Chapter 27: A Ridiculous Motive

After Song Changfeng led them to the spot where the victim had first been found, the officer in charge, Yang Bufan, immediately began investigating the scene.

“This probably isn’t the primary crime scene. Aside from the footprints left by the rescue team and you, there are no other footprints here—not even the victim’s.”

Yang Bufan made his assessment, and the group followed the trail of trampled vegetation and scattered bloodstains uphill. About twenty meters from the slope, they discovered two sets of footprints. One matched the shoes the victim had been wearing, while the other was clearly larger, indicating they belonged to a man.

“Judging by the footprints, there was someone else here. But there’s no sign of a struggle or fight. I think the victim was caught off guard and stabbed from behind. After the attack, the perpetrator panicked, pushed her down the slope, and fled the scene. The question is whether the victim saw the attacker’s face. Xiao Wang, call Sister Song and ask if the victim has remembered anything.”

Based on the scene, Yang Bufan made this deduction. If the victim had seen the attacker’s face, the case would be much easier to solve. He had already checked—aside from the entrance to the mountain, there were no surveillance cameras in the forest. He also suspected the motive was more likely revenge than robbery, since the victim hadn’t lost any valuables.

Following the order, Xiao Wang stepped aside to make the call. A short while later, he returned with an update. Their colleagues stationed at the hospital reported that the victim was now out of danger. When questioned, her account matched Yang Bufan’s theory. She had been taking photos and didn’t see the attacker’s face at all. She only felt a chill on her back, then a pair of hands suddenly shoved her. After she fell, she remembered nothing.

“Let’s search the surrounding area, see if we can find any more clues,” Yang Bufan said. Xiao Wang and another officer immediately began combing the area, using the current location as the center of their search.

After they left, Aofeng walked over to the footprints and sniffed, committing the scent to memory. He had to admit, the smell was pretty strong—a mix of heavy sweat and cigarette smoke, pungent and unpleasant.

Aofeng sneezed uncomfortably, then twitched his nose, scanning the air for lingering scents. When he sniffed a particular spot, his eyes lit up. The scent here was especially strong, and the footprints were deeper, suggesting the suspect had been hiding there. The cigarette smell was even more intense than before. Aofeng guessed the attacker had smoked a cigarette out of boredom while lying in wait.

If he smoked, where’s the cigarette butt?

Aofeng quickly lowered his head and soon spotted a stubbed-out cigarette butt wedged in a crack between some rocks.

“Woof woof woof!” he barked loudly to alert the others.

Guessing that Aofeng had found another clue, Song Changfeng and Yang Bufan, who had been searching elsewhere, hurried over.

“Good boy! You really came through!”

The moment he saw the cigarette butt, Yang Bufan’s face lit up with excitement. He immediately put on gloves and placed the butt into a clear evidence bag. Honestly, if it had just been them searching, they might have missed this clue. The spot was some distance from the crime scene, and the butt was hidden behind a rock, not easy to spot. But now they had a crucial piece of evidence—one end of the cigarette would have the suspect’s saliva. With DNA analysis, they could identify the attacker. With this, the suspect had no chance of getting away.

On the way down the mountain, Yang Bufan smiled and said to Song Changfeng, “Thanks to you and Aofeng, we saved a lot of time. Next, we’ll be pulling surveillance footage from the park and looking into the victim’s social circle, so we won’t stay any longer. Once the case is solved, I’ll personally bring a commemorative banner¹ to the Training Base for you.”

Song Changfeng smiled too. “Then we won’t keep you from your work. We’ll head back.” He figured Yang Bufan was just joking about the banner.

Yang Bufan gave them a wave, then turned and followed the park manager toward the surveillance room. Aofeng watched his back, paws itching to follow. He really wanted to join them in solving the case and catching the culprit.

Song Changfeng crouched down and gave him a pat on the head. “Focus on your training. Graduate as soon as you can.”

Aofeng shot him a sideways glance. Easy for you to say. Graduate soon? Are you the one handing out the diplomas?

Song Changfeng chuckled at his expression, stood up, and led him away. He had planned to take a day off, but hadn’t expected something like this to happen. With criminals running rampant, they had to train hard if they wanted to catch them.

…

“Recently, police officers from a local precinct in Dongyang District solved a case of intentional assault. According to reports, the incident occurred at 8 a.m. on July 12 in Dabai Mountain Forest Park…”

Aofeng sat upright in front of the TV in the Police Dog Canteen, watching the morning news from Anyang City alongside Master Zhang the cook and Song Changfeng. This was the city’s own news channel, which reported on local events. After the Kindergarten Incident, reporters had also rushed to the scene immediately.

“Our reporter spoke with Officer Yang, who solved the case. Officer Yang, hello.” The screen showed a video of Reporter Lin interviewing Yang Bufan. Perhaps because it was rare for him to be on camera, Yang Bufan looked a little shy.

“Hello, Reporter Lin.”

“Hello. We’d like to understand how the case unfolded. Officer Yang, could you walk us through it?”

At the mention of the case, Yang Bufan’s expression turned serious. “The call came through from city dispatch. Since our precinct is close to the forest park, we responded immediately after receiving the report…”

Yang Bufan recounted the entire investigation process in a formal tone. The reporter nodded along as she listened. When she heard that a police dog had discovered both the victim and a key piece of evidence, she asked another question.

“Just now, Officer Yang mentioned that a police dog was involved in solving the case. Is this dog part of your unit?” The reporter clearly knew how to focus on what mattered. For the general public, police dogs were a rare sight, and the idea of one helping solve a case was far more captivating than officers working alone.

