggar just kill that driver for no reason?]

[Are they even sure the killer is a homeless man? It’s been six years, how are they going to find him?]

[No wonder they posted a reward. This is like finding a needle in a haystack.]

Besides discussing the case, quite a few people were also clamoring for updates on Dou Dou, asking why there were no new posts about her.

The investigations into both Wang Lei’s and Xiao Hong’s cases had hit a dead end.

But this was normal for crime investigation.

In Zhao Tianxing’s words, cases handled by the criminal investigation division were either solved in a flash, cracked within three days...

...or if they took longer than that, they became incredibly difficult, with no telling how long they might drag on.

So for now, Zhao Tianxing and Ding Yuwei were still following up on the cases.

As for Shen Xin...

"My main job?"

Shen Xin muttered to himself and gave Tiger Stripes a smack.

His belly was getting all round, and he was still stealing Dou Dou’s food.

’Time to put this little bastard on a diet.’

’A five-kilometer run on the field, for starters.’

"Hello."

Just then, a somewhat deep voice came from behind him.

He turned his head to see a woman standing there, though he hadn’t noticed when she’d arrived.

She was quite tall, probably over five-foot-seven.

The weather hadn’t gotten that cool yet, with daytime temperatures in the teens and low twenties Celsius, so the woman was still dressed in summer clothes.

But she somehow managed to make her extremely plain summer clothes look a little... sexy?

Shen Xin’s gaze flickered over her full figure for a split second before landing on her face.

Being a police officer, she didn’t have any flashy hairstyle—just straight, long hair, but it was tied up, adding a touch of maturity.

She had a delicate, oval-shaped face, deep-set features, long eyelashes, and was very beautiful.

"You are...?" Shen Xin didn’t remember anyone like her at the precinct.

"Hello, my name is Li Jiahui. I’m a veterinarian and trainer at our K-9 base. You must be Shen Xin," she said, stepping forward and extending her hand.

Shen Xin didn’t get up from the ground. He simply shook her hand and asked what she wanted.

’From the K-9 base?’

Shen Xin grew a little wary. "Your Director Tang was already here. My chief said we’re not giving you the dogs."

’Don’t tell me she’s here to try and take my dogs again.’

Dou Dou’s favorability was already at 9 bars, about to reach the second stage, and Black Panther was at 8 bars.

Even that lazy mutt, Tiger Stripes, had reached 6 bars.

’I’ve put in so much effort. I can’t let someone else swoop in and reap the rewards.’

"You’ve got it wrong. I’m not here to take the dogs." Her speech was unhurried and her voice was steady, giving off an impression of intellect and composure. Her gaze fell on Dou Dou as she added, "But I am indeed here because of these three dogs."

She squatted down beside Shen Xin.

Up close, he could smell a faint fragrance from her.

It was very light, a bit like jasmine.

She smiled while gazing at Dou Dou, then said, "I was away on a business trip for the past few days. I only just heard about your precinct training its own K-9s when I got back. More importantly, Director Tang mentioned that you’re training adult stray dogs, and that you’ve managed to make them exceptionally obedient."

"That kind of turns our K-9 base’s understanding of dog training on its head. I’m a vet and a trainer, and I also do some research on dog training in my spare time, so I’ve become very interested in your methods."

"So, here I am, hoping to learn from you."

She spoke kindly and tactfully.

Shen Xin nodded silently. ’As long as she isn’t here to snatch my work, it’s fine.’

’But I don’t really have any experience to share.’

’It’s pure talent.’

’And I rely on this magical icon. It’s unique to me, so it’s not like I can turn it into a training regimen for others.’

So, Shen Xin said, "If I told you I just rely on talent, would you believe me?"

"I would," Li Jiahui nodded. "To be honest, I think I was also especially popular with animals when I was a kid. My grandma told me that we had an old cat back then who was aloof with everyone. But after I was born, it was exceptionally nice to me and only me."

"When I was about one, I apparently encountered a very aggressive dog outside. It was about to pounce on me, but that old cat rushed over and chased it away."

"It’s still the same now. Whenever I see stray cats or dogs on the street, they’ll usually come right over if I just crouch down and beckon to them."

"That might be why I chose to major in veterinary medicine."

Shen Xin raised an eyebrow, sizing up Li Jiahui with surprise.

’Could it be? This woman has the same talent as me? Can she see favorability levels too?’

