Animal Detective

Chapter 310 - 257: Take a Gamble

Logically, Dou Dou was the most suitable choice.

She had a high affinity with him, was intelligent, and had extensive work experience.

However, getting her from the branch office would take at least an hour for the round trip.

Considering Ding Yuwei was relatively free, Shen Xin gave her a call and asked her to help by bringing Dou Dou over.

While he waited, Shen Xin didn’t stay idle. He leashed Odin, ready to give it a try first.

It was said that Bloodhounds had the most sensitive sense of smell.

Unconfirmed reports online claimed that a Bloodhound could track a scent from two weeks prior.

They could also supposedly follow a scent continuously for up to two hundred kilometers.

It sounded like an exaggeration.

Odin had also reached Phase Two. Although he hadn’t been formally trained, it was worth a shot.

"I’m going too."

Li Jiahui hurriedly followed.

Then there was Li Mo, who stared at Shen Xin with pleading eyes.

Even Tian Kui trotted forward and barked once at Shen Xin, as if to say, ’Why aren’t you taking me?’

He also barked at Odin, trying to intimidate him.

Shen Xin pointed at Li Mo and said, "You’re not going. Stay here and watch Tian Kui and the others."

"Huh?"

Li Mo looked reluctant, glaring at Shen Xin indignantly.

’You’re choosing a pretty face over your friend.’

Shen Xin ignored him.

Li Jiahui was a professional handler. They had even drawn on her work experience during Zhu Tianshun’s case.

She had to come along.

Li Jiahui was secretly pleased but immediately switched into work mode. She mentioned that Odin hadn’t received formal tracking training and suggested using Gang Ya instead.

He was a German Shepherd, the highest-rated professional tracking dog at the base.

"No need."

Shen Xin shook his head and refused. Their abilities were fundamentally different.

With that, he set off with Odin on his leash.

On the way, Shen Xin took the opportunity to tell Liu Baoqing that Odin was a police dog being trained for their New District Branch.

"Oh?"

Liu Baoqing immediately perked up and couldn’t help but give Odin a few extra pats.

He even instructed Zhao Tong, who was beside him, to use the team’s funds later to buy some good food and drinks online and have them sent over for Odin.

Shen Xin asked about Hu Yueqin’s situation.

More than half an hour had passed. If things went quickly, they should have already verified Hu Yueqin’s alibi.

Liu Baoqing nodded slightly. "The hotel has been checked. Hu Yueqin arrived at 9:54 last night, went upstairs to room 1126, and the surveillance footage shows she never came out."

"The room was booked by a man named Zhang Di. We asked Hu Yueqin; he’s her lover."

"She and Huang Weili are in the middle of a contentious divorce. Huang Weili was in the building materials business and owned a trading company. They couldn’t agree on the division of assets, so they’ve been fighting constantly."

"The reason she came to the reservoir to find Huang Weili was that he had been avoiding her recently. She remembered he liked to fish, so she came looking for him here."

"The hotel, Zhang Di, the surveillance on the surrounding roads—all of it has been verified. For now, her level of suspicion is very low."

Shen Xin nodded and didn’t ask any more questions.

It was clear that Captain Liu was also anxious.

Soon, the group arrived at the edge of the reservoir.

Li Jiahui subconsciously grabbed Shen Xin’s arm.

She saw the spot on the bank where Huang Weili’s body had been recovered.

The body had already been taken away, but traces of the scene remained.

Shen Xin noticed that some people had already started wading into the water to search for the stone.

’This reservoir is huge. This is going to take a while.’

They then arrived at the crime scene.

The police cordon had been expanded, and the search was proceeding piece by piece.

There was actually a lot of physical evidence at the scene, especially cigarette butts, which were everywhere.

It was possible one of them had been left by the killer, so they all had to be checked. Any that looked relatively new had to be collected.

Then there were the footprints. Since the area had been expanded, all clear footprints on the periphery had to be documented.

’They might even end up documenting my own footprints.’

Shen Xin didn’t rush to have Odin start tracking. He said, "Captain Liu, let’s do this. Gather everyone who has been to the crime scene."

