Animal Detective

Chapter 135: Two Dogs

Shen Xin tilted his head, and the husky in the cage tilted its head too.

When he leaned left, it also leaned left.

It was like looking in a mirror.

Combined with that clever look in its eyes, there was no doubt it was a purebred husky.

And soon enough, a favorability icon appeared above its head.

They say this breed is so friendly to people that if a burglar broke in, it would happily give them a tour of the place. A truly special kind of creature.

The problem was, it was perfectly normal and completely healthy.

It was of no use in solving Wang Lei’s death.

"Station Chief Li, can I borrow this dog for a few days?" Shen Xin wanted to take the dog back to study it.

’If all else fails, I’ll just use the same method as in Liu Laibin’s case: build up its favorability and read its thoughts.’

Station Chief Li immediately replied, "Why borrow it? If you like the dog, just take him. He’s a good boy. Look at him, he seems to be a purebred."

He was quite enthusiastic, saying that if the dog stayed, they’d just have to find someone to adopt it anyway.

Shen Xin thought that would work.

So on the way back, he was accompanied by an incredibly energetic husky.

Shen Xin even took a detour to a veterinary clinic to have its antibody levels checked.

In truth, there was no need to run the test.

There was no way it could have had insufficient antibodies, been infected with rabies, and still seemed fine just because the virus was in its incubation period.

Because a dog isn’t contagious during the incubation period.

Sure enough, the test showed its antibody levels were sky-high.

When he returned to the Criminal Investigation Division, he happened to run into Ding Yuwei escorting Wang Lei’s parents out.

"Officer Shen."

Upon seeing Shen Xin, the couple, who had been about to leave, lit up and hurried over to him.

Wang Lei’s father, Wang Wanming, asked eagerly, "I heard from Officer Ding that you went out to investigate. Did you find anything?"

The pair were plainly dressed and looked like simple, honest folk.

Wang Lei’s mother, Lin Yingzhen, was short and carried herself with a timid, cautious air. The moment she began to speak, her eyes started to redden.

Wang Lei was their only son.

After his death, it was as if their whole world had collapsed. His grandmother had been so overcome with grief that she was hospitalized.

"I’m sorry, we don’t have anything yet."

Shen Xin felt a pang of guilt as he met the couple’s expectant gazes.

The thing was, at first, the couple had only been suspicious about their son’s death. They reported it mainly because they wanted to know how he had been bitten by a rabid dog.

But then Shen Xin took over the investigation, which inadvertently gave the couple hope and convinced them there was something wrong with their son’s death.

Now Shen Xin feared another outcome: what if, after a full investigation, he confirmed that Wang Lei’s death was indeed an accident? How would the old couple ever accept that?

"It’s alright. You keep investigating. We can wait." Wang Wanming sniffled before leading his wife away.

Ding Yuwei walked up, sighed, and then suddenly noticed the husky at Shen Xin’s feet.

"Huh? Is that Wang Lei’s dog? Why did you bring him back?" Ding Yuwei asked curiously.

Shen Xin couldn’t very well tell her he was planning to build up its favorability so he could read its thoughts, so he just said he brought it back to take a closer look.

He led the dog back to the main office.

The dog was quite well-behaved and made himself right at home, wandering here and sniffing there, not the least bit shy.

His colleagues in the office didn’t bat an eye.

Ding Yuwei immediately pulled out some tasty beef jerky to feed him.

The poor guy’s food at the shelter must have been awful. Upon tasting something so delicious, he whimpered with emotion and nuzzled into Ding Yuwei’s arms.

Shen Xin ignored the dog, pondering his next move.

There was no progress on either case.

A bounty had been issued for Xiao Hong, but no reliable leads had come in yet.

After lunch, Zhao Tianxing returned.

"Seriously, I’m getting more and more certain that there’s something up with this Zhang Qingpeng guy."

Zhao Tianxing sat down as he spoke, only to be startled by the husky suddenly approaching him. He almost leaped out of his chair and, still shaken, asked where the dumb dog had come from.

When he heard it was Wang Lei’s dog, his expression changed, and he hastily grabbed a folder to push the animal away.

