Animal Detective

Chapter 129 The Dead Cat
Two police cars drove into Tianhe Jiayuan, one after the other.

All the resettlement communities in Nanjiang are actually quite similar; they are large in area, often consisting of dozens or even hundreds of units.

Then the property management of the community becomes a mere formality, usually with an old man in charge, and it becomes a gathering place for the elderly in the community to chat.

There is surveillance, but it lacks routine maintenance. It's not used normally, and when it is needed, something always breaks down.

So when Zhao Shouchuan pointed to the security camera at the entrance of the building and said it had been broken for a long time, Shen Xin was not surprised at all.

It is a 24-story high-rise building with two elevators serving two households per floor.

王磊居住的302是中间户的小户型，72平米，2室2厅1卫。

The door is now tightly closed and sealed off.

After calling 120 on the 23rd, and with the arrival of the CDC and the local police station, Zhang Qingpeng hurriedly moved away from the place.

He has already given a statement to the police station and is currently staying in a hotel.

Zhao Shouchuan had already told him not to leave Nanjiang unless absolutely necessary.

302 has also been sealed off.

Both sets of keys are at the police station.

Wang Lei's husky was taken away by the CDC and sent to a stray dog ​​shelter.

Zhao Shouchuan took out his key and opened the door.

The three put on shoe covers and entered the room.

It's 72 square meters, with a relatively small shared area, so it's still quite large.

The rental properties here include both unfurnished and renovated units.

The apartment in front of us was clearly the work of a sub-landlord, priced at 1600. Wang Lei will live in the master bedroom and will pay 1000.

The entrance leads directly into the living room, which has no balcony and only one south-facing window.

Both bedrooms face south, and both the master bedroom and the second bedroom have balconies, but they are not connected.

On the left are the kitchen and the bathroom, respectively.

A dining table was placed at the entrance to the kitchen, and a set of fabric sofas with a chaise lounge was placed in the corner on the right.

Shen Xin stood at the door, silently scanning the furnishings of the entire room.

It's no surprise that a room shared by two boys wouldn't be very clean or tidy.

Clothes were scattered haphazardly on the sofa, and the coffee table was also cluttered with various items.

There were many takeout packages on the table.

The kitchen has pots and pans, but it's probably just used for cooking instant noodles.

Both bedroom doors were open, and there were signs that Zhang Qingpeng's second bedroom had been tidied up.

Wang Lei's room remains unchanged.

There is a desktop computer.

There are also cameras, tripods, fill lights, and so on.

He's a streamer, so it's normal for him to have these things.

"Do you smell anything foul?" Shen Xin asked.

Ding Yuwei nodded and said she could smell it too.

Zhao Tianxing probably has a cold, and said no.

But Zhao Shouchuan said, "Speaking of which, when I came here last time, I also smelled a bit of a stench, but I thought it was because he kept a dog, so I didn't think much of it."

Shen Xin shook his head.

Dogs do have a strong body odor, but unlike cats, dogs don't use litter boxes, and if the litter box isn't cleaned regularly, the smell will be quite strong.

Dogs need to be walked; if they poop outside, they won't smell like that.

Shen Xin sniffed repeatedly, trying to pinpoint the source of the stench.

Then I went into the master bedroom.

The sound is coming from the direction of the master bedroom.

Shen Xin lay down on the floor and looked under the bed. There were only three shoes and some trash.

"It looks like it's outside," Ding Yuwei said, pointing to the balcony.

Shen Xin went to the balcony, where a lot of things were piled up in one corner.

There is a wooden flowerpot stand, but no flowerpots. Socks and clothes racks are placed on it.

There were many shoe boxes piled up outside, suggesting that Wang Lei has a hobby of collecting sneakers.

Shen Xin leaned closer and smelled it; indeed, the smell was coming from here.

And it's definitely not the smell of smelly shoes, it's a rotten smell.

Shen Xin started moving the shoebox, and when he had moved about half of it out, his expression suddenly changed.

