Chapter 154 Daughter Inherits Mother's Business 1 The little one is very studious, she'll definitely remember it all...

Qiu Xiaoman understood Xiao Shandian's eagerness to show off, but she also knew that rushing forward with such enthusiasm was not enough. She needed to combine it with professional analysis and judgment to guide Xiao Shandian and Mango in their scent tracking.

This was her mission, so she had Chu Hao follow Little Lightning to explore the vicinity, while Mango followed her to investigate the area.

As for Wu Shirong, the on-site investigation also helped him understand the suspect's specific living habits, thus creating a more accurate portrait, so he also came to the scene.

It was his first time in such a place, and being a clean freak, he couldn't help but cover his mouth and nose, hesitating to step down.

Qiu Xiaoman turned around and saw him still hesitating in front of the car, so she teased, "What, are you a germaphobe?"

Wu Shirong smiled awkwardly and had no choice but to bite the bullet and follow. He put on plastic gloves and started rummaging through the trash at the scene with Qiu Xiaoman.

The area around the slaughterhouse was a mixed bag of people, and the garbage dump contained all sorts of things.

Kitchen waste, animal offal, household garbage, even smelly, blood-stained sanitary napkins...

It's difficult to find useful clues from this pile of stuff.

Qiu Xiaoman could only make a rough sketch of the people who were dumping garbage based on the type of trash.

"Initial assessments indicate that the main contributors to the garbage are slaughterhouse employees and nearby residents. However, there are also meat stall owners who come to the slaughterhouse to purchase goods, as well as some delinquent youths and thieves who roam the streets."

Wu Shirong frowned: "I can understand employees and residents, and it's normal for meat vendors to be business owners." He was holding an apron with the supermarket's logo printed on it, but he didn't understand, "Delinquents and thieves? How did you tell?"

"Here's a half-used bottle of hair dye, a blackened silver-plated necklace, and a pair of jeans with several holes—clearly, this is the kind of fashion that delinquents love to follow," Qiu Xiaoman stated logically. "As for the thief, look—"

She pulled a small, pink genuine leather wallet from the trash heap. Even though it was stained with some blood, it still looked brand new. When she opened it, she found an invoice from a certain shopping mall inside, dated two days prior.

So she explained, "It's only been two days. Would you throw away your brand new wallet so quickly? It's genuine leather and perfectly undamaged."

Indeed, even though everyone has become wealthier in recent years, no one would easily throw such a brand-new leather wallet into the trash. Wu Shirong took it and glanced at it, then said helplessly, "I'm afraid this clue is irrelevant to this case."

"No, it is precisely because of delinquents and thieves that we can have unexpected witnesses to the murderer." Qiu Xiaoman still remembered when she came to Beidu in her previous life, the streets were covered in snow, but the homeless people on the roadside were indifferent. They had almost become one with the environment, numb, rigid, and devoid of faith and pursuit.

You wouldn't notice them at all if you didn't look closely.

Delinquents and thieves are also marginalized figures in society who can easily blend into their environment. For example, when she was tracking a murderer, she passed by an alley where two delinquents were lying on the ground. They had just had a fight and were both injured. They looked like two human-shaped pieces of trash. If she hadn't stopped and walked closer, who would have noticed them?

As for thieves, needless to say, they are naturally good at hiding and disguising themselves. Unless they want to steal from you and actively approach you, they can blend perfectly into any place, be unremarkable, and not attract any attention.

So, given that such a group of people were present in the vicinity, there was a certain probability that the murderer did not notice them when disposing of the body, thus leaving behind valuable eyewitness accounts.

However, these marginalized individuals generally do not like to actively participate in social events, and even if they see someone driving by at an inappropriate time, they probably wouldn't associate it with dumping a body.

This requires police officers to identify the suspect's characteristics, conduct targeted questioning based on the time frame, and make a general assessment of the vehicle used to dump the body, thereby waking up their memories of seemingly insignificant scenes in the corner.

She stood up and sorted the wallet, jeans, hair dye, and silver-plated necklace into evidence bags. After she had searched through all the trash, she would have the two dogs track it down.

Next, she found a human tooth and half a sleeve, which might have belonged to a corpse or been left behind in a fight between delinquents.

They also found a cigarette pack, Red Rose.

Qiu Xiaoman doesn't smoke, nor does Wu Shirong, so she quickly called Chu Hao over.

Chu Hao immediately recognized that this was a cigarette with a strong local flavor, produced in the Shaoguan area of ​​Guangdong. It had a unique taste that people in Shanghai would definitely not be used to.

