Animal Detective

Chapter 144 The Human Ear in the Lunch Box

The crime scene was surprisingly in Chun Chao Jiayuan.

The specific address is the South District of Phase III of Chun Chao Jiayuan, next to the community garbage transfer station on Chunhua Road.

There are two garbage transfer stations, one in the east and one in the west, in the entire Chun Chao Jiayuan community.

Every morning and evening, community staff collect the trash cans from the residential areas and shops of all sizes, take them to a transfer station, and then have them hauled away by garbage trucks for further processing.

I arrived at 10:13 a.m.

The garbage station is located on the back side of the third phase of the South District, deep in a side road of Chunhua Road.

This road is a dead end, and it's usually full of parked private cars.

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

Zhang Jian was also there, setting up a cordon to maintain order at the scene.

"Director Yao."

Sun Zhao went to greet him immediately.

Zhang Jian had already seen Shen Xin and came over to ask how Shen Xin was doing lately.

"I heard that after you went to the branch office, you solved several cases and even created a short video account. Zhang Qian keeps watching it and even offered a reward, making quite a stir." Zhang Jian said with a smile.

"There's not much going on, it's just busywork. I just do whatever the boss tells me to do."

Shen Xin modestly asked about Li Dongsheng.

"The police have been dispatched."

Zhang Jian casually remarked and led Shen Xin into the scene.

Shen Xin quickly learned the situation.

Every morning at six o'clock, the community's garbage collectors will bring all the nearby garbage bins here.

The trash can was filled with garbage from the previous night.

When the garbage truck arrives, they empty the garbage cans one by one into the truck, then clean them, and replace them again in the evening.

There are two garbage stations, one on the east and one on the west. This one is on the east side and is larger than the one on the west side.

Because there are two commercial streets between Phase 3 and Phase 2, there will be more businesses.

After the trash cans are brought over, the people at the garbage station usually sort through them to see if there are any cardboard boxes, bottles, or anything like that.

Especially in the morning.

Because the evening batch usually hasn't even been recruited yet, the elderly people in the community have already screened them all.

Then, while rummaging through the trash, they found two mineral water bottles in a trash bag.

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

He casually pried open the garbage bag, and the mineral water bottle and disposable lunch box fell out.

Then, one of the lunch boxes contained an ear.

Human ears!

Li Mingdong was terrified and immediately called the police.

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

After confirming that it was a human ear and not a silicone model, the criminal investigation team was notified immediately.

Kang Bin has finished taking the photos.

Forensic pathologist Du Xinkai carefully picked up the ear and examined it closely.

Shen Xin also glanced at the trash can.

The bag that held the lunchbox was the common kind, a plain white plastic bag with a yellow smiley face on it.

The lunchbox that fell out was the most common white one, a disposable lunchbox often used to hold rice.

Then the food is packaged in a typical divided, yellow-background takeout box.

This is the most common type of fast food restaurant on the street.

Shen Xin noticed that there were two boxed meals, disposable chopsticks, and soup bowls in the bag.

Then, in the lunchbox that fell out, about two-thirds of the rice had been eaten, there were a few chicken bones, and the human ear was placed in the lunchbox.

"It was cut off by a sharp tool."

Du Xinkai showed Sun Zhao the incision on his ear and then said, "It was around 10 degrees Celsius last night. The temperature was low, so there were no signs of decay yet."

He leaned closer and smelled it, then said, "In my personal experience, it takes about 12 hours after it's been cut off."

Sun Zhao nodded and noted it down.

He personally felt it wouldn't exceed 12 hours.

At 6 p.m., Li Mingdong and his team will conduct the second garbage transfer.

So this trash must have been thrown away after 6 p.m. last night.

It has only been sixteen hours so far.

"The key point is, I've never seen a body disposed of using a boxed lunch," Du Xinkai said.

Many people dump bodies in trash cans.

But he had never encountered anything like throwing away an ear, especially one that was stuffed into a lunchbox.

"It's hard to say."

Sun Zhao did not rush to conclude that it was murder and body disposal.

First, abandoning the ear is somewhat unusual, and second, seeing only the ear doesn't necessarily mean the other person is dead.

But there's no doubt that someone nearby lost an ear.

