Animal Detective

Chapter 502: Chapter 409: Dead End

It wasn’t dark yet when they arrived at the park.

Before the usual crowd of exercising seniors appeared, Shen Xin took a stroll around the park.

He called, "Here, kitty, kitty," the whole time, but didn’t run into the two cats from yesterday.

Shen Xin grumbled, "Those two aren’t very reliable, are they? Took my sausage and bailed."

Not only did they eat the sausage, but they took some to go. And on top of that, they let Da Mei flirt with them for nothing.

Ding Yuwei thought, ’That’s nothing. Yesterday, Zhao Tianxing was feeding them all over the place, and it was a complete and utter waste.’

Just as they were about to leave, they heard urgent meowing in the distance.

Ding Yuwei saw a white cat darting through the shrubbery, frantically running toward them.

It was meowing as it ran, looking as if it was terrified Shen Xin would get away.

Ding Yuwei was secretly amazed. She was certain this white cat was making a beeline for Shen Xin.

The white cat cried out urgently as it reached them, circling Shen Xin’s feet. It seemed to be asking where Da Mei was.

Shen Xin asked Ding Yuwei for the photo and told the cat it had to work first.

The white cat, which had yellow eyes, looked at the photo, then back at Shen Xin, its gaze hesitant.

It was as if the cat were saying, ’I’ll take you to her, but you’d better not go back on your promise.’

Shen Xin quickly recalled his promise—just a few pets. He gave the cat a little nudge, signaling it to hurry up.

Only then did it run off.

"Let’s go."

Shen Xin grabbed Ding Yuwei’s arm, and they quickly followed.

The white cat led them out of the park and north along the street market.

When it reached the crossroads, it even stopped to look both ways, waiting until there were no cars before dashing across the street.

Farther north, just across the street from the market, was a cultural and tourism district.

There was a river there, and some faux-antique buildings had been built along its banks, housing a few artsy bars, studios, and similar shops.

The area was mostly deserted.

The white cat led the two of them through the district to the riverbank.

It leaped gracefully onto a fence about half a person’s height and meowed a few times toward the river.

Confused, Shen Xin peered over the edge.

Beyond the fence was the river channel. It was a steep drop of nearly two or three meters from the bank to the water’s surface, with a smooth concrete embankment that offered no footholds.

"Where is she?" Shen Xin asked, turning his head to the white cat.

It just meowed toward the river channel below.

’It can’t be saying the cat jumped into the river.’

Cats are naturally afraid of water and death. Suicide by drowning had to be their least favorite way to go.

"Shen Xin, over here." Ding Yuwei tapped Shen Xin’s shoulder and pointed downward.

Following her finger, Shen Xin noticed a long, narrow gap in the face of the embankment, running perpendicular to the water.

It must have been a gap left between two sections of the foundation when the embankment was built. It was about ten centimeters wide, just enough to stick an arm through.

The bottom of the gap rested on the foundation above the waterline, so it was dry, but a person definitely couldn’t fit inside.

But a cat could.

Just then, perhaps drawn by the white cat’s calls, a faint meow echoed from within the gap.

Shen Xin craned his neck and saw a cat emerge from the crevice.

It was a tabby.

It was very thin. It tilted its head back, let out a single meow, and stared upward from the shadows.

Ding Yuwei saw it too and asked in astonishment how the cat could have possibly gotten in there.

The face of the embankment was perfectly vertical with no footholds. It seemed the cat would have had to cling to the edge and swing its body into the opening.

"Who knows."

It was a cat, after all.

Honestly, flues, crevices in buildings, ventilation shafts—in their minds, any weird, cramped space just seemed like a great hiding spot.

’As for whether I can get out again... I’ll worry about that once I’m inside.’

Shen Xin looked around. The embankment face was smooth and the drop was too far; there was no way to get the cat out directly from up here.

After a moment’s thought, he asked Ding Yuwei to check the nearby shops for a long pole and some rope.

He’d seen cat rescue videos online where people used catchpoles. Maybe they could loop it around the cat and pull it out.

As Ding Yuwei left, Shen Xin turned to the white cat and gave it a thumbs-up. "Not bad. You actually found her."

He wasn’t sure if it was Guo Jinhua’s cat; after all, most tabbies looked alike.

