Chapter 60: Something Fishy

A pair of work gloves was pulled out. The forensics team took them and quickly discovered that, in addition to bloodstains on the outside, there was also blood inside the gloves. It seemed the suspect had been bitten and bled while beating the dog.

This clue was extremely important. If they could locate the suspect later, a DNA comparison would be enough to confirm the crime. Of course, if the suspect had a prior criminal record, they could identify him immediately.

Xiao Zheng and the others were thrilled by the discovery. Now they just had to wait for the DNA test results. At the same time, another idea occurred to them. Since Aofeng had such a sharp nose, could he use the lingering scent at the scene to track the suspect’s whereabouts? If they could narrow down the suspect’s escape route, it would greatly aid the investigation.

Neither Song Changfeng nor Aofeng objected to the idea. Especially Aofeng, who was eager to find the suspects. These people were so cruel that Li Zihao and Kaka were unlikely to be their only victims.

When they arrived near the downtown area, they found that not only was the night market bustling, but the morning market was also lively. The group looked at the constant stream of people and reluctantly gave up on the idea of letting Aofeng sniff around to find the suspect’s trail.

With that path closed, Xiao Zheng and the others went back to canvassing nearby businesses, showing them printed images from the surveillance footage and asking if they’d seen the man in the picture.

Meanwhile, Aofeng and Song Changfeng stopped by the pet hospital. Before they even stepped inside, they heard a pitiful howl. Sure enough, when they entered, they saw Kaka stretching his neck and howling, “Awoo-woo-woo!” The nurse on duty looked utterly exasperated, and when she saw Song Changfeng, it was like she’d seen her savior.

“Mr. Song, could you please get your Erha to stop howling? Several people have already come in asking if we’re secretly keeping a wolf in the clinic…”

Song Changfeng looked a bit embarrassed but still clarified, “This Husky isn’t mine. I found him by the roadside. As for his howling… I’ll do my best to talk to him.”

The nurse looked surprised. Found him? So Mr. Song really was a good guy. Yesterday, he’d paid the bill without hesitation, and she’d assumed the dog was his.

Aofeng chuckled inwardly. He was curious to see how someone as proper as Song Changfeng would try to “communicate” with a Husky.

Song Changfeng walked over and looked seriously at the dog. The Husky shrank back inside the cage and howled even more miserably, making one wonder if his current state was somehow Song Changfeng’s doing.

“Kaka!” Aofeng sighed. Looks like he had to step in himself. He walked up and called out to the Husky.

Hearing the familiar voice, Kaka finally stopped howling. But before Aofeng could celebrate, Kaka let out a whimper and began crying again, muttering incoherently about “boss” and “master.”

Aofeng guessed that Kaka was trying to tell him something, but the dog was too emotional, and Aofeng couldn’t make sense of what he was saying.

“Kaka, calm down first.”

“Awoo-woo—”

“Stop crying.”

“Awoo-woo—”

“Shut up! Cry again and I’ll bite you!”

Aofeng bared his teeth and snapped loudly. The sorrowful howling stopped instantly. The Husky in the cage looked at Aofeng with a stunned expression, full of grievance and accusation.

Aofeng softened his tone. “Do you remember what happened after you left the hotel?”

A flicker of fear crossed Kaka’s eyes, and he shrank back slightly. “We went out, then got in a car. They hit me and tied up my master to play games.”

Uh… play games? Aofeng was baffled. So the kidnappers tied up Li Zihao just to play games? A tragedy sparked by a round of gaming?

Impossible! Aofeng shook his head. The idea was just too bizarre.

“Are you sure they were playing games?”

Kaka gave a little “mm” and pressed his good left paw against the cage floor, mimicking typing on a keyboard.

This dog… He often saw his owner playing computer games. As soon as he heard the sound of typing, he assumed it was gaming. According to the investigation in Anyang City, Li Zihao had graduated from the computer science department of Southwest University and was a computer expert. It was likely the group had forced him to use a computer for some ulterior motive.

“What did the people who hit you look like?” Aofeng asked.

Kaka thought for a moment. “His eyes were weird, all squeezed into the middle.” Worried he couldn’t explain clearly, Kaka even tried to imitate it. When the usually dignified Husky, with one eye bandaged, went cross-eyed, Aofeng couldn’t help but laugh.

“Ahem, and the others? What did they look like?” Seeing Kaka’s hurt expression, Aofeng tried hard to hold back his laughter.

“One had a big black spot on his chin, and one had a very square head.” Kaka did his best to describe them. Aofeng couldn’t help but wonder if these people were monsters or something.

“Do you remember where they took you and your master?”

Kaka shook his head honestly. He didn’t know the roads. But he did offer one clue.

“The place smelled really bad. It made me feel sick.”

Aofeng immediately followed up. “What did it smell like?”

“Like cars.”

As soon as he said that, Aofeng understood. It was the smell of gasoline. Dogs have extremely sensitive noses, and the scent of gasoline is particularly harsh for them. Aofeng had trained himself to endure it, but he still hated the smell.

