Animal Detective

Chapter 151: The Supplier

"Then why bring Dou Dou?"

Shen Xin glanced at Dou Dou by his feet.

Jiang Wengang had only told him to come back and help, and to bring Dou Dou, but hadn’t specified the details.

"To track someone, of course."

Li Teng smiled, turned right onto the elevated highway, and then explained the situation.

Zhu Tianshun was tight-lipped, refusing to say a word.

However, they had an unexpected breakthrough with Tao Yufei.

It just goes to show that Zhu Tianshun had good reason to suspect his two underlings of disloyalty. Those two really did have their own schemes.

In Tao Yufei’s own words, he had once thought about stealing Zhu Tianshun’s product.

Because every time Zhu Tianshun picked up a new supply, it was a whole kilogram—enough for him to use for a long, long time.

But Zhu Tianshun was very cautious. He never used his phone to arrange deals, instead using a private chat on a foreign website to confirm the quantity and location of the transaction.

After confirming, he would usually go alone to pick up the goods.

So Tao Yufei didn’t know the exact transaction location.

But the kid was pretty sharp.

He said that for the deal before last, Zhu Tianshun had left a little after two in the afternoon and didn’t come back until almost five. He then left the car at the shop for Tao Yufei to wash.

While washing the car, Tao Yufei found a crumpled-up ticket in the door’s storage compartment.

It was a parking ticket. The time on it was 3:17 p.m.

The location was Meicha Road, and the fine was one hundred yuan.

So Tao Yufei started putting two and two together. Sometime between two and five, Zhu Tianshun had gone to make the deal.

Getting a ticket during that time meant the ticketed location had to be near the transaction site.

And Meicha Road was a small road on the outskirts of Lishan, Nanjiang’s highest peak.

So Tao Yufei was certain the deal had taken place near Lishan. But he didn’t know the exact spot and didn’t dare to rashly follow Zhu Tianshun.

After learning this, Chen Guanglin immediately pulled the traffic surveillance footage from the area around Meicha Road.

This was because Zhu Tianshun had made another deal just the day before yesterday.

His product was high-purity and sold fast. A one-kilogram batch could be gone in just ten days.

They had found over seven hundred grams of drugs at his house, which was enough to prove he had just completed a transaction and received a new shipment.

And sure enough, they spotted Zhu Tianshun’s BMW 3 Series.

It was parked outside the Meicha Road Tax Cadre School, and from there he had gotten out and proceeded on foot.

"Holy shit, they didn’t do the deal in the air-raid shelter, did they?"

Shen Xin exclaimed in surprise.

Lishan wasn’t much larger than Dingshan in area, but it was quite a bit taller, with an elevation of over four hundred meters.

And there was an air-raid shelter inside Lishan.

It was very long. When he was a child, Shen Xin had heard it was three or four kilometers in total length.

There were also many forks, twisting and turning, with multiple exits surrounding Lishan.

The hiking enthusiasts in Nanjiang often went exploring in there.

Back in high school, Shen Xin had gone exploring in there with his classmates.

And right near Meicha Road, there was an entrance to the air-raid shelter.

The terrain inside the shelter was complex and hidden, and there was no surveillance whatsoever. You could say it was an extremely safe place for a transaction.

"Exactly, the air-raid shelter. Captain Chen and Captain Jiang thought the same thing." Li Teng gave Shen Xin a thumbs-up.

With this theory in mind, the next step was to find Zhu Tianshun’s supplier.

The air-raid shelter had no cameras and multiple exits. They didn’t even know who the other party in the transaction was. Trying to identify them by sifting through the surveillance footage from the surrounding roads would be like finding a needle in a haystack.

Most importantly, due to internet surveillance, the supplier might already know Zhu Tianshun had been caught and was planning to bolt.

In a situation like this, speed was of the essence. There was no time to slowly sift through footage.

So Jiang Wengang proposed an idea.

Zhu Tianshun’s last deal was the day before yesterday. He wanted to use police dogs to first track Zhu Tianshun’s scent to the transaction point, and then track the supplier using the scent of the drugs they were carrying.

An exceptional police dog can track a scent from several days ago; the record is a scent over two weeks old.

"I get it."

Shen Xin nodded. It was a solid plan. If the track was successful, they could find the supplier quickly, or at least confirm their identity and then move to intercept them.

At this thought, Shen Xin slapped his forehead. "Li Teng, I forgot my gun."

They were tracking a drug trafficker.