Under the flowerpot stand, in the far corner of the balcony, lay a cat lying upright.

It was a calico cat, clearly dead for several days. It had long passed the rigor mortis period and was already softened, with its fur falling off. Putrid liquid was oozing from its abdomen, and maggots were crawling around its ears and nose.

"Does Wang Lei also keep cats?" Ding Yuwei frowned, covered her nose, and squatted down to check.

Shen Xin came out, looked around, and found the cat litter box in the bathroom.

I'm using tofu cat litter. It contains feces, and then there's a clump of urine that forms.

It's probably been unused for a few days.

"Strange, what's this cat doing here?" Zhao Shouchuan frowned.

When they came last time, they already knew that Wang Lei not only owned a husky, but also a cat.

The disease control staff also asked Zhang Qingpeng, who said that he might have secretly run away and they hadn't seen him for a few days.

I never imagined I'd die here.

Ding Yuwei held up her phone and pointed at the cat's head, saying, "Shen Xin, look at this cat's head. Its lower jaw is drooping, and its tongue is sticking out. Online information says that when a cat dies from rabies, it will drool a lot and stick its tongue out."

"Moreover, cats and dogs are quite different. Dogs infected with rabies become very aggressive, while cats will seek out corners and dark places to hide."

"Shen Xin, this cat may have died from rabies."

Shen Xin squatted down, moved all the shoe boxes, shelves, and miscellaneous items to the side, and carefully examined the dead cat.

She looks a lot like Da Mei.

They are all long-haired calico cats, and they are not British Shorthair or other breeds; they are domestic shorthair cats.

Shen Xin subconsciously reached out to turn the cat's body over to check for wounds, but then stopped abruptly, withdrew his hand, and asked, "It's dead now, it shouldn't be contagious, right?"

Ding Yuwei searched again and then said, "It says that within one or two days of death, the tissue fluid is still infectious, but after one or two days, the virus should be inactive and no longer infectious. Moreover, you must have a wound on your hand to get infected."

Shen Xin felt a wave of embarrassment; thankfully, he hadn't touched it.

Even if I'm wearing gloves.

This thing has a 100% mortality rate, which is really disgusting.

Picking up a clothes rack nearby, Shen Xin turned the cat's body over.

It's hairy, so it's not very noticeable.

If the cat died from rabies, then the biggest question arises: how did it get infected?

None of Wang Lei's husky was infected.

"It couldn't have been Wang Lei who bit me, could it?" Shen Xin retorted.

The three of them nodded.

Zhao Shouchuan said, "Could it be that this cat ran away? Zhang Qingpeng said that he hadn't seen it for several days and suspected that it had run away. Then this cat ran away, got infected, and then ran back. After the incubation period, it got sick and bit Wang Lei, causing Wang Lei to also get infected."

"The husky was vaccinated, so it was not infected."

"Then the case is solved."

Wang Lei's parents want an explanation; they want to know exactly how Wang Lei got infected.

Shen Xin nodded.

It is indeed possible.

Dogs are a major source of infection, as are cats.

"By the way, Ding Yuwei, is there any difference between the incubation period for cats after infection and that of dogs and humans?" Shen Xin asked.

When asked about the exact date when the cats stopped disappearing, Zhang Qingpeng then asked Zhao Shouchuan.

Zhao Shouchuan shook his head, saying that Zhang Qingpeng had not specified a time.

We can ask about this again later.

You should be able to tell by looking at the litter box. It's just one big clump of litter; if it hasn't been cleaned since, that's when it was lost.

Ding Yuwei also checked on her phone and said, "The incubation period for cats, dogs, and humans is actually about the same. It depends on the wound. If the wound is near the head, the onset of the disease will be faster, possibly as short as one to two weeks, around 10 days."

"But the infectious period after a cat gets sick may be shorter; it will die in one or two days. For humans, it will also take two to seven days to die."

(End of this chapter)