Chapter 248 - 158: The Lead! Prepare... to Arrest!!

If they could find it.

Then they could take a holiday and have a good New Year.

If they couldn’t find it...

Then Wang Tao and the others would lose all face!

It was almost laughable.

A dog was actually connected to a major case—and it was a direct connection, at that.

But a connection was a connection. They weren’t the type to worry about saving face; they just had to find it!

"Search!"

Zhang Liang stopped limiting the search to the residence. He took his men and began searching the surrounding area.

A stray dog would only sleep in a few predictable places, after all.

At this moment.

Outside...

Xu Huo found a... dog hair?

He froze, twitched his nose, then reached out. Brushing aside the fresh snow blanketing the roads of Jiangsan City, he uncovered a single dog hair reeking of a pungent, foul odor.

Back in the house, there was a toy Zhang Liang had woven from dog hair. This had to have been left by the same dog.

Judging by its condition, it wasn’t fresh—probably three or four days old.

Xu Huo mulled it over for a moment before getting to his feet.

He took a deep sniff and started following the scent.

...

...

"Find anything?"

Li Jianye asked into his walkie-talkie.

"Chief, negative."

Zhao Shui, a squad leader from the Jiangsan City Criminal Investigation Division, replied.

They had no experience searching for dogs, but they didn’t really need any.

With the number of officers deployed, they could find a single mouse if they had to!

"What about Group Leader Zhang?"

Li Jianye asked, his voice strained with anxiety.

"Nothing. I asked a few kids. They’d seen it, but we can’t find it now."

Zhang Liang was burning with anxiety.

But he forced himself to remain calm. Panicking wouldn’t change a thing.

Hearing this, Li Jianye’s heart sank like a stone.

’If we can’t find it...’

’Will Sun Jian even talk?’

’He’s our only chance to crack this case quickly. If he refuses to talk... will we have to force it out of him?’

Until...

"Found it."

A voice came over the radio.

It was...

Xu Huo’s!

"You found it!?" Li Jianye froze. An instant later, an intense wave of joy filled his chest.

It wasn’t just him; Zhang Liang felt it too.

"Really!?"

"Where!?"

Zhang Liang asked, his face a mask of joyous surprise.

"One hundred meters to the right of the entrance to Sun Jian’s residence."

Xu Huo’s voice came through, flat and even.

"Got it!"

Zhang Liang nodded quickly, not even bothering to clip his walkie-talkie back on as he sprinted toward the location.

’We found it!’

’We found the dog, and finding the dog means we’ve found the clue!’

’This isn’t just any clue; it’s the critical one. It will let us bypass the entire search and arrest the killer before they even know we’re coming!’

’As long as Sun Jian talks and isn’t trying to trick us...’

’We can crack this case!’

’The people in the Capital City will get to have a good New Year, the victims will get their justice, and the killer will get the death penalty!’

’All we need is the information from the dog...’

As the thoughts raced through Zhang Liang’s mind, his pace gradually slowed.

His elation began to fade. The excitement in his heart plunged to a freezing point, and then kept dropping lower.

He reached Xu Huo’s location.

He saw the dog. It was identical to the one in the photo—the fur, the coloring, everything was a perfect match.

The dog was hanging on a wall.

BOOM!

In that instant, it felt as though a bomb had detonated inside Zhang Liang’s head, shattering his thoughts into a million pieces.

Zhang Liang’s lips trembled. His breathing grew shallow, as if he were in the vacuum of space, being crushed by the suffocating pressure.

His hand trembling, he reached out toward the wall.

This was Sun Jian’s dog.

It had been skinned and dried. The entire pelt was hung on the wall, just like the others, waiting for a fur trader to come and collect it.

This place was...

A dog meat restaurant.

"It..."

Li Jianye was also stunned—utterly and completely stunned.

"The dog is dead," Xu Huo stated calmly.

Next to him stood the bewildered owner of the restaurant.

Staring at the complete pelt...

Zhang Liang’s eyes instantly turned crimson and bloodshot. A surge of rage coursed through him, contorting his face into a ferocious mask. The veins on his hands bulged, twisting around his arms like coiled dragons.

This was the first time he had ever worn such an expression.

"Where did you get this dog!?"

Zhang Liang turned to the owner, his voice a low growl as he suppressed the inferno of rage in his heart.

"I-I bought it from a dog dealer..." the owner stammered, his voice laced with guilt.

Dog meat...

You never see old stray dogs. No one ever really thought about why.

So what happened to the old ones that weren’t hit by cars, didn’t freeze, or starve to death?

Why did they all disappear?

Well.

In the countryside, when a dog chained up outside starts whimpering and wailing at night, you’d best go check on it.

If you’re too late, all you’ll find is an empty chain and maybe a used syringe on the ground. As for the dog... you won’t find a single hair!

"Bought it, my fucking ass!"

CRACK!

Enraged, Zhang Liang slammed his fist directly onto one of the restaurant’s dining tables.

CRUNCH!

The table instantly cracked, and blood dripped from his hand.

Zhang Liang’s mind went cold, as if he’d just eaten a mint. It went completely blank, yet at the same time, it was racing with a thousand thoughts. The world started to spin.

’Their dog is dead...’

’The only clue is gone!’

’The clue... everyone in the Capital City... those skinned women and girls... our fastest path to the truth is gone...’

’The reputation of the Special Fifth Bureau... the killer’s taunts...’

’Lin Miao was only eighteen. She’d just gotten into Capital City University. She was supposed to have such a bright future...’

’Lin Miao had been driven to desperation, forced to sell her body. Abused and exploited since childhood, she’d scrimped on every meal and every piece of clothing to support her little sister. And just when her sister got into Capital City University, this happened...’

’The entire Capital City was waiting for this dog...’

Zhang Liang’s eyes grew increasingly red.

Finally, his eyes were completely bloodshot, making him look like a cornered beast.

"That was almost a hundred yuan..."