"Also, get something with Huang Weili’s scent—he should have something in his car—and bring Hu Yueqin over as well."

"Basically, everyone who was present here around the time of the murder needs to come over. I need Odin to distinguish between their scents."

The key right now was to isolate the killer’s scent.

To do that, he had to first eliminate the scents of everyone else who had been at the scene.

Liu Baoqing understood instantly. He immediately had Zhao Tong go get Hu Yueqin and find a scent source in the victim’s car.

Then he had all the forensics technicians who had been at the scene gather together.

Soon, everyone was assembled.

Including the forensics technicians and the members of the criminal investigation division who had entered the crime scene, there were nine people in total.

That didn’t even include Shen Xin and Liu Baoqing.

Shen Xin led Odin into the scene.

Then he had him start sniffing.

He sniffed every corner.

Then, Shen Xin started pointing to people.

"Do you smell this person?" Shen Xin asked, holding up one of Huang Weili’s jackets.

He had spare clothes in his car.

Odin went closer for a sniff, then sniffed the air around him and barked once.

"Captain Liu, it seems to be working," Zhong Yu remarked, watching curiously.

Liu Baoqing nodded. ’Using a tracking dog is certainly convenient.’

"Then this isn’t the one we’re looking for," Shen Xin instructed, staring at Odin. He tossed the jacket to Li Jiahui.

This was an exclusion.

’Got it.’

Odin’s thoughts confirmed his understanding.

"What about this person, do you smell him?"

Shen Xin said, pointing to a technician.

Odin came over for a sniff, then sniffed the crime scene again and barked once.

"He’s not the one we’re looking for either."

Shen Xin continued the process of elimination, signaling for the man to leave the scene.

He continued eliminating people one by one in this manner.

The whole process went relatively smoothly.

After all, these technicians had been busy nearby, so their scents were strong enough.

Toward the end, however, Shen Xin started hearing some confused thoughts from Odin, like ’Who’s he?’ and ’Weird.’

There were probably too many people, and Odin was having trouble remembering them all.

It was said that Bloodhounds ranked 74th in canine intelligence.

Simply put, while their noses were sharp, their brains weren’t.

So he was getting confused and couldn’t match so many scents to their corresponding people.

Fortunately, Shen Xin could hear his thoughts. Otherwise, he would have had no way of knowing who Odin was failing to identify.

For anyone Odin couldn’t identify, they would just repeat the process, reinforcing the memory.

They kept at it this way until Ding Yuwei arrived with Dou Dou, by which time they had finally eliminated the scents of Shen Xin and everyone else who had been at the scene.

As soon as Dou Dou saw Shen Xin, she yelped happily.

She hadn’t seen much of Shen Xin for many days.

Ding Yuwei held her back, not letting her run up and interrupt.

The moment Dou Dou yelped, Odin’s attention wavered.

Shen Xin quickly grabbed his head. "Odin, look at me."

Once Odin’s gaze was focused, Shen Xin asked, "Besides all those people from just now, is there any other human scent here?"

’Human?’

Odin tilted his head slightly, his eyes filled with confusion.

His brain was starting to fail him again.

Shen Xin patiently explained again, saying it was a scent like his own.

The most important thing was to make Odin understand that he needed to exclude all the scents from the people just now.

And that it had to be a relatively fresh, noticeable scent.

Odin barked once, his thoughts confirming that there was.

Shen Xin quickly told him to track it.

Odin hesitated for a moment, then lowered his head to sniff and walked over to one of the technicians.

Shen Xin immediately understood that Odin still hadn’t fully grasped the command.

Li Jiahui couldn’t help but say, "Shen Xin, this is too difficult."

Basically, there was no telling how many different scents were left at the scene, and all of them had been left at different times.

Odin had no idea which type of scent or which time frame Shen Xin wanted him to find.

It was only normal that he couldn’t distinguish between them.

To be honest, the fact that Shen Xin could get Odin to differentiate between so many people’s scents just by talking to him was already incredible in Li Jiahui’s eyes.

