Chapter 139: No Way He Smelled It Wrong

“Grandpa, you’re calling that a crack?”

Song Changfeng stared at the window opening, wide enough for a grown adult to climb through, and fell into deep thought. Had the definition of a “crack” become this sloppy these days? This wasn’t a crack, it was practically half a window!

Grandpa Liu replied with righteous confidence, “Yeah, that’s a crack. What, a wide crack doesn’t count as a crack?”

Song Changfeng: …Fine, whatever.

He stopped fussing over the size of the window and leaned out to take a look. Contrary to what Grandpa Liu had claimed, there were places outside where someone could get a foothold. A professionally trained person could easily use the air conditioning unit and the ten-centimeter ledge on the wall to climb up. Someone like him, for example.

But clearly, the thief hadn’t come in through the window. Song Changfeng noticed that the outer wall and the air conditioner at Grandpa Liu’s place were spotless, with no trace of footprints. The dust on the windowsill tiles also showed no signs of being gripped. No matter how skilled someone was, it was impossible to leap from outside the seventh-floor window into the apartment to steal something.

When he first entered, Song Changfeng had already observed that the front door showed no signs of forced entry. The carpet leading to the coffee table where the money had been kept was clean, with no indication anyone had walked through. There were no signs of the place being searched or rummaged through. If not for the broken cup on the floor, Grandpa Liu probably wouldn’t have noticed the money was missing for a while.

If the thief didn’t come in through the door or the window, then how exactly did they manage to steal that fifty yuan? Could they really scale walls like in the movies? Was this some real-life version of Chu Liuxiang¹ or Spider-Man?

Song Changfeng almost laughed at his own imagination. Since when did he start resorting to quantum mechanics² when he couldn’t figure something out? He shook his head. There was no Chu Liuxiang or Spider-Man in the real world, and perfect crimes didn’t exist. He firmly believed that justice would always prevail, no matter how long it took.

“Aofeng, did you catch the thief’s scent?” Song Changfeng asked. He believed that a person could have top-notch lockpicking skills and could wipe away every trace they left behind, but there was one thing they couldn’t erase—their scent. And Aofeng’s greatest strength was tracking by smell.

But the result was disappointing. After hearing his question, Aofeng hesitated for a long time, standing still without moving. That meant he hadn’t found anything.

“No scent at all?” Song Changfeng pressed.

“Whine…” Aofeng let out a low whimper, unsure how to describe the smell he’d picked up. It was damp and fishy, like the wet feathers of chickens or ducks caught in the rain. It was far from pleasant.

It was the first time Song Changfeng had seen Aofeng so conflicted. Clearly, Aofeng had picked up something, but just couldn’t express it. That was a relief. Song had been worried Aofeng wouldn’t find anything at all.

“Where did you smell it?” Song Changfeng asked.

Aofeng sniffed carefully, then began marking all the places where the scent had appeared. Song followed his cues and looked around—the coffee table, the sofa, the cabinet, the dining table, the windowsill… all spots where the thief had likely lingered.

A scene began to form in Song Changfeng’s mind: a thief, using some unknown method, entered Grandpa Liu’s home. He sat on the sofa for a while, then took the money from the coffee table and casually smashed a cup. He wandered over to the cabinet and dining table, looked around, then leaned out the window to check the surroundings. Maybe he saw Grandpa Liu returning and calmly made his exit.

Aofeng had only marked areas in the living room. Though the bedroom door was open, he hadn’t gone in, which suggested the thief wasn’t after money but had committed the crime just to show off.

Song Changfeng’s eyes burned with anger. This kind of behavior was infuriating. He refused to believe someone could toy with the police like this and get away with it.

After finishing the report with Grandpa Liu, Song Changfeng went to the apartment across the hall and knocked on the door.

A voice quickly called out from inside. Song took a step back so the peephole could give a full view of him.

“Hello, I’m a police officer from the Municipal Public Security Bureau. I’d like to ask you a few questions. Would you mind letting me in?” Song said politely.

“Police?” The voice inside suddenly grew louder. “Don’t tell me our building got robbed too?”

