Animal Detective

Chapter 40: Guarding the House
"Go over and have a look."

Without further ado, Chen Chao led Shen Xin over.

Two barks.

Lele spotted the two of them and was quite happy, immediately running to Shen Xin and wagging its tail.

"good."

Shen Xin took a sausage out of his pocket, peeled it, and fed it to him.

Then we arrived at the grave.

It looks old, and no one has paid respects there for many years; the wall near the woods has even collapsed a bit.

The two graves, one large and one small, one in front of the other, seem to belong to a husband and wife based on their arrangement.

Upon looking at the tombstone, it was indeed him.

"Gao Family Tomb".

"The Tomb of the late Mr. Gao Yucheng".

The other tombstone next to it reads "Tomb of Gao Chenshi," which should be Gao Yucheng's wife.

"Whose ancestral grave is this?" Chen Chao muttered.

Shen Xin nodded.

According to the information on the tombstone, this elderly man, Gao Yucheng, was born in 1904 and died in 79, which is many years ago.

There is also information about the person who erected the monument next to it.

It was jointly established by several members of the Gao family in 01.

There is an incense burner in front of the tombstone, but it looks like no one has come to pay their respects for many years.

So, as Chen Chao said, we don't know whose ancestral grave it is.

Then there was Lele, who was lying at the base of the wall, surrounded by bones and scraps of food that it had probably gnawed on.

He must have been lying here a long time ago, so long that he's made a hole in the ground and the grass isn't growing anymore.

Apart from that, there was nothing unusual.

Chen Chao walked around the grave, stared at the spot where Lele lay for a while, and asked Shen Xin what he thought.

Shen Xin shook his head.

It's perfectly normal for a stray dog ​​to find a quiet, secluded place to make a nest.

Moreover, there are graves nearby, and when people come to pay their respects, there are offerings, which are food for stray dogs.

"Another dead end!" Chen Chao grimaced, his head aching.

But I've gotten used to it.

He gestured for Shen Xin to leave.

Shen Xin nodded, removed the recorder from Lele's neck, and left with Chen Chao, feeling dejected.

Lele continued to follow.

After walking a few dozen meters, Shen Xin suddenly stopped.

“Captain Chen, I think there’s something wrong.” Shen Xin said tentatively, then led Chen Chao back to the grave and pointed to where Lele was lying down, saying, “Captain Chen, look, this place has no cover. If I were a stray dog… oops, I mean, a stray dog ​​should normally find a secluded place with cover to be its den, right?”

It's a secluded spot, not many people come here, but what if it rains? Will you just get soaked?

Chen Chao raised an eyebrow and asked, "You mean this dog has other dens?"

“Not necessarily.” Shen Xin shook his head, then stepped forward and said, “It’s precisely because there might be other hideouts that I find this unusual, you see.”

The place where Lele lies is a depression in the ground, where no weeds grow.

“The weeds grow in batches and very quickly. The fact that he could lie here until no weeds grow means that he has been lying here for a very long time, and it is a place he often lies. Then, considering the issue of the location I mentioned, isn’t it a bit abnormal?”

This is not a good place to make a nest.

But Lele lay there for a very long time, so the question is, why did he do that?

Chen Chao crossed his arms and thought for a moment, then nodded slightly, agreeing with Shen Xin's judgment. He then asked in return, "So, knowing that it often lies here, how does that help or advance our case?"

Shen Xin was taken aback, and the excitement he had just felt vanished.

indeed.

The ultimate goal of finding and tracking a dog is to solve a case, not to investigate why a dog is lying there.

Shen Xin scratched his head in frustration. It was just like finding the cow-and-cow cat before; finding it wasn't enough. The key was figuring out how to solve the case.

"Let's go."

Chen Chao patted Shen Xin on the shoulder and praised him with a smile, "No matter what, you have a really good eye for observation."

He discovered this when he accompanied the investigation of Wu Zhicun last time.

Shen Xin sighed and dejectedly followed Chen Chao away.

It's another dead end.

Thinking about Wu Zhicun's situation makes me feel really bad.

"Alright, don't think about it too much. When you become a criminal investigator, you'll know that solving cases is like this; there are more disappointments than gains." After getting into the car, Chen Chao patted Shen Xin on the shoulder and comforted him.

Shen Xin nodded, started the car, and drove away.

In the rearview mirror, Lele stood by the roadside, gazing at this side like a statue, as if waiting for something.

After driving for about a hundred meters and losing sight of Lele, Shen Xin slammed on the brakes and stopped.

"What's wrong."

Chen Chao, who was looking down at his phone, thought he had bumped into someone.

Shen Xin gripped the steering wheel, a crazy idea spreading uncontrollably through his mind.

Taking a deep breath, Shen Xin turned to his head and said, "Captain Chen, I have a really crazy idea."

It was so crazy that Shen Xin felt like it was a joke.

But in Shen Xin's mind, the image of Lele standing there, watching him walk away, always kept appearing.

It was this waiting that made Shen Xin feel that his crazy idea might have a slight chance of coming true.

Shen Xin didn't explain his thoughts, but drove back and took Chen Chao back to the grave.

"Captain Chen, what do you think he's doing?"

Shen Xin pointed to Lele, who had followed him back, circled around him a few times, and then lay back down, and asked.

Chen Chao thought for a moment, then tentatively asked, "For guarding the house?"

If we compare this tomb to a house, then Lele's position is right next to the gate, just like a guard.

Shen Xin was taken aback and asked, "Captain Chen, did you think of that too?"

"What did I just think of?" Chen Chao was both amused and exasperated, urging Shen Xin to speak quickly.

Shen Xin nodded, looking at the grave in front of him, and said, "Captain Chen, do you think there's a possibility of that?"

Seven years ago, Wu Jiawang took Lele out to play, such as fishing.

Shen Xin pointed to the stinking ditch in the distance.

Seven years ago, children didn't have access to mobile phones like they do now. Back then, there weren't many forms of entertainment; they just ran around, climbed trees to touch birds, and went fishing.

"Then he had an accident, like being hit by a car and dying."

Previously at the hospital, Zhao Shouchuan had mentioned a theory: a passing truck accidentally hit and killed Wu Jiawang, and to avoid trouble, took Wu Jiawang's body away.

Chen Chao nodded thoughtfully, giving him a look that said, "Go on, I'm listening."

Shen Xin continued, "We don't need to worry about why. You've told me before that many cases are absurd enough that there's no logic to them. So I'll make a bold guess: the driver was terrified and didn't dare to call the police, so he thought of hiding the body."

"And Lele watched all of this. He watched the murderer hide his master. He couldn't understand what was happening, but he knew where his master was."

"So he waited and waited, for seven years. He waited for a full seven years, always guarding his master and waiting for him to return."

Shen Xin turned to look at Chen Chao, his tone deep.

Shen Xin had read the story of Hachiko, the loyal dog.

And country dogs are extremely loyal.

At this point, Chen Chao understood. He turned to look at Lele lying there, then at the two graves in front of him, and his body shuddered violently as if struck by lightning. He murmured, "You mean, the murderer hid Wu Jiawang's body in these two graves!"

After saying that, he gasped sharply, stood there stunned, and remained silent for a long time.

Shen Xin didn't say anything either.

Otherwise, what is Lele guarding here for?

(End of this chapter)