Animal Detective

Chapter 194 Tiger
Look at the sign at the ticket booth; it says "Ludong Red Star Circus".

Passing through the entrance, you'll find the circus tents already set up.

A row of vans were parked around the tent.

This must be the kind of guerrilla team that travels all over the country performing.

The lights are on now, and colleague Sun Jingyi is asking a young man a question. When he sees Shen Xin, he points inside.

Shen Xin entered the tent.

In the middle is the stage, with very high iron railings.

The outer ring is made of simple seats.

Right now, in the middle of the stage, under the spotlights, forensic doctors and technicians are at work.

Chen Chao was outside the railing, pulling a young man aside and asking him about the situation.

He was quite thin, wearing a worn-out green cotton military overcoat and earmuffs. His hair was messy and looked like a bird's nest, and he had stubble on his lips. He was anxiously explaining something to Chen Chao.

"Team Leader Chen."

Shen Xin greeted them and looked towards the stage.

The stage was set up with some high stools and iron rings for performances.

Then, right in the direction of the exit, lay a man, wearing a down jacket, motionless.

"My dear Dr. Du, what's going on?" Shen Xin shouted.

Du Xinkai, who had probably been pulled out of bed, walked around to the side of the body and said, "I suspect it was an acute heart attack, but the traces at the scene are a bit strange."

He pointed to the corpse's right arm.

Shen Xin also saw it; the down jacket on the right arm of the corpse was torn by something.

"Is this a claw?"

Shen Xin gestured.

Kang Bin, who was taking the photo, nodded in agreement and said, "I think it looks like a claw, mainly these."

He pointed around.

In the center of the stage, the high stools and pillars used for the performance were all overturned.

It felt like I had been through a fight.

Chen Chao also came over and explained the situation.

It's 5:53 now.

At 4:48 a.m., Chen Chao, who was on duty, received a call from Houxia Police Station informing him of a murder. He immediately rushed over.

The exact time of the incident is unknown.

The person who called the police was the young man Chen Chao had just questioned, named Lu Wenxue.

The deceased was his maternal uncle, named Tian Haiming.

With the Lunar New Year approaching, Houxia is holding a series of activities to welcome the Spring Festival, and they were invited to perform the circus.

They came from eastern Shandong the day before yesterday.

It took two days to set up the stage.

Tian Haiming is the leader of this circus. Yesterday, after the stage was set up, they went to a restaurant for dinner together in the evening, and then most of them went to a hotel in town to rest.

Tian Haiming and Lu Wenxue stayed at the circus to oversee the equipment.

They said they were checking out the equipment, but the security situation is much better now, and there aren't many thieves or burglars.

In addition, he drank quite a bit of alcohol that night, so when Lu Wenxue got back before nine o'clock, he went straight to sleep. He slept very soundly and slept until after four o'clock, when he was woken up by the urge to urinate.

Then they noticed a light on in the tent. When they came over, they found Tian Haiming's body. Terrified, they immediately called the police.

It was a murder case, so the Houxia Police Station immediately transferred it to the branch bureau.

"Captain Chen, do you believe what he says?" Shen Xin turned to look at Lu Wenxue.

The circus only had the two of them on night watch. One of them died, and the other was fast asleep, not hearing a sound.
Chen Chao said, "It's hard to say. Old Du said it might have been an accidental death."

He walked to the railing and asked Du Xinkai if he could confirm the time of death.
Du Xinkai stood up and said, "Judging from the lividity, the degree of rigor mortis, and the temperature last night, I initially estimate that the person died about six hours ago, which is between 11 pm and midnight last night."

"As for the cause of death."

He pursed his lips and said, "No external injuries have been found yet. Didn't that guy say the deceased had heart disease? I estimate there's still a high probability that he died of acute heart failure."

The subtext of this statement is that it could just be an accident.

Chen Chao nodded, staring at the stage in thought, when a young man with short hair and a small braid ran quickly towards the entrance to the backstage area.

"Brother, something's happened! Da Chun is missing!" he shouted in a panic.

Lu Wenxue, who was anxiously scratching his head, suddenly changed his expression and asked in surprise, "How did it disappear? Don't talk nonsense."

Chen Chao immediately asked, "Who is Da Chun?"

The young man with the pigtail hurriedly said, "Officer, Da Chun isn't a person, he's a tiger, our circus tiger. I was just about to feed it when I opened the door and it disappeared."

"Old... tiger?"

Chen Chao was taken aback.

Shen Xin was also startled.

Are you kidding me? The tiger is gone.

The group quickly passed through the backstage area and came to the outside of the tent.