Seeing Shen Xin’s surprised expression, Li Jiahui smiled again. "Actually, there’s a certain scientific principle behind it. Some studies have found that human body odor is formed by a combination of sweat, sebum, and microorganisms."

"And some people might naturally metabolize more aromatic substances in their sweat that are friendly to cats and dogs, like short-chain fatty acids."

Shen Xin instinctively lowered his head and sniffed himself.

’I don’t smell sour.’

Li Jiahui gave a faint smile. "I was just kidding."

As she spoke, she beckoned to Dou Dou.

Dou Dou glanced at Shen Xin, then actually walked over to her and licked her hand.

"See?"

Li Jiahui wore a "see, I wasn’t lying" expression.

Shen Xin thought, ’What nonsense. Dou Dou’s favorability is so high, she’ll show plenty of goodwill to anyone who isn’t actively fighting me on the spot.’

"Right, you studied veterinary medicine?" Shen Xin remembered something and asked, "Then you must know about rabies, right?"

Li Jiahui nodded and asked what was wrong.

Shen Xin said, "Help me think. Is there any medical way to infect someone with the rabies virus without them knowing, so they remain unaware and then quietly develop the disease?"

There were very strange aspects to Wang Lei’s death. For instance, after coming into contact with an unfamiliar stray dog, why didn’t he get a rabies vaccine?

And how did he get infected when he seemingly had no opportunity to come into contact with a rabid dog?

Li Jiahui wrinkled her nose in thought, then shook her head. "That’s highly unlikely. The difficulty of pulling that off would be immense. Especially the part you mentioned about the person being unaware—that’s practically impossible."

Shen Xin frowned.

’Then I’m back to square one.’

’I still don’t know how Wang Lei contracted rabies.’

Li Jiahui added, "However, Shen Xin, you can be certain of one thing: if a person is infected with rabies, they must have come into contact with an animal carrying the virus. There’s no doubt about that."

Shen Xin thought, ’No kidding. I know that much.’

’But it couldn’t have been a bat that flew out of the sky, bit Wang Lei, and infected him, right?’

After muttering the word "animal" to himself a couple of times, Shen Xin suddenly stood up.

"Uh, I just remembered something. You can play with the dogs for a bit. We’ll talk later if there’s anything else."

Shen Xin left her with that and hurried away.

Shen Xin suddenly wanted to go see Wang Lei’s Husky.

The case was at a standstill. Shen Xin felt he had a special connection with animals, and his previous cases were all cracked with their help. So, perhaps he could find a breakthrough with this Husky as well.

’Maybe, like in Liu Laibin’s case, I can build up its favorability and listen to its thoughts?’

Besides, the fact that Wang Lei had deleted all the videos of this Husky from his computer was strange in itself.

Watching Shen Xin hurry away, Li Jiahui was a bit stunned.

’Play with the dogs?’

She looked at the three dogs beside her, not knowing whether to laugh or cry.

Shen Xin drove to the stray animal shelter.

Wang Lei hadn’t raised this Husky from a puppy.

According to Zhang Qingpeng, Wang Lei had specifically bought it as an adult dog to film short videos.

He didn’t know who Wang Lei had bought it from.

There was no relevant information on Wang Lei’s phone either.

So, he had probably bought it directly from a dog market.

Aside from privately run rescue centers, Nanjiang had only one official stray animal shelter, which was under the jurisdiction of the Center for Disease Control.

It was located in Lishan District.

The place wasn’t large, just a standalone building with its own yard.

After explaining his reason for visiting, Shen Xin was received by the person in charge of the shelter.

As soon as he entered, he was met with the sounds of cats meowing and dogs barking.

The man checked his records and confirmed that the Husky hadn’t been adopted yet.

"We don’t usually go out and take in animals, and citizens rarely bring them to us. Of the ones that are brought in, a large portion are sick and pose an infection risk. For the rest that are healthy, our policy is generally to find them adoptive homes."

He explained the situation as he led Shen Xin to the kennels.

The environment was, naturally, not the best; all the dogs were kept in cages.

The moment Shen Xin stepped inside, the place erupted with the sound of barking dogs, as if a pot had boiled over.

"This should be the one."

Deeper inside, Shen Xin saw Wang Lei’s Husky.

It was lying in its cage, but it perked up immediately when it saw people approaching. It tilted its head, staring at Shen Xin with an uncannily intelligent look in its eyes.

Their eyes met, and Shen Xin fell into deep thought.

’This dog looks perfectly normal. There’s nothing wrong with it!’