Chapter 41: It’s Not Easy Being a Dog

“This is the evaluation site. In a moment, you’ll go in on your own. We’ll be monitoring everything from outside. If there’s any violation of the rules, we’ll sound a buzzer. After three warnings, you’ll be considered to have failed, even if you successfully locate and apprehend the suspect.”

Just before entering the testing area, Li Guodong gave one final reminder. In recent years, there hadn’t even been any applicants for the Criminal Investigation Dog program, which he found quite disappointing. Although he couldn’t yet tell if this little guy had what it took to pass, its courage alone was commendable. Li Guodong was genuinely looking forward to its performance.

Song Changfeng and Aofeng nodded in unison, both man and dog wearing serious expressions. Aofeng looked up at the somewhat rundown two-story building in front of him, took a deep breath, and slowly stepped inside.

The first room was the living room. It was a bit messy, with signs of rummaging everywhere, especially the cabinet beneath the television. Its doors were wide open, and scattered papers littered the floor.

Aofeng walked straight over, lowered his head, and began sniffing carefully.

The scents here were jumbled, clearly indicating that more than one person had been in the room. But most of the smells had faded with time. Only two stood out: one carried the bitter, burnt aroma of coffee and the scent of shoe polish; the other, after a moment of focused sniffing and some mental effort, Aofeng finally identified from deep within his memory – nail polish.

Yes, nail polish. The chemicals in it had a sharp, pungent quality. Smelling it for too long could cause dizziness, and for someone like Aofeng whose sense of smell was now extremely sensitive, it was undoubtedly harmful.

This meant that at least two people had rifled through things here. One was likely a man who drank coffee regularly, the other a woman who wore nail polish. Still, it was too early to say whether they were working together.

Aofeng then sniffed around other suspicious spots in the living room. Besides the two scents from the cabinet, he picked up another strong odor on the sofa. This one was heavier, a mix of cigarette smoke, sweat, and the distinct smell of medicated ointment. Judging by this scent, the person was probably a middle-aged or elderly man.

While Aofeng worked diligently to piece things together, Song Changfeng followed silently behind, not saying a word. But he, too, was analyzing the scene in his mind. He noticed that Aofeng lingered the longest in front of the TV cabinet and at the sofa, suggesting that the suspect or the victim had spent considerable time in those two spots.

“Why aren’t they checking other rooms? They haven’t even found the victim yet. Why are they still stuck in the living room?”

In the monitoring room, several people besides Li Guodong were watching the surveillance feed intently, not missing a single move. One young man, puzzled by how long they were staying in the living room, voiced his confusion. But they couldn’t intervene, so they kept watching with growing curiosity.

Fortunately, the pair had now moved on, and the surveillance feed shifted from the living room to the dining room.

After circling the dining room briefly, Aofeng didn’t linger and headed straight for the kitchen.

The kitchen was neatly arranged. Aside from the daily essentials, there was nothing extra. Aofeng once again assessed the homeowner’s identity. This seemed to be a household without a female presence. Moreover, the strongest scent in the kitchen matched the one from the sofa. The other smells were faint, suggesting that the middle-aged man whose scent was on the sofa was likely the homeowner.

Aofeng scanned the items on the countertop: a few empty bowls and plates, a covered three-dish-one-soup meal, a clean cutting board hanging nearby, and a knife rack…

Wait, the knife rack?

Aofeng stood on his hind legs, placing his front paws on the counter and leaning in for a closer look. He noticed a missing slot in the knife rack. Judging by the narrow opening, it had originally held a fruit knife about fifteen centimeters long.

All the other knives were still there, except for that one. And there were no fruit trays or similar items in the living or dining rooms. That made it highly likely that the missing fruit knife was the murder weapon!

This discovery made Aofeng a little excited. Behind him, Song Changfeng also showed a faint smile, clearly thinking this was an important lead. Li Guodong, watching from the surveillance room, nodded in approval. Finding such a clue without any guidance was indeed impressive. Li Guodong assumed Aofeng had picked up on a distinct scent, but what he didn’t know was that Aofeng had once been someone capable of independent thought and judgment.

After finishing the kitchen search, Aofeng headed upstairs. The moment he stepped onto the first landing, he froze.

A strong scent of blood was coming from somewhere above. He bolted up the stairs, taking them two or three at a time, and soon found himself in front of a half-open door on the left. Inside the bedroom, he discovered a body.

Well, not exactly a body.

It was actually a dummy made of silicone, crudely crafted with a face so distorted it was almost comical. The thing was covered in blood, but after sniffing it, Aofeng realized it was probably chicken or duck blood. It had a gamey, unpleasant smell, whereas human blood usually carried a salty, metallic tang. Also, the blood looked unnaturally thick and bright red, clearly not human.