The common brands here are Pegasus, Red Peony, Double Happiness, Zhonghua, or Daqianmen and Golden Leaf.

For slightly less mainstream options, there are Yunyan, Yuxi, and Hongtashan cigarettes, as well as some imported brands such as Marlboro, Hilton, and 555.

Qiu Xiaoman thought this piece of evidence was very important, so she quickly put it in a bag and continued searching.

There wasn't anything particularly special after that; it was all common trash. Just as we were busy, Little Lightning ran back with a shoe in its mouth, put it down, turned around and left. Less than five minutes later, it came back with another shoe in its mouth.

It's a pair of liberation shoes, very common, and doesn't look particularly special.

It wasn't until Qiu Xiaoman turned it over that she realized something was wrong.

The one on the right is obviously badly worn, and the arch area is broken, while the sole of the one on the left is very flat.

Considering that there were red fragments left on the insoles of both shoes, it can be determined that they were worn by the same person.

Qiu Xiaoman asked curiously, "Little guy, where did you find this?"

"In the alley next door!" Little Lightning said, tugging at Qiu Xiaoman's trouser leg. "Come here, instructor, there are still cigarette butts here. I don't like that smell. Come and see what they are."

Qiu Xiaoman quickly called Chu Hao to go with her.

The alley was clearly narrow, but vans and cars could still manage to pass through with some difficulty. Electric tricycles or human-powered tricycles would have an easier time, and there would be room for another person to pass side by side.

Near the alley entrance, there were two cigarette butts, one of which had been extinguished naturally after being smoked, and the other of which had been forcibly extinguished by being run over by a shoe.

Little Lightning sniffed and reported, "It's from the same person, and it has such strong bad breath! It even smells like the sole of that shoe from earlier!"

Qiu Xiaoman quickly took out the jerky she had prepared in advance as a reward for the capable little guy. She squatted down and asked Chu Hao, "What kind of cigarette is it? Can you tell?"

“It’s Red Rose.” Chu Hao’s uncle owns a tobacco shop and has seen some of the less common cigarettes from other regions. He put the cigarette butts into the evidence bag and asked, “Were the shoes found here too?”

"Woof woof woof!"

"Great," Chu Hao said with satisfaction, patting the dog's head. Although he didn't know if these two things would be useful, at least the cigarettes matched the shell over there in the garbage dump.

He said to Qiu Xiaoman, "Let's go back and take a look. Let your dog smell that cigarette pack."

Those pieces of evidence were left where they were, and Wu Shirong is watching them.

The two returned to the garbage dump with the dog, opened the evidence bag, and Little Lightning tried hard to identify it for a long time. However, there were too many other strange smells in the garbage dump, so she could only say uncertainly, "There is a slight smell similar to the sweaty smell on the shoes, but I'm not sure. Can Mango Sister smell it too?"

Qiu Xiaoman knew that the sweaty smell Xiao Shandian mentioned was a very special smell that people secrete when they are nervous. This smell had been specifically reinforced during their training. However, this smell is easily mixed and diluted by other human smells, so it has a certain degree of unpredictability. And the scene was so dirty and smelly, which really put the two dogs in a difficult position.

Qiu Xiaoman called Mango over. Mango first smelled the cigarette pack to avoid the strong odor of the cigarette butt's lingering bad breath affecting her judgment.

She nodded and said, "Little Lightning is right, there is a little bit, but it's not obvious. It's understandable. If the cigarette pack was in the suspect's pocket, it didn't come into contact with the suspect's skin, so the amount of smell it could pick up is very limited."

“Yes! Sister Mango is right!” Little Lightning quickly chimed in, “But there’s still a tiny bit, barely there, so I’m not really sure.”

“You’re right. Let me ask the cigarette butt again.” Mango walked up to Qiu Xiaoman, lowered her head and smelled the cigarette butt. She immediately gagged, gagging several times before finally catching her breath. “Oh my god, it stinks so bad.”

“Most smokers have bad breath.” Qiu Xiaoman stroked the mango with concern and gave her a piece of dried meat as well.

Mango, with a piece of dried meat in his mouth, finished eating before saying, "No, this isn't ordinary bad breath, it's extremely bad breath. Maybe this person has a problem with their teeth."

"Oh?" Qiu Xiaoman quickly let Mango smell the tooth, and it turned out to be from the same person as the cigarette butt!

She had a general idea of ​​where to search: dental clinics, tobacco shops, butcher shops, and hospital orthopedics departments.

If there are two or more clues in these locations that match her current suspicions, she can investigate further.