“Yes, it happened this morning between eight and eight-thirty. The apartment across from you, Grandpa Liu’s place, was hit by a thief. I just came from his unit and noticed you have a security camera at your door. It looks like it might have a view of his door. Would you mind letting me take a look?” Song asked.

Hearing what he said, the people inside no longer hesitated. However, before opening the door, they still asked to verify Song Changfeng’s credentials before finally unlocking it with peace of mind.

“Officer, you can come in, but it can’t,” said the man at the door, pointing at Aofeng who was following behind Song Changfeng.

Aofeng tactfully stepped back a few paces and sat down neatly by the elevator, making it clear he wouldn’t enter. His gentlemanly behavior actually made the man feel a little embarrassed. He explained, “There’s a child at home, it’s just not convenient.”

Song Changfeng nodded in understanding. He took off his shoes and followed the man inside. After staying for about ten minutes, he came back out.

In the elevator, Song Changfeng said, “I just checked the surveillance footage. Between eight and eight-thirty, no one exited the elevator, so we can pretty much rule out the possibility of someone using a crowbar to force open the door and commit the crime. The only possibility left is the window. But then, how did they get in without leaving a trace?”

Aofeng actually had a theory, but it seemed far too implausible. How could that be possible? There had to be another explanation.

The two of them exited the elevator and walked outside. As they passed by a small plaza, they saw a few children playing games there.

Sweat glistened on their young faces, their smiles full of pure joy. The sound of their laughter caught Song Changfeng and Aofeng’s attention, and they stopped to watch from the side.

Just then, a gust of wind blew a paper airplane off course, sending it drifting toward them. Song Changfeng reached out and caught it. A little girl ran over, but froze in place the moment she saw Aofeng, too scared to come any closer.

Song Changfeng walked over with the paper airplane and handed it to her with a smile.

“Thank you, Uncle!” Her sweet voice could melt anyone’s heart.

“You’re welcome. Go on and play,” Song Changfeng said.

The little girl looked at him, then glanced back at the group of kids playing. She took a deep breath and said, “Uncle, can you help us with something?”

A child asking for help was something he couldn’t refuse. Song Changfeng followed her over and saw that a paper airplane had gotten stuck in the branches of a small tree at the edge of the plaza. A little boy was trying to climb up, using both hands and feet, but the trunk was too straight. He barely made it a few steps before sliding back down. Frustrated, he puffed out his cheeks, looking just like a little pufferfish.

“Yangyang, I found an uncle to help you!” the little girl said excitedly as she ran over.

Yangyang looked a bit defiant, clearly wanting to say he could do it himself. But after sizing up the difference between himself and Song Changfeng, he had no choice but to accept reality. He lowered his head and muttered, “Thank you, Uncle.”

Song Changfeng leapt upward, soaring into the air. In the blink of an eye, the once unreachable paper airplane was in his hand. He handed it over and patted the boy’s head. “One day, you’ll be as tall as me.”

The boy’s eyes lit up. Clenching his fists, he said, “Yeah! One day I’ll grow tall, and then I won’t just be able to grab paper airplanes, I’ll design real ones too!”

“You’re full of it!” another boy nearby called out, dousing his dream with cold water.

“I am not! My big brother designs planes! You saw it last time, didn’t you?” the boy retorted. His love for paper airplanes came from the hope that one day he could be like his brother and design aircraft blueprints.

“Ha ha ha,” another boy cackled weirdly, “You dummy, what your brother plays with is a drone, not a real plane!”

“Yes it is!”

“No it’s not!”

“Yes it is!”

The two boys stood under the tree, red-faced and arguing at the top of their lungs. Meanwhile, a flash of inspiration struck Song Changfeng like lightning.

To move freely between tall buildings without leaving a trace… wasn’t that exactly what a drone could do? Could the thief have used a drone to commit the crime? If two mechanical arms were installed and operated with precision, it should be possible to grab items like that.

Excited, Song Changfeng turned to walk toward Aofeng, ready to share his theory, but then suddenly stopped and closed his mouth.

Wait a minute. Aofeng had clearly said he smelled something earlier. If the thief had used a drone, how could there be any scent left behind? Aofeng wouldn’t have gotten it wrong. That meant his theory had to be flawed.

Translator’s Notes