Animal Detective

Chapter 144: Human Ear in the Takeout Box

The crime scene was, unexpectedly, at Spring Tide Home.

The specific address was the community garbage transfer station in the southern district of Spring Tide Home’s third phase, near Chunhua Road.

The entire Spring Tide Home complex had two garbage transfer stations, one on the east and one on the west.

Every morning and evening, designated community workers would collect the trash cans from the residential areas and various businesses, big and small, bring them to the transfer station, and then a garbage truck would haul it all away for processing.

They arrived at 10:13 AM.

The garbage station was located behind the southern district of the third phase, deep down a fork in Chunhua Road.

The road was a small dead-end, usually packed with private cars.

A crowd had already gathered at the scene. As Shen Xin got out of the car, he immediately spotted Yao Wensheng.

Zhang Jian was there too, putting up the police tape and maintaining order at the scene.

"Yao Suo."

Sun Zhao went up to greet him at once.

Zhang Jian had already seen Shen Xin and walked over to ask how he’d been lately.

"I heard that after you went to the sub-bureau, you little rascal, you cracked several cases. And you even started a short-video account. Zhang Qian is always scrolling through it. You even posted a bounty. You’re really making waves, huh?" Zhang Jian said with a wide grin.

"I’m not making any waves. Just keeping busy. I do whatever the bosses tell me to do."

Shen Xin replied humbly, then asked where Li Dongsheng was.

"He’s out on a call."

Zhang Jian answered casually and led Shen Xin into the crime scene.

Shen Xin quickly got up to speed on the situation.

Starting at 6:00 AM every day, the community’s sanitation workers would bring all the nearby trash cans here.

The trash cans contained garbage from the previous night.

When the garbage truck arrived, they would empty the cans one by one into the truck. Afterward, they were responsible for washing the cans before putting them back out in the evening.

Of the two garbage stations, east and west, this was the eastern one, which was a bit larger than the western one.

This was because there were two commercial streets between the third and second phases, so there were more businesses.

After the trash cans were brought over, the station workers would usually pick through them, looking for things like cardboard, bottles, and so on.

This was especially true for the morning’s collection.

Because for the evening collection, the old folks in the community would have already picked it over once before it was even brought over.

While rummaging through the trash, he found a garbage bag containing two plastic water bottles.

The person rummaging was an elderly man in his early sixties named Li Mingdong.

He casually tore open the garbage bag, and the plastic water bottles and a disposable takeout container fell out.

Then, inside one of the takeout containers, there was an ear.

A human ear!

Li Mingdong was scared out of his wits and immediately called the police.

At 9:33 AM, the Yunlin Police Station received the report. Yao Wensheng, who was on duty, led a team to the scene immediately.

After confirming it was a human ear and not some silicone model, he immediately notified the Criminal Investigation Division.

Kang Bin had already finished taking pictures.

The medical examiner, Du Xin Kai, gingerly picked up the ear and examined it closely.

Shen Xin also took a look at the trash can.

The bag holding the takeout containers was a common white plastic bag with a yellow smiley face on it.

The container that fell out was the most common type—a white disposable box, often used for rice.

The container for the other dishes was a common compartmentalized takeout box with a yellow base.

This was the type most commonly used by ordinary fast-food places on the street.

Shen Xin noted that the bag contained two takeout meals in total, complete with disposable chopsticks and soup bowls.

In the container that had fallen out, about two-thirds of the rice had been eaten. There were also a few chicken bones, and the human ear was sitting right there inside it.

"It was cut off with a sharp instrument."

Du Xin Kai showed the cut on the ear to Sun Zhao, then said, "The temperature was just over ten degrees last night, so it was low. That’s why there are no signs of decomposition yet."

He leaned in and sniffed it. "Based on my personal experience, I’d say it was cut off about twelve hours ago."

Sun Zhao nodded and took note.

He also personally felt it couldn’t have been more than twelve hours.

At 6:00 PM, Li Mingdong and the others would do the second garbage transfer of the day.

So this trash was definitely thrown out after 6:00 PM yesterday.

That was only sixteen hours ago.

"The key thing is, I’ve never seen anyone dispose of a body part in a takeout container before," Du Xin Kai said.

Dumping bodies in trash cans was common.

But just tossing a single ear, and stuffed into a takeout container at that—he’d truly never encountered anything like it.

"It’s too early to say."

Sun Zhao wasn’t ready to jump to the conclusion of a murder and body disposal.

First, the act of discarding just an ear was unusual. Second, with only an ear, they couldn’t be sure the person was even dead.

But without a doubt, someone nearby had lost an ear.