There are fields across the street, and a row of vans are parked here.

The tailgate of one of the trucks was open, revealing an iron cage inside.

"Look, there really isn't any left," the young man exclaimed, pointing to the empty carriage.

Lu Wenxue was completely dumbfounded.

Chen Chao and Shen Xin were also stunned.

"You mean there are tigers locked up here? Were they still there when I came back yesterday?"

Despite the dead of winter, Chen Chao almost broke out in a cold sweat. Lu Wenxue stared blankly, shook his head in bewilderment, and said, "I don't know. I remember it was still there when I went to eat yesterday, but I didn't check it when I got back, and I just went to sleep."

"No, the cage was locked, how could it be gone!"

He looked incredulous.

Shen Xin also saw that the cage inside the carriage was indeed locked.

"Does anyone have the key?" Shen Xin asked hurriedly.

Lu Wenxue said, "My uncle."

Chen Chao snapped out of his daze and hurriedly said to the young men, "Quickly check all the animals to see if they're in the wrong cages, and if any other animals are missing."

As he spoke, he quickly beckoned Lu Wenxue into the tent and asked Du Xinkai and Tian Haiming if they had any keys in their pockets.

"Have."

Du Xinkai picked up an evidence bag and said.

Chen Chao quickly took the key and asked Lu Wenxue to check if the key to the tiger's cage was there.

"Here I am."

Lu Wenxue recognized a key and said, "This is the only key."

Who opened the cage?
Chen Chao then eagerly asked what kind of tiger it was and how big it was.

"It's a Siberian tiger, 11 years old. My uncle bought it from another circus six years ago, and all the paperwork is in order. No, why would anyone steal a tiger?"

As Lu Wenxue spoke, he scratched his head hard again.

That's a tiger!

Which thief is so blind as to try and steal a tiger?

Chen Chao wanted to know too.

Shen Xin said, "Captain Chen, this tiger has probably been missing for several hours."

The two exchanged a glance, and Chen Chao understood.

Tian Haiming died six hours ago. If something happened to him at that time, and someone stole his keys and the tiger, then the tiger would have been missing for six hours.

"You really didn't hear a single sound? And don't tigers roar when they encounter strangers?" Shen Xin asked again.

This guy can't possibly be sleeping that soundly, can he?

Lu Wenxue shook his head: "Officer, I was really asleep, I didn't hear anything."

Shen Xin's situation remains uncertain for now.

I initially thought Tian Haiming might have died of a heart attack, an accidental death.

But now that the tiger is gone, the situation may be different.

Perhaps someone was plotting to steal the tiger, which was discovered by Tian Haiming, leading to a conflict. In the heat of the moment, Tian Haiming suffered a heart attack and died unexpectedly.

It is possible.

After all, tigers are quite valuable.

Moreover, Lu Wenxue is now a suspect. Stealing a tiger would definitely cause a lot of noise, and it's strange that he didn't hear a sound at all.

Just then, the young man ran back and said that he had checked the whole area and found that none of the animals were missing except for the tiger.

Chen Chao immediately led Shen Xin outside, looking around to find their target.

Shen Xin knew what he was looking for.

Check the surveillance footage.

This is a tiger. If the suspect were to steal it, they would definitely need to anesthetize the tiger and then use a cage. Therefore, the best option would be to use a van to move it.

"Team Leader Chen, over there."

Shen Xin pointed to the other side of the road.

There's a machine shop by the roadside, and there's a security camera at the entrance, angled towards this side.

The two immediately went to the gate.

The security guard had gone to the other side to see what was going on, and when he came back, he quickly opened the gate.

Chen Chao operates the computer to replay the surveillance footage.

I started watching it at 11 p.m. last night.

From the surveillance perspective, two-thirds of the circus can be captured on camera.

Moreover, there were streetlights on the road, so the photo was fairly clear.

A few cars passed by sporadically, but they were all sedans.

Chen Chao kept playing the video at high speed, and then at 11:52, his eyes suddenly narrowed.

Shen Xin's eyes widened instantly.

"Captain Chen..."

Shen Xin turned to look at Chen Chao, his heart pounding.

Surveillance footage showed that at 52 minutes past the hour, a tiger ran out from a row of trucks near the circus entrance.

That's right, it ran out.

A live tiger.

It didn't get onto the road, but headed east and disappeared from the surveillance camera's view.

"Fuck you!"

Chen Chao immediately swore.

An adult tiger has escaped, and has been running for six hours.

At that moment, Chen Chao felt a chill run down his spine.

(End of this chapter)