Animal Detective

Chapter 317 - 260: Angler (3)

"Captain Liu, this guy has some serious counter-surveillance skills."

Liu Baoqing swore under his breath. "I suspect he escaped over the mountain."

Shitang Mountain stretched out before them, a web of paths and trails. It would be nearly impossible to track someone who went over it.

Shen Xin thought so, too. He glanced around before picking a path into the woods on the right, trying to widen the search area and hopefully pick up the scent again.

But after trying every direction, he still came up with nothing.

Liu Baoqing was frustrated but kept it in check. He called Shen Xin back. As they walked, he said, "Xiaoshen, I think this guy’s a pro. He’s probably got a record."

For one thing, his counter-surveillance skills were too good.

For another, he had balls of steel. They hadn’t even solved the last murder, and he dared to strike again.

And that sloppily handled crime scene? Liu Baoqing now figured it wasn’t because the killer was careless. It was because he was arrogant, confident he wouldn’t leave a single piece of evidence behind.

Liu Baoqing refused to believe this was the first crime for a guy like that. He had to have a record.

Liu Baoqing continued, "So, I think you were right. Investigating the local fishermen is probably the correct angle."

"Because if he needed to case the joint and learn Huang Weili’s routine, the best way to do it would be to pose as a fisherman."

"I bet the regulars here have seen him."

At that thought, Liu Baoqing’s dark mood lightened a little.

He knew one of the golden rules of policework: the more a killer does, the more information and mistakes they leave behind.

If he’d only killed Huang Weili, the police would have suspected a revenge killing and investigated Huang Weili’s social circle.

But with two victims, the situation was completely different.

Shen Xin nodded in agreement. After a moment’s thought, he said, "Captain Liu, what about motive? That’s still the key. Could it be some guy with a criminal record whose pride got wounded by Huang Weili and his friend, so he decided to kill them?"

"Or maybe Huang Weili and his friend found out one of the suspect’s dirty secrets, so he decided to silence them permanently."

"If that were the case, Xu Rulin probably would have mentioned it when we first questioned him."

"Or, what if Huang Weili and his friend didn’t even know what they saw? What if they just accidentally witnessed something that got them targeted by the suspect?"

’But what kind of dark secret could there be on a deserted mountain?’

Shen Xin couldn’t make sense of it.

’Something about this case just feels off, abnormal.’

When they got back to the reservoir, they were surprised to see that not only had Kong Lingzhi, the Director of the New District Branch, arrived, but Zhao Hongjie was there as well.

Zhao Hongjie was in the middle of giving orders.

Much like Shao Jingming before him, the order was to solve the case by the deadline, no matter the cost.

Two people murdered in the same spot, just a week apart. The public impact was horrendous.

More than that, it was a direct challenge to the police force.

As he finished speaking, he looked up and saw Shen Xin and his team.

He immediately waved them over and asked for an update on the tracking.

"Oh? So he even used disinfectant to throw off the K-9s. This is a habitual offender, isn’t it?" Zhao Hongjie snorted.

With that, he waved a hand, dismissing Captain Liu and the others to get back to work, but he called Shen Xin over to offer a few words of praise.

"I’ve heard all about it. You were the one who led the K-9 unit to track and pinpoint the suspect’s escape route. Excellent work. This is exactly why training these dogs is so important."

Seizing the opportunity, he decided to inspect Shen Xin’s work progress at the K-9 training base.

This gave Tang Changhong and his team quite a scare; it was basically a surprise inspection.

Tian Kui and the other dogs were brought out to demonstrate their training progress for Zhao Hongjie.

"Excellent," Zhao Hongjie said, full of praise.

Tang Changhong explained how quickly the program was progressing, and Zhao Hongjie could see it for himself.

This pack of dogs had been strays wandering the streets just over half a month ago. Now, they were surprisingly well-disciplined, lying down on command.

The progress was faster than a rocket launch.

Zhao Hongjie thought for a moment, then pulled Shen Xin aside and gave him another directive: Shen Xin was to equip the New District, Xinbei, Lishan, the airport, the railway, as well as Ji Port and Donglin, all with their own dedicated K-9 units.

If they didn’t have enough funding, he would approve more.

The value of police dogs was undeniable, especially for crucial tasks like narcotics detection and bomb disposal.

The boss had spoken. No matter how reluctant he was, Shen Xin could only nod in agreement.

’At this rate, am I really going to become a full-time K-9 trainer?’