But since they’d found it, the first order of business was to get it out.

It was a life, after all.

Seeing how skinny it was, he wondered how long it had been trapped down there.

Before long, Ding Yuwei returned with two mops.

She suggested tying them together, lowering them down, and letting the cat grab onto the mop heads so they could pull it up.

Shen Xin thought, ’You’re being way too optimistic.’

When a cat sees a mop, its first thought isn’t, ’I can climb that to get out.’ It’s, ’What the hell is that thing? Is it dangerous?’

Sure enough, the moment they lowered the mops, the cat shot back into the crevice.

The gap must have been quite deep, as they couldn’t see where it had gone at all.

Ding Yuwei had borrowed the mops from a nearby coffee shop, and a female employee had followed her out.

"Officer, that won’t work. We’ve tried before, but you can’t get it out that way."

She explained that the cat had been trapped for over a month. It was not only timid but also fierce. The last time someone tried to get a loop around it with a bamboo pole, it had not gone well.

"We were just about to get the loop around its leg when it panicked, scared itself half to death, and broke free."

The only reason the little guy was still alive was because kind-hearted people from the neighborhood occasionally tossed food into the gap.

A small crowd began to gather, and someone suggested, "You should call the fire department. They can get it out."

As a police officer, Shen Xin knew how overworked the fire department was.

It was best not to bother them with such a small matter.

Shen Xin told Ding Yuwei to get the tow rope from his car. He would go down and get the cat himself.

The shop assistant quickly interjected, "That won’t work! Someone went down there last time and tried to lure it out with food, but it absolutely refused to come out. The space is deep, and a person can’t fit inside. It’s impossible."

A dog would understand you were trying to save it and cooperate.

But a cat?

Its brain would only be thinking, ’Which villain is trying to assassinate me?’

Ding Yuwei glanced at Shen Xin. "He’s different."

Cats were more affectionate with Shen Xin than with other cats.

After getting the tow rope, they threaded it through the concrete guardrail. Shen Xin tied it around his waist, vaulted lightly over the fence, and began rappelling down the face of the embankment.

As always, when it came to anything physical, Shen Xin had no problem.

As for his marksmanship... well, he was working on it.

The crowd craned their necks to watch.

In no time, Shen Xin had rappelled down to the level of the gap.

The kind-hearted shop assistant was especially enthusiastic. She had even run off to buy a sausage for Shen Xin to use as bait.

Not caring about the dirt, she lay on the ground and reached under the guardrail, trying to hand the sausage down to Shen Xin.

"No need."

Shen Xin waved her off. ’With a gift like mine, who needs a sausage?’

The shop assistant kept her hand outstretched. "It won’t work! It’s incredibly timid and fierce. It’ll scratch you. How about I find you a pair of gloves?"

While she was still talking, Shen Xin had already crooked a finger toward the opening.

He didn’t even have to make a sound. With just that one gesture, the tabby slowly emerged from the shadows.

It was filthy from head to tail.

The shop assistant had said it was fierce, and she was probably right.

The creature was starved thin, but it emerged from the shadows like a miniature tiger, its eyes exceptionally bright and sharp.

The few scars on its face were merely the marks of a survivor.

It carried itself with a powerful presence, its steps both wary and light.

It moved like an experienced hunter slowly closing in on its prey.

However, the moment it stepped out of the shadows and got a clear look at Shen Xin, its gaze instantly softened.

"Come here."

Shen Xin beckoned to it.

After a brief hesitation, it obediently trotted over and gently rubbed its head against Shen Xin’s hand.

Shen Xin grabbed it by the scruff of its neck and simply lifted it out.

The crowd let out a collective gasp of surprise.

The shop assistant, in particular, looked on in utter disbelief.

In her experience, you couldn’t even touch this cat; if you so much as poked a stick near it, it would start a fight with the stick.

And yet Shen Xin had just plucked it out so effortlessly?

With one hand holding the cat and the other on the rope, he couldn’t climb. Shen Xin glanced at the tabby, gave a little shrug of his shoulder, and shot it a look. "Up."

The creature was incredibly smart. It understood instantly, grabbing onto Shen Xin’s clothes and scrambling onto his shoulder.

Then, it launched itself upward, kicked off the concrete wall for a boost, and landed gracefully on the bank above.

