Animal Detective

Chapter 205 presents conflicting accounts.

While waiting for Ding Yuwei, Chen Chao and Lao Qian had already surveyed the area around the scrap yard.

“Strange, I asked the residents around here, and no one has seen the child in the scrap yard.”

Old Qian looked puzzled and even asked the elderly people in the neighborhood.

They often collect cardboard boxes to sell at recycling stations to learn about the situation there.

They said the owner of the scrap yard is surnamed Li. The woman is his wife, and the old lady is his mother, but they don't know her surname.

"Logically speaking, since they've been taking their child out to beg for more than just a day or two, someone should have seen them."

This recycling station has been open for over a year, and I haven't seen any children coming or going, which is very unusual.

Chen Chao asked about the same situation. He crossed his arms, looked at the tiger-striped dog squatting at Shen Xin's feet, and said without making any judgments, "Let's wait for Xiao Ding to come back and investigate before we talk about it."

Shen Xin also felt something was amiss after hearing Lao Qian's words.

However, when the two went to investigate the situation, Shen Xin asked Tiger Stripe in detail.

By listening to their inner thoughts and asking targeted questions, we repeatedly confirmed the true meaning behind Tiger Stripe's words.

Shen Xin asked this guy many times when he first came to the scrap yard, but he couldn't give a clear answer.

He has no concept of time.

Da Mei is the same; she remembers what happened, but doesn't have a specific concept of time.

He met a child who played with him, and he was very happy.

He came more than once, because he frequently frequented this area and harassed stray dogs.

Occasionally, he would come over and play with the kids at the recycling station.

Regarding the number of children, Shen Xin asked in different ways and confirmed that there were three.

Animals don't lie. If the tiger said that, then three children must have appeared at the junkyard.

That contradicts what the surrounding residents said.

The residents wouldn't lie, and neither would the tiger stripe, so there's only one explanation: this group hid the child very well.

How they did it remains a mystery.

Just like Chen Chao said, let's do some reconnaissance first.

Ding Yuwei returned at almost 11 o'clock.

Shen Xin put a collar on Da Mei.

I considered using the Great Beauty occasionally for reconnaissance, so I made improvements to the collar.

The technical solution developed by Cai Zhe and his team uses miniature police cameras with integrated wireless modules.

Shen Xin's factory makes small handicrafts and has mold-making equipment. Shen Xin had someone make the mold, so although the current necklace has a shorter battery life, it has become smaller.

Wearing it around Da Mei's neck, it's a common choker, but made yellow, making it quite difficult to distinguish.

Compared to the tiger stripe, the big beauty is more appealing and easier to understand.

Shen Xin and Chen Chao arrived near the scrap yard and gave her some instructions: find the child, avoid being discovered by adults, and run away if discovered. They then put her in the scrap yard.

The receiving range is only 80 meters, but that's enough.

Shen and Xin retreated to the outer perimeter and checked the live feed on their phones.

Then they saw Da Mei had already jumped onto the windowsill and was quietly watching the situation inside the room through the window.

The owner of the scrap yard was lounging on the bed, watching a variety show, while a woman was washing her feet next to him.

Apart from that, I didn't see any children.

After washing her feet, the woman carried the basin outside.

Great beauty hides silently in the shadows.

She splashed the water away, returned to her room, and didn't notice Da Mei's presence at all.

Da Mei paused for a moment, then went to the next room.

The room was dark, with the lights off, and you couldn't see anything.

"It would be great if it had night vision," Chen Chao muttered.

Shen Xin thought to himself, "Your standards are too high."

However, thanks to the occasional flashes of light from the fireworks in the distant sky, one could barely make out the situation inside the house.

It seems to be the old lady's room.

The old lady was already asleep in bed and didn't see any children. Da Mei, with her better eyesight, must have seen the situation much earlier. She jumped off the windowsill, paused briefly at the door of the next room, but didn't linger, going directly to the outside of the last bungalow.

Cats have a keen sense of smell and even more sensitive hearing; Da Mei should be able to hear a person's breathing.

She jumped onto the windowsill of the last room.

Pressing down on the plastic film, it stretched out its paws, pried open the plastic film, and crawled inside.

I peered inside through the window.

The camera was almost pressed against the window, and the room was pitch black, so nothing could be seen.

There was a bang.

A firework bursts into the sky over the residential area across the main road.

Being so close, the light from the fireworks quickly streamed into the room through the camera lens, and Shen Xin squinted, vaguely seeing something.

Another firework exploded, illuminating the night sky.

"Is someone in bed?" Ding Yuwei asked softly.

Chen Chao nodded slightly; he had seen it too.

Fireworks continued to rise into the sky, and Da Mei stared at them without moving. In the footage, the interior of the house was alternately lit and darkened.

Shen Xin also saw clearly that there was a large bed in the room, covered with a quilt, and judging from the position of the bulge, there were three.

It was cold, and there was no heating or air conditioning, so everyone was huddled under the covers, with only half their heads sticking out.

But judging by the bulge, it's definitely three children.

"Don't worry, we can't be sure if it's a child." Chen Chao saw Shen Xin looking up at him and immediately signaled him to calm down.

Da Mei jumped off the windowsill, trying to find a place to go inside.

But the door was closed, and there was no other entrance nearby. She wandered around for a while, then gave up, nimbly jumped onto a pile of junk, and waited silently.

She has enough patience.

There probably won't be any results in the short term; the door is closed, and there's nothing Da Mei can do.

But a glimpse through the light of the fireworks is enough.

"Captain Chen, what do we do?" Shen Xin was impatient and wanted to rush in right now and subdue the man, the woman, and the old woman.

"Don't worry."

Chen Chao waved his hand, thought for a moment, and said, "Catch the thief red-handed. Here's what we'll do: we'll arrange for people to keep watch. Tomorrow is the first day of the Lunar New Year, and there will be many activities in many places with lots of people. It'll be a good opportunity to beg."

“If they take their children out to beg, then we can gather evidence and see if they have any accomplices.”

Animal trafficking and mutilation are rarely individual acts; they often involve an entire human trafficking ring.

"Then check the boss's personal information and the nearby surveillance footage to see if anything is found."

"And let me tell you, some people really do bring their own children out to beg, or they borrow disabled children from others."

"This kind of thing is troublesome, let's try to confirm things clearly before taking any action."

"Anyway, the person is right here, we're watching them, they can't escape."

Chen Chao thought of things more thoroughly.

Shen Xin nodded and volunteered to stay behind to keep watch.

"also."

Now that this unexpected situation has been discovered, Shen Xin doesn't need to go home anymore.

Shen Xin left his car behind, while Chen Chao and Lao Qian returned to the branch office.

Shen Xin drove the car to the side of the road, where he could see the exit of the scrap yard at a glance. He turned to Ding Yuwei and told her to rest first, and that he would take over her shift later.

"Why don't you rest first? I'm not sleepy yet."

Ding Yuwei shook her head slightly, glancing at Shen Xin out of the corner of her eye.

"Okay, then call me."

Shen Xin nodded and crawled into the back row to lie down.

Ding Yuwei silently rolled her eyes. She was thinking that since no one was sleepy, they could chat for a while.

Shen Xin, on the other hand, just went to sleep.

(End of this chapter)