"Don’t worry. I had his antibody levels tested. He’s healthy, not infected." Shen Xin knew what he was afraid of.

"I still mind."

Zhao Tianxing shooed the husky, telling it to get away from him.

Ding Yuwei called the dog to her side. "Brother Xing, why are you being mean to him? He’s such a good boy. For a husky, being obedient and not bouncing off the walls tearing up the place is its greatest virtue."

Zhao Tianxing waved his hand dismissively, wanting no part of it.

Shen Xin asked him what he meant by his earlier comment.

Zhao Tianxing said, "I was talking about Zhang Qingpeng. I contacted him at lunch and asked when he was coming back to Nanjiang. The guy said something came up—an old classmate’s wedding—that he couldn’t get out of, so he went to Fushan to attend it."

"He’s obviously dodging us. He’s definitely hiding something."

Shen Xin frowned.

Indeed, Zhang Qingpeng’s behavior was off.

He had left Nanjiang in a panic, claiming he had to take care of his sick mother—a plausible enough excuse.

But the next time they contacted him, he said he was about to return, only to claim at the last minute that he couldn’t get a high-speed rail ticket.

They tried again the next day, but his phone was unreachable.

When they finally got through, he said his mother had a follow-up appointment and he’d have to wait another two days.

With one delay after another, he had dragged things out into November, for over a week.

Now he was still making excuses. Just as Zhao Tianxing said, it seemed highly suspicious, as if he were trying to evade the investigation.

They weren’t worried about him getting away.

The problem was, they still hadn’t figured out exactly how Wang Lei had died.

If they could solve that mystery, the rest would be much more straightforward.

In the afternoon, he took a few more calls about the Xiao Hong case, but they were all useless tips.

Seizing the opportunity, Shen Xin decided to go back and review the details of Wang Lei’s death one more time.

There really were a lot of suspicious points.

Where did he contract the rabies virus?

Why didn’t he get a rabies vaccine?

And the videos he had deliberately deleted from his computer.

As he was thinking, Ding Yuwei, who was sitting opposite him, suddenly waved him over.

"Shen Xin, I think something’s a little strange," she said with a frown.

Shen Xin rolled his chair over to her side and asked what was strange.

Ding Yuwei pointed at her computer screen.

She was reviewing the video clips from Wang Lei’s computer. Pointing to one of them, she said, "Look at the script for this clip."

Shen Xin leaned over to look.

Wang Lei used to write scripts for his short videos.

The content of this script read, "Who says my husky isn’t a true husky? See? He wrecks the house, too."

"Look at the creation date for this script. It’s October 2nd." Ding Yuwei opened the document properties, which showed it was created on October 2nd and last modified on October 4th.

Ding Yuwei continued, "I’ve watched all of his video clips from this month and last. When I saw this script, I realized that from the very beginning, none of the footage he shot of his husky showed it tearing up the house."

"But look at this clip."

She played a clip shot on October 2nd.

In it, the husky jumped onto the sofa and started pawing at it relentlessly.

There was more footage after that: the husky tearing at bedsheets and chewing on the leg of a table.

"After that, he made two more videos with similar content. Look at this script."

The text read: ’After I taught him a lesson, my husky has finally learned to behave and stopped wrecking the house.’

"This was the script from the 5th."

"There’s more. Look at the clip from the 8th."

The caption was added to the video, and it read: ’This damn dog never learns. He’s started wrecking the house again.’"

"Then on the 11th, he made another video about the dog wrecking the house, saying he’d finally taught it a lesson. ’Little husky, handled with ease.’"

"But the main thing is the videos themselves. Look at these two. Although the dog is lively in both, in one, he’s going absolutely wild, bouncing off the walls. But in the next video, he seems much calmer."

Ding Yuwei paused in thought, then said, "It’s almost like they’re two different dogs."

As the words left her mouth, she suddenly looked up.

Their eyes met, and a jolt went through Shen Xin’s mind as a bold idea suddenly struck him.

"You’re not thinking..." Shen Xin began to ask.

Before he could finish, Ding Yuwei was already nodding eagerly. "Could there have been another dog?" she said urgently.