That meant the place where Kaka’s owner was being held was likely a gas station or an auto repair shop. Only those places would have such a strong gasoline odor. But Aofeng was more inclined to believe it was a repair shop.

Standing not far away, Song Changfeng listened to their “conversation.” One bark here, one bark there, and somehow it all seemed quite harmonious. Except for the Husky, who kept making weird faces for some reason.

Sometimes, Song Changfeng really wished he could understand the language of animals. That way, he could better grasp what they were thinking.

…

After leaving the pet hospital, Song Changfeng originally intended to head back to the gym. But Aofeng tugged on the leash and started walking in the opposite direction, glancing around as he went, as if searching for something. Could it be that the Husky told him something? The thought made Song Changfeng chuckle to himself.

“Where are we going now?”

Left with no choice, Song Changfeng asked out loud. He had no idea what Aofeng was looking for.

Aofeng looked up at Song Changfeng, frustrated by the lack of communication, and resorted to hinting. He glanced around, then walked over to the side of the road and stopped next to a car, staring intently at a particular spot on it.

“Do you want to ride in a car?” Song Changfeng guessed.

Aofeng didn’t respond. Song Changfeng tried again, “You want to go to the station?”

Still no response. Song Changfeng had no choice but to follow Aofeng’s gaze. He noticed that the spot Aofeng was staring at had a scratch on it.

Why was Aofeng staring at that? Could it be a clue left by the suspect? No, that didn’t make sense. It clearly looked like the result of two cars scraping against each other. The scratch wasn’t deep, so the owner probably hadn’t bothered to get it fixed.

As that thought crossed his mind, something suddenly clicked in Song Changfeng’s head. He looked at Aofeng again, who was still fixated on that spot, and tentatively asked, “You want to go to an auto repair shop?”

Aofeng let out a loud bark of relief. He’d been prepared to wait for Song Changfeng to list every car-related word he could think of. He hadn’t expected him to get it right on the third try.

Song Changfeng was pleasantly surprised too. He hadn’t thought he’d actually guess correctly. But what did Aofeng want with an auto repair shop? Could that Husky really have told him something?

Song Changfeng was filled with disbelief, but his hands moved on their own. He pulled out his phone, opened the map app, and searched for nearby repair shops.

The search turned up two repair shops closest to their current location. Both were within walking distance, about twenty minutes away.

With a mindset of giving it a shot, Song Changfeng set off with Aofeng to look for the shops. Man and dog moved quickly, and it didn’t even take them twenty minutes to reach the first repair shop.

Aofeng carefully observed the shop owner and his workers. While Song Changfeng pretended to ask about car maintenance, Aofeng took the opportunity to sniff each person thoroughly. None of them matched.

Aofeng tugged on the leash, signaling they could leave. Song Changfeng got the message and quickly ended the conversation.

The second repair shop was about a thousand meters away. It only took them two or three minutes to get there. But when they arrived, Song Changfeng was a bit frustrated to find that the shop was closed today.

Aofeng circled around the entrance a few times, sniffing carefully. Finally, in an inconspicuous corner, he caught a whiff of Kaka’s scent—specifically, the smell of urine. Dogs couldn’t help marking their territory, especially when visiting a place for the first time. That meant Kaka and his owner had definitely been here!

Aofeng immediately stepped forward and started pawing at the door. Seeing this, Song Changfeng also stepped up and knocked hard on the rolling shutter, but there was no response from inside.

Just then, Song Changfeng noticed an old-looking piece of paper stuck to the shutter. It had a phone number on it, with a contact listed as Mr. Zhang.

Song Changfeng pulled out his phone and dialed the number. The line rang for a long time with no answer, so he hung up and tried again. After repeating this three or four times, someone finally picked up.

“Yeah? Who is it?” The voice on the other end was extremely rude.

“Hello, is this Mr. Zhang? Are you the owner of Old Zhang’s Auto Repair? My car broke down, and I’m outside your shop. Could you open up and help me fix it?” Song Changfeng pretended not to notice the man’s impatience.

“Not free today! Go somewhere else!”

“But my car won’t start at all. I can’t even drive it away. Could you please help me out? I’m happy to pay whatever it takes,” Song Changfeng said in a tone that made him sound like he had money to burn.

“I said I’m not free! Go to the other shop. Their work’s good too. It’s just up ahead!” The man named Zhang even advertised his competitor.

“Aren’t you in the shop? I can hear noises. Just come out and give me a hand. It won’t take much effort.” Maybe it was his initial suspicion, but the more the man tried to brush him off, the more Song Changfeng wanted to press him.

“You didn’t hear a damn thing! I’m way in the back… I’m done talking to you. Get lost! If you don’t, I’ll come out and smash your car!” Zhang grew more aggressive by the second. He’d never dealt with someone this persistent. With that, he hung up.

Song Changfeng felt the guy was getting more suspicious by the minute. When he’d looked up the two shops earlier, the app had shown their services and customer reviews. Most people had praised this shop, saying the owner had a great attitude. But now, that clearly wasn’t the case.

Of course, maybe the guy really was busy and just annoyed at being interrupted. But judging by Aofeng’s behavior, Song Changfeng was convinced there was something fishy going on here.