For a supplier at the top of a network like this, getting caught meant a death sentence. There was no way they’d surrender.

How could he go into such a dangerous situation without a gun?

Ding Yuwei had even reminded him earlier.

Li Teng opened the glove compartment and handed him a pistol.

"How could I let you forget? I signed it out for you. Captain Sun authorized it. Don’t forget to add your signature when we get back."

Taking the gun, Shen Xin felt even more panicked.

He’d been on the force for over a year and had never fired his weapon.

Of course, he’d practiced marksmanship at the police academy, but the firearms instructor had told them flat out that the best-case scenario was to not fire at all. Without regular training, it would be incredibly difficult to shoot accurately under the extreme stress of a life-or-death situation.

’But my job is just to track the suspect. There’ll be so many other officers on site, I probably won’t even have a chance to fire it.’

As his mind wandered, the car quickly arrived at Meicha Road.

It was a concrete dead-end road. A short walk from the end led to the entrance of the air-raid shelter.

It was a little after eleven at night when they arrived.

Several cars were parked at the scene. Chen Guanglin and Jiang Wengang were using flashlights to examine a map of the air-raid shelter’s layout.

"Xiaoshen, perfect timing. Let’s go, hurry up."

Jiang Wengang’s side seemed to have finished their discussion. Seeing Shen Xin, he called out and quickly led the way deeper in.

"You must be Shen Xin."

Chen Guanglin greeted Shen Xin as well, clapping him on the shoulder. "I heard from Jiang Wengang that not only are you a great detective, but you can also train police dogs. Excellent. Train a few more for us sometime, and I’ll see you get a commendation for it."

Shen Xin nodded quickly.

’He’s probably just saying that.’

He looked up and saw some familiar faces.

Li Jiahui, and Chen Guo.

Apparently, Chen Guanglin had also requested backup from the K9 base.

"Shen Xin." Li Jiahui, holding the leash of a Springer Spaniel, walked over with a smile and immediately crouched down to greet Dou Dou.

Dou Dou was familiar with her, too, and licked her palm repeatedly.

Chen Guo came over with Knight, said hello, and then whispered gossipingly, "I heard you guys caught a dismemberment case today. How bad was it?"

The question made Shen Xin shudder involuntarily.

"Mincemeat-for-dumplings bad."

"Damn, that’s brutal."

Chen Guo shivered violently.

"Knight, you miss me?" Shen Xin nodded, then greeted Knight.

Knight immediately responded with a BARK.

Chen Guo immediately said, "Jiahui, did you see that? Knight is more affectionate with him than with me."

Li Jiahui smiled and introduced the Springer Spaniel by her side to Shen Xin.

A male dog named Qiuqiu.

Springer Spaniels are common drug-sniffing dogs—intelligent, lively, and obedient.

But when Shen Xin looked at him, his talent activated.

The dog, who had been sitting obediently, reacted immediately, tilting its head to look at Shen Xin.

"Good boy."

Shen Xin reached out and petted him.

The dog had a look of pure enjoyment, and an icon immediately appeared above its head.

Li Jiahui shot a look at Chen Guo, thinking, ’See? Same thing happened with me.’

Just then, Chen Chao brought over the scent article.

A piece of clothing taken from Zhu Tianshun’s house.

Dou Dou was multi-talented, capable of both drug detection and tracking. Li Jiahui’s dogs, on the other hand, were specialists. Knight was responsible for the initial tracking, while Qiuqiu would handle tracking the drugs.

"Time to work."

Shen Xin patted Dou Dou. She already understood what to do and immediately moved forward to sniff the article carefully.

Unlike Knight, who still needed standard verbal commands and hand signals from Chen Guo.

After sniffing, Dou Dou lowered her head and continuously sniffed along the gravel path, slowly approaching the entrance to the air-raid shelter.

The entrance was situated between the mountainsides, surrounded by an iron fence that had long since been broken.

Dou Dou let out a BARK. She must have found something.

Her sense of smell was truly sharp.

Shen Xin immediately led Dou Dou into the air-raid shelter.

Chen Guanglin and the others followed quickly.

Meanwhile, Knight was still searching for the scent on the ground.

Chen Guo didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. "Come on, buddy, put some effort into it."

His professional police dog had just been outdone by a freelancer. It was so embarrassing.

"Oh, come on, you. Let’s follow them." Li Jiahui called out, hurrying after them with Qiuqiu in tow.