Of course, it's also possible that it was just left behind by factory employees, resulting in a wasted effort.

But at least it's a direction to strive for.

In addition, she also needs to find the delinquent teenagers in the area, as well as the thieves who might be lurking around there.

The former is easier to find; you can probably run into a few when you go out for a stroll at the start of the nightlife. The latter is a bit more difficult, but if you go to the local police station and look for people with prior convictions who have already been released from prison, you might find something.

She exchanged opinions with Chu Hao and Wu Shirong, and both of them supported her judgment, so she went back.

We had to work overtime tonight, so the three of us called on other members of the task force for a case progress analysis meeting. We didn't even go out for dinner; we just ordered takeout.

During lunch, Captain Liu came over, looking curious: "How did the dog you're training come up with the idea of ​​going to the neighborhood to find a pair of shoes and two cigarette butts?"

Qiu Xiaoman explained, "Because after get off work, if I'm not too busy that day, I'll go to the kennel to keep them company and read the case records to them. It's a common pattern that suspects scout and stake out the area near the body disposal site. The little guy is very studious and must have remembered it all, which is why we made the discovery. But we're not sure yet whether this discovery will be useful."

“Not bad, at least it’s a direction.” Captain Liu valued those liberation shoes very much because before Qiu Xiaoman came, they had analyzed the case and judged that the murderer was either short in stature or of normal height but with a physical disability.

If the pair of shoes is a coincidence, then it's too much of a coincidence.

He was willing to investigate this coincidence further.

He walked over specially, imitating Qiu Xiaoman, squatted down and shook hands with Little Lightning, praising, "Little guy, you're great, I'll bring you a big bone tomorrow!"

"Woof woof woof!" Little Lightning protested.

Team Leader Liu couldn't understand and asked for a translator. Qiu Xiaoman laughed and said, "She said you're really stingy. What's so good about bones? Give me some meat!"

"Hahaha!" Captain Liu laughed heartily, promising, "How about I bring you a pound of beef head tomorrow? Cooked or raw?"

"Woof woof!"

Qiu Xiaoman translated: "Cooked food is better; raw food is more likely to have parasites."

"Okay, no problem." Captain Liu smiled, sat down, quickly picked up his lunchbox, ate it in a few bites, and then divided the task force into four groups.

One group went to find delinquent teenagers, another group went to the orthopedics department of a hospital and dental clinics to look for suspects who matched the description, another group went to the vegetable market and supermarket to find the managers and record the identity information of each butcher, and the last group went to the local police station to find thieves who matched the description.

Qiu Xiaoman went off alone with her two dogs, intending to find the thief first, since the wallet was the freshest, most irrefutable evidence.

Wu Shirong had no room to maneuver for the time being, and after hesitating for a moment, he decided to follow Qiu Xiaoman.

Qiu Xiaoman frowned and looked him over: "You? What are you doing here?"

"To protect you, it's so late at night." Wu Shirong, who was carrying a gun, patted his waist.

Qiu Xiaoman was also armed with a gun, and she couldn't help but laugh: "You'd better protect yourself."

Wu Shirong's face darkened. So, this is a dark history he can't get over? Well, what a helpless situation.

He still shamelessly followed them. The two returned to the vicinity of the garbage dump and had the two dogs start tracking based on the human scent remaining on the wallet.

Finally, at 9:30 p.m., the two found the thief who had been caught by the bartender after his mistake.

Qiu Xiaoman stepped forward, flashing his police badge: "I'm taking the person away. Thank you for your cooperation."

The thief begged for mercy repeatedly, only to find out at the police station that he hadn't been brought there for tonight's events.

After listening to Qiu Xiaoman's question, he said, "There is indeed a lame man who comes here every day in an electric tricycle to pick up goods, but I don't know him, I don't know which supermarket or vegetable market he works at, I don't know where he lives, or what his name is."

"It's alright, just tell this comrade what he looks like." Qiu Xiaoman stood up, offered her chair to Wu Shirong, and then left; she had other things to do.

It's getting late, I need to call my senior to let him know I'm safe.

The call connected, and a strange, quirky greeting came from the other end: "Hey, which detective is looking for me?"

"Stop joking, how are you and your master?"

"I'm fine. Mr. Shen might not be doing so well."

"What's wrong?"

"He suspects he's been cheated on, he's depressed, and he's not eating properly. Come on, tell him about it."

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Author's note: After finishing Little Lightning's career storyline, the story will be complete. Let the little one fulfill her dream: she wants to be a drug-sniffing dog like her mother.