Liu Baoqing walked over and said, "Xiaoshen, if it’s not working, let’s just forget it. I might have been too idealistic and didn’t properly consider the difficulty involved."

Shen Xin crossed his arms and thought for a moment, then decided to try a different approach.

"Captain Liu, how about we gamble a bit? Let’s bet that when the killer struck, threw the stone, or dragged Huang Weili, they got blood on their hands or clothes."

"We can just have Odin track Huang Weili’s blood."

If they were lucky, the killer would have Huang Weili’s blood on them.

In that case, tracking the blood would be the same as tracking the killer.

Liu Baoqing’s eyes lit up. He immediately took out his phone and called Wang Xiao Jin, telling him to quickly collect a blood sample from Huang Weili and bring it over.

Before long, it was delivered.

A blood-stained cotton ball in an evidence bag.

"Odin, sniff. Remember this scent."

After Odin had a sniff, Shen Xin let Dou Dou sniff it too.

Odin, being untrained, was still waiting for Shen Xin’s command.

But Dou Dou had already started sniffing around expertly. Soon, she barked once; she must have found something.

Meanwhile, under Shen Xin’s guidance, Odin also understood what he was supposed to do.

He seemed even more sensitive to the scent. He immediately turned and started moving along the bank.

Liu Baoqing’s eyes lit up again, and he immediately followed.

Shen Xin was just as excited.

’The gamble really paid off. The killer did get Huang Weili’s blood on them.’

The others quickly followed.

Dou Dou was experienced, so Ding Yuwei directly unclipped her leash.

Odin, however, still needed guidance from Shen Xin.

But when it came to actual tracking ability, it seemed Odin was slightly better.

A Bloodhound’s sense of smell was probably stronger than other breeds.

The general route led along the north side of the reservoir and up toward the concrete road.

This must have been the killer’s escape route.

Once they reached the concrete road, they turned right and headed downhill.

But at the spot where Huang Weili’s body was found, Dou Dou stopped. She ran over and barked once at Shen Xin.

’Found it.’

Odin followed her over.

Since Huang Weili’s body was found here, there was definitely a scent of blood left in this spot.

"Not here. Keep going."

Following the method Li Jiahui had used before, Shen Xin skipped this section, walked twenty meters further down the concrete road, and had the two dogs resume their search.

Sure enough, they picked up the scent again.

They continued on for about two hundred meters. Just as they were nearing the foot of the hill, where farmland cultivated by nearby residents lined the road, the two dogs changed direction.

They turned left, into a vegetable patch.

Shen Xin glanced ahead. Less than a hundred meters further was a wire mesh factory.

There were surveillance cameras over there.

Shen Xin said, "Captain Liu, our suspect deliberately avoided the cameras. They have a certain degree of counter-surveillance awareness."

Liu Baoqing nodded and told the technicians to watch their step and look for any footprints.

The area ahead was a vegetable patch, so the chance of finding footprints was high.

The killer must have followed the winding ridges between the vegetable plots, eventually reaching a nearby residential area.

A few houses were scattered here and there.

The further they went, the more certain Shen Xin became. ’This guy definitely cased the area. He’s taking all the small paths to avoid every camera.’

Of course, there weren’t many cameras here to begin with.

They passed through the residential area and came out onto the main road, Shanming East Road.

By this point, Dou Dou’s pace had already slowed.

It was the same when she was tracking Zhu Tianshun last time; she lost the scent on a road with heavy traffic.

Odin’s performance, however, was still fairly stable.

He had been following behind Dou Dou, but now he moved to the front.

After walking along the road for a stretch, he crossed to the other side.

He sniffed around and headed east.

Meanwhile, Liu Baoqing was looking around for any sign of surveillance cameras.

This wasn’t a residential area, so there were only traffic cameras.

After heading east for over a hundred meters, Dou Dou had completely lost the trail and looked bewildered.

But Odin was still on the chase.

However, it was clear his pace was slowing, and he had to sniff constantly.

There were too many interfering scents on the road.

Finally, after tracking for another seven or eight hundred meters, Odin stopped. He paced back and forth in the same spot, unable to find the scent.

He must have lost the trail.