He called over Yao Wensheng and asked for his cooperation in checking the two nearby hospitals, as well as clinics, for any patients with a severed ear.

Then he had Zhao Tianxing confirm where this specific trash can had been placed.

He also had Shen Xin and the others start taking all the trash out of the can.

"If the person was throwing out trash, they wouldn’t necessarily throw out just the takeout container," Sun Zhao analyzed.

"They bought two meals. After eating, they might have habitually put everything back into the original takeout bag. Then, if they were throwing it away, they might have tossed it with other household trash."

"If that’s the case, the can might contain other trash from the victim or the suspect."

He took out the takeout container and had Ding Yuwei record its contents.

"Xiaoding, get some people from Yao Suo and canvass all the nearby fast-food places. See what dishes they cooked last night, and check their takeout boxes and bags to see if you can find a match."

Ding Yuwei nodded and left immediately.

After giving his orders, Sun Zhao beckoned to Shen Xin and asked, "Xiaoshen, do you think Dou Dou can find the victim from the scent of this ear?"

Confirming the trash can’s original location, finding where the takeout was bought, and then slowly investigating to find the person who threw it away would definitely take a long time.

In Sun Zhao’s opinion, the most direct and efficient method was to use a police dog.

This was also why he had always wanted an outstanding police dog. Having one on hand could be a huge help in solving cases.

"It’s hard to say."

Shen Xin said after a moment of thought.

"The main issue is that the ear was in a trash can, so there are too many interfering scents."

"But we can give it a try." Since Sun Zhao had suggested it, Shen Xin thought they might as well.

’Dou Dou’s sense of smell is truly incredible.’

’Tracking a husband for thirty kilometers isn’t something an ordinary dog can do.’

"Then let’s try."

Sun Zhao said with a smiling nod.

It would be a hassle to go back, so Shen Xin asked in the team’s group chat who was at the station and had them bring Dou Dou over.

While they were waiting, the investigation into the trash can’s location yielded results.

All the trash cans were a uniform green.

They had numbers, but in practice, they weren’t assigned to specific areas.

Moreover, there were several sanitation workers like Li Mingdong. They just hauled all the cans in one go and placed them randomly upon return, never bothering to remember which can came from which location.

They checked the garbage station’s surveillance footage and saw that this particular trash can had been dragged in by a sanitation worker named Liang Wei.

He was in charge of the trash cans on Chunhua Second Road.

This was the commercial street between the third and second phases, lined with many shops and usually very bustling.

But as for the exact location of the trash can, Liang Wei truly couldn’t remember.

However, they could now confirm that the trash came from a commercial establishment, not a residential area, as residents threw their trash away within the complex itself.

Just then, Old Xing from the team arrived with Dou Dou.

To Shen Xin’s surprise, a woman also got out of the car.

Li Jiahui.

The veterinarian and trainer from the K-9 base with the exceptionally good figure.

Shen Xin had only met her once.

She walked over, leading Dou Dou by a leash.

"What are you doing here?" Shen Xin asked, puzzled.

Li Jiahui said, "I came looking for you last week, but they said you were away on a business trip to Fushan. So I came looking for you again, and you’re out at a scene. I happened to hear you needed a police dog, so I tagged along."

She explained, clearly not having given up on prying the secret to training police dogs out of Shen Xin.

With that, she asked about the situation.

She was a professional, so Shen Xin took the opportunity to have her assess the situation and see if it was possible for a police dog to track the ear’s owner.

Li Jiahui thought for a moment, then shook her head and said, "It’ll be a bit difficult, but it’s worth a try."

Since she had said as much, Shen Xin had no more reservations.

He immediately led Dou Dou to the front of the trash can.

Du Xin Kai brought over the human ear.

"Dou Dou, get a good sniff. Find where this ear came from," Shen Xin ordered.

’She’s at stage two now, so communication is easier.’

Li Jiahui watched in confusion. It was the first time she had seen this method of directing a police dog to confirm a scent source.

But miraculously, Dou Dou seemed to understand.

Without touching the human ear, she just kept sniffing, identifying the scent.

"And the takeout container. They’re together."

Shen Xin pointed to the takeout container.

"Chicken leg, your favorite." Shen Xin picked up a chicken bone and let Dou Dou get a good sniff.

Li Jiahui watched in silence, finding it more and more incredible.

’It’s like Shen Xin is communicating directly with Dou Dou.’

Dou Dou let out a bark.

[I get it.]

Shen Xin immediately heard her thought.

"Smart girl," Shen Xin praised, then let her take action.

She lowered her head, sniffed around, and then immediately ran toward Chunhua Road.

Sun Zhao and the others didn’t hesitate, quickly following behind.