He called Yao Wensheng and asked him to help by going to two nearby hospitals and clinics to inquire if there were any patients with severed ears.

Then Zhao Tianxing was asked to confirm the location of the trash can.

Then, Shen Xin and the others worked together to remove all the trash from the bins. "Since they're throwing away trash, they might not just be throwing away lunchboxes," Sun Zhao analyzed.

I bought two boxed meals. After eating them, I would habitually put them back in the original packaging bag, and then throw them away with other household garbage.

If this is the case, then the bucket may still contain the victim's or the suspect's personal trash.

He took out a boxed lunch and asked Ding Yuwei to record the contents.

"Xiao Ding, go ask Director Yao for the person. Go through all the fast food restaurants in the vicinity and see what dishes they cooked last night, as well as the takeout boxes and bags, and see if there's anything that matches."

Ding Yuwei nodded and went immediately.

After giving the order, Sun Zhao waved to Shen Xin and asked, "Xiao Shen, do you think Dou Dou can find the victim through this ear?"

Finding the location of the trash can, locating where the boxed lunch was bought, and then slowly tracing the person who threw the trash away will definitely take a long time.

In Sun Zhao's view, the most convenient and direct method is still to use police dogs.

This is also why he has always wanted an excellent police dog. With a police dog, it can really play a big role in solving cases.

"Hard to say."

Shen Xin thought for a moment and said.

The main problem is that the ear is in a trash can, with too many related distractions.

"But let's give it a try." Since Sun Zhao had suggested it, Shen Xin thought it was worth a shot.

DouDou has an amazing sense of smell.

Chasing her husband for 30 kilometers is something not every dog ​​can do.

"Then try it."

Sun Zhao nodded with a smile.

Going back would be a bit troublesome, so Shen Xin asked in the group who was in the team and then asked him to bring Dou Dou over.

While we waited, the results of the survey on the location of the trash cans were available.

All the trash cans are green.

It has a number, but in practice, there is no specific division of areas.

Then there are several sanitation workers like Li Mingdong. They just haul everything away and then put it away haphazardly. They don't bother to remember which trash can came from which location.

The surveillance footage from the garbage station shows that a sanitation worker named Liang Wei dragged the garbage can in.

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

This road is the commercial street between Phase 3 and Phase 2. There are many shops along the street, and it is usually very lively.

But Liang Wei really couldn't remember which trash can it was.

However, it has been confirmed that the garbage came from shops, not residential areas. Garbage from residential areas is usually thrown into the community.

At this moment, Lao Xing from the team brought Dou Dou over.

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

Li Jiahui.

The veterinarian and trainer at the police dog base who has an exceptionally good physique.

Shen Xin had only met her once.

She led DouDou over.

"Why are you here?" Shen Xin asked curiously.

Li Jiahui said, "I came to see you last week, but they said you went to Fushan on a business trip. So I came to see you again, and you were at the scene again. I knew you were going to use police dogs, so I came along."

She offered an explanation, clearly still unwilling to give up, hoping to get the secret to training police dogs from Shen Xin.

Then she asked what was going on.

She was a professional, and Shen Xin happened to ask her to assess the situation and whether the police dog could track down the owner of the ear.

Li Jiahui pondered for a moment, then shook her head and said, "It's a bit difficult, but it's worth a try."

Since she said so, Shen Xin had no more worries.

I led DouDou to the trash can.

Du Xinkai brought over a human ear.

"DouDou, smell carefully and find out where this ear came from," Shen Xin ordered.

It's the second phase now, so communication is easier.

Li Jiahui looked on in confusion; this was the first time she had ever seen a way to guide a police dog to identify the scent source.

But surprisingly, DouDou seemed to understand.

Without touching anyone's ear, she kept sniffing and trying to identify them.

"And the lunchbox too, it's with us."

Shen Xin then pointed to the lunchbox.

"Chicken leg, your favorite." Shen Xin picked up a chicken bone and let Dou Dou smell it.

Li Jiahui watched silently, finding it increasingly unbelievable.

It seems like Shen Xin is having a direct conversation with Dou Dou.

DouDou barked once.

【Understood】

Shen Xin immediately heard her thoughts.

"Smart," Shen Xin praised, urging her to take immediate action.

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

Sun Zhao and the others did not hesitate and quickly followed.

(End of this chapter)