Yang Bufan shook his head and said, “This police dog is named Aofeng, a member of the Anyang City Police Dog Training Base. The person who called the police at the time was none other than Trainer Song Changfeng from the base. After they discovered the scene, they promptly reported it and helped us find key evidence. You could say that the reason this case was solved so quickly is thanks to them…”

Hearing this, the cook, Master Zhang, looked at Song Changfeng and the eating Aofeng in surprise. “You two helped solve the case?” His voice was loud, and in an instant, all the trainers and police dogs in the Police Dog Canteen turned to look.

The television was still broadcasting details of the case, but no one was paying attention anymore. Everyone crowded around Song Changfeng and Aofeng, talking over one another.

“Well, well, hiding your talents, huh? While we were all training, you snuck off and cracked a case!”

“Impressive, brother! Tell me how you trained him. He’s not even fully certified yet and already helping solve crimes!”

“Woof woof woof woof!” (Bro, what’s ‘solving a case’? Is it fun?)

The room was filled with chatter and barking. Song Changfeng, not being much of a talker, looked a little overwhelmed as he and Aofeng were surrounded. Just then, his phone rang.

It was like a lifeline. Holding up the phone, he grabbed Aofeng and squeezed out of the crowd, calling back over his shoulder, “Sorry, I need to take this call.”

Once they were free, Song Changfeng answered. Director Li’s voice came through immediately.

“Changfeng, bring Aofeng to my office right away.”

“Yes, Director.”

Aofeng’s ears perked up and his eyes lit up. Could it be that they saw the news and wanted to commend them? Maybe they’d even get something tangible.

But then again, what would he even do with something tangible? Aofeng lazily flicked his tail. Forget it, just give me more tasty food. The beef jerky Grandma sent last time was already gone.

Man and dog made their way to Director Li’s office. When they arrived, they saw Yang Bufan already there, holding an actual commemorative banner.

The banner read, “People’s Loyal Guardians, Police Dogs Show Their Might,” in big golden letters on a bright red background. The color combination gave off a strange vibe. The more Aofeng looked at it, the more it reminded him of scrambled eggs with tomatoes.

Come to think of it, it had been a while since he’d had that dish. He kind of missed it. But dogs aren’t supposed to eat tomatoes. They contain atropine and alkaloids, which can cause diarrhea, drooling, and vomiting. He’d read that in a magazine on the table last time he had a check-up with Xu Dong.

Aofeng sighed. Ever since becoming a dog, he’d lost so many joys in life. He almost lost his little buddy too. Oh heavens, why treat me so unfairly?

“Aofeng, come on, let’s take a photo!” Director Li said. Aofeng was still wallowing in his sorrow when he was suddenly pushed between Song Changfeng and Yang Bufan. Director Li personally took out his phone and snapped a rather silly-looking photo of the three of them.

After the photo, they started chatting. Aofeng sat to the side, itching to ask Yang Bufan who the real culprit in that case was. Why would someone ambush an eighteen or nineteen-year-old girl?

Luckily, Song Changfeng was also curious and asked about the case. Yang Bufan said, “When we checked the surveillance footage, we didn’t find anything unusual. It was the weekend, so the park was packed with tourists. Since the cameras didn’t help, we went to the hospital and questioned the victim. Through our conversation, we learned she’s a quiet, introverted girl. Her biggest hobby is photography. That day, she went to the forest park to take pictures. She hadn’t even gotten any good shots before the incident happened. We asked if she’d had any recent conflicts or grudges. She thought about it and said no. She’s a college student with a small social circle and hadn’t argued with anyone.”

Aofeng thought, if that’s the case, then the investigation must’ve hit a dead end. How were they supposed to find the attacker?

Yang Bufan continued, “We visited her teachers and classmates, and they confirmed everything she said. But then we got an important lead from her roommate.”

“Apparently, not long ago, the victim and her roommate were out together when a man stopped them outside campus. He said he wanted to date the victim. She didn’t know him and turned him down right away. The man claimed he’d mistaken her for someone else and left without causing a scene. But the roommate said she thought she saw him hanging around near their dorm a few days later.”

“We followed that lead and checked the campus surveillance. Sure enough, we found the man. He pretended not to know the victim. When we asked where he was on the day of the incident, he claimed he wasn’t even in town. But when we rechecked the surveillance at the forest park entrance, we found he’d gone in early that morning. He was highly suspicious, so we brought him to headquarters and had the forensics team do a DNA test. It was a perfect match.”

Song Changfeng was a bit shocked. “So just because the girl rejected him, he went that far to get revenge?”

Yang Bufan said, “Exactly. He even claimed the girl had led him on. When we asked how, guess what he said? He said she kept taking pictures of him at his workplace, so she must’ve liked him. When he tried to ask her out and got rejected, his coworkers laughed at him. So he started following her, found out she went to the forest park every week, and decided to teach her a lesson².”

Aofeng’s expression shifted from puzzled to speechless. What kind of creature was this guy? Just based on his own wild imagination, he nearly ruined a young girl’s life. What a piece of work.

After finishing the story, Yang Bufan glanced at the time and said he had to go. Just as he was about to leave, he smacked his forehead and turned back. “Almost forgot. During the interview the other day, Reporter Lin from the morning news channel said she was really interested in the Police Dog Training Base. She wants to come do a feature and asked me to check if that’d be okay.”

Before Song Changfeng could respond, Director Li smiled and said, “Of course she’s welcome. Here’s our base’s phone number. Let her know she can come anytime she likes.”

Yang Bufan took the business card and nodded with a smile. “Alright, I’ll tell her that, and we’ll be in touch later.”

Translator’s Notes