Still, the splatter pattern looked disturbingly realistic, just like a real crime scene. Ironically, back when Aofeng was human, he’d never seen a real crime scene—except on the day he became a victim himself. It was only after becoming a police dog that he got the chance. Especially since Song Changfeng had a collection of casebooks, many of which included illustrations based on actual crime scenes that were chilling to look at.

When Song Changfeng read them, Aofeng would rest his head on his arm and read along. Song Changfeng never pushed him away. Sometimes, he’d even shift the book closer so Aofeng could see better. Song Changfeng read quickly, and whenever he tried to turn the page, Aofeng would press his paw down to stop him. Aofeng never knew whether Song Changfeng had noticed anything unusual about him. Sometimes, he felt like Song Changfeng was indulging him a bit too much. He always consulted Aofeng before making decisions, rarely acting like other trainers who made all the calls themselves.

Still, since Song Changfeng didn’t see anything unusual about it, Aofeng simply pretended not to notice either. As long as the two of them were comfortable with how they got along, that was all that mattered.

“Why’s it just staring? Why isn’t it going up to sniff?” Watching from the surveillance room, the young man couldn’t hold back his curiosity. He didn’t realize Aofeng was deep in thought and assumed the dog was just stunned by something it had never seen before.

Song Changfeng made a move then, giving the leash in his hand a gentle tug. When Aofeng turned to look at him, Song Changfeng gave a slight nod toward the front, signaling it to pay attention.

This level of prompting clearly didn’t count as cheating. After all, the one being evaluated was just an animal, even if it was smarter than most. No one could say for sure when they might get distracted.

Receiving the cue, Aofeng immediately refocused and continued examining the dummy in front of it. Judging from the wound in the dummy’s abdomen, it could be inferred that the murder weapon was the missing fruit knife from the rack.

The knife had been thrust in forcefully, then pulled out, disrupting the internal pressure of the wound and causing blood to spray in all directions. Based on the amount of blood, this was likely the fatal injury. The cause of death appeared to be excessive blood loss after the knife was removed.

Aofeng stepped forward and sniffed carefully, discovering that the scent on the dummy matched the one found on the sofa and in the kitchen. That confirmed the victim was the homeowner. There was also a faint trace of coffee, suggesting the perpetrator was likely the man.

Aofeng thought the team that set up the scene had done a decent job. After all, for a police dog, a keen sense of smell was its most powerful investigative tool. They could skimp on other details, but the scents had to be authentic.

Based on previous observations, Aofeng began deducing the dummy’s identity and the killer’s motive.

This was a lonely elderly man, either divorced or widowed, who lived alone. That much was evident from the furnishings in the house—there were virtually no signs of a woman’s presence.

That day, he had guests: a man and a woman. How did Aofeng know they were guests? He had noticed three dishes and a soup covered on the kitchen counter. Normally, elderly people are frugal and wouldn’t cook that much just for themselves. Such a meal would be reserved for close acquaintances, so the investigation should start with friends and family, then expand to neighbors. The mess under the TV cabinet suggested the killer’s motive was either robbery or destroying important evidence. In short, this was likely a premeditated crime.

After piecing all this together, Aofeng couldn’t help wagging his tail. This was his first solo case, and even though it was just a test scenario, he still felt a sense of accomplishment.

Now that the analysis was done, it was time to find the suspect. That part was relatively simple, since the small two-story house wasn’t very large. Before long, Aofeng found someone on the balcony of the second-floor side bedroom.

He was about to launch into attack mode and take the suspect down when his sharp nose kicked in again. The person in front of him didn’t have the coffee scent, and he wasn’t wearing leather shoes either.

Damn it! A decoy! Aofeng cursed them for playing dirty. The case was already complicated enough for a dog, and they had to throw in a red herring to muddy the waters? If he’d gotten too excited and pounced, he probably would’ve failed the evaluation. That was just cruel!

Aofeng turned and bolted, sniffing hard as he went. Before long, he found another person in a bathroom next to the master bedroom.

This one had the exact same coffee and leather shoe polish scent as the one near the dummy. After triple-checking, Aofeng lunged forward and bit down on the man’s sleeve. He didn’t let go until the man raised his hands in surrender, then stepped aside to let Song Changfeng cuff him.

“Not bad! He actually figured out the first guy wasn’t the killer. Looks like he’s got potential!” the young man behind the monitor couldn’t help commenting again.

An older man beside him added, “Don’t get ahead of yourself. If he wants to be a Criminal Investigation Dog, this alone isn’t enough.” This was a rare breed that could do the work of several dogs. A base might only produce one in years. Passing the test wouldn’t be that easy.

The young man clicked his tongue in awe. These days, even becoming a top-tier police dog was no easy feat!