The watching bystanders actually applauded.

"Well done, young man," an old man said, giving him a thumbs-up.

Someone next to him added, "Sir, he’s a police officer."

The old man paused for a second, then said, "Well, that’s even better!"

The shop assistant came forward, her face alight with joy.

She thought the tabby was just so starved that it had become docile, willing to come up when told.

She instinctively reached out to offer the tabby something to eat.

But the second her hand was outstretched, the tabby whipped its head around and hissed, its eyes narrowing as a genuine killing intent radiated from it.

It scared the shop assistant so badly that she snatched her hand back.

Just then, Shen Xin hauled himself back over the fence.

The moment it saw Shen Xin, it instantly switched modes, becoming a complete softie. It trotted over and started rubbing affectionately against his leg.

The white cat, which had been hiding in the shadows, also rushed over.

It looked up at Shen Xin and meowed.

It was as if it were saying, ’I found the cat for you. Now, where’s Da Mei?’

The shop assistant stared at Shen Xin in astonishment.

’We’re both human, so why are you the only one it likes?’

Shen Xin casually scooped up the tabby, got the photo from Ding Yuwei, and carefully compared the markings on its face.

"You idiot, you found the wrong cat."

Shen Xin irritably nudged the white cat away with his foot.

Tabbies generally look the same, but their patterns still have distinct differences.

This tabby was not Guo Jinhua’s.

The white cat still pushed forward, meowing insistently.

Ding Yuwei couldn’t hide her disappointment. She sighed. "It’s okay. At least we saved a cat."

She instinctively reached out to pet it.

The tabby was frighteningly docile in front of Shen Xin, but the moment anyone else tried, its claws came out.

Ding Yuwei pulled her hand back reflexively, narrowly avoiding a scratch.

"You’re asking for it, aren’t you?"

Shen Xin grabbed its cheeks and gave them a good squish.

Ding Yuwei could only shake her head as she watched. ’They just met, and the cat isn’t even trying to resist.’

The tabby let out a dissatisfied meow, its eyes a little defiant, but an icon still appeared above its head.

Seeing the shop assistant watching them eagerly, Shen Xin offered the cat to her. "Do you like it? Why don’t you take it home and keep it? I think it’s pretty well-behaved."

He had just checked it over; it had no injuries.

It was terribly skinny, but it could still run and jump just fine.

"Well-behaved?"

The shop assistant’s expression was strange. ’Only for you, maybe,’ she thought.

She did want to keep it, but she hesitated. "I’m just afraid it’s too fierce."

Shen Xin said, "Don’t worry, I’ll have a talk with it for you."

With that, he pinched the cat’s ear, pulled it in front of the shop assistant, pointed at her, and said, "See her? From now on, she’s your owner. You listen to her."

The shop assistant was once again dumbfounded. ’This is just ridiculous,’ she thought.

Unexpectedly, the tabby looked at Shen Xin, then at the young woman, and then walked right over to her and gave her a gentle rub.

"You... You’re amazing."

The shop assistant covered her mouth in delight. ’He just said a few words and the cat started listening?’

It was all for nothing.

Seeing the white cat still trying to get close, Shen Xin picked it up and forced it to take a good, long look at the photo.

Just then, a woman in the crowd suddenly spoke up. "Officer, are you looking for the Guo Family’s cat?"

She must have seen the photo.

Shen Xin quickly asked if she had seen it.

The middle-aged woman, who was clearly a local resident, shook her head. "Officer, you can stop looking. That cat’s dead. It got hit by a car last year and didn’t last long after."

After her explanation, she asked curiously, "You’re not still investigating that case, are you, officer?"

She lowered her voice, her tone conspiratorial.

Shen Xin leaned in. "Ma’am, is there something you know?"

For a moment, Shen Xin felt a surge of hope, like a sudden breakthrough after a dead end.

It was like playing a video game—he’d done a side quest and suddenly stumbled upon an NPC with a quest-giving info dump.

But the woman just shook her head vigorously. "Oh, I don’t know anything! You’re the police officer. Why don’t you secretly tell me what’s going on?"

She looked at Shen Xin with the eager, gossipy expression of someone dying for a scoop.

The corner of Shen Xin’s eye twitched. ’If you don’t know anything,’ he thought, ’then why were you being so mysterious?’

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