The police and forensic experts arrived quickly.
A police cordon was set up around the fried chicken shop, and the shop owner was taken to the station for questioning.
Ruan Xingyao sat on the flowerbed outside the cordon, one hand stroking Baiyi’s big head, the other twirling the little mouse by its tail.
When Zhou Zelu passed by, he couldn’t help but stop and ask, “Expert Ruan, you’re not planning to take this little mouse home as a pet, are you?”
Though he spoke politely enough, Ruan Xingyao could tell just how much he was disgusted inwardly.
She smiled at Zhou Zelu and said, “That’s not necessarily the case. If it can provide more clues, wouldn’t that make it a hero?”
Zhou Zelu gave an awkward smile, feeling like he’d just been slapped in the face.
If a little mouse really could help solve the case, then all these years of police work would have been in vain.
Ruan Xingyao deliberately blinked at him and asked, “What’s the matter, Officer Zhou? Do you look down on our little mouse?”
“No, no,” Zhou Zelu replied.
He wouldn’t dare say otherwise—after all, he already knew this was a little prodigy brought in by the bureau; how could he insult her “subordinates”?
Just then, Xie Lin arrived, accompanied by the forensic doctor Su Wuyue, a delicate-looking, soft, beautiful young woman whose doe-like eyes seemed icy at first glance.
However, when her gaze met Van Xingyao’s, it was as if the ice melted instantly.
Su Wuyue said, “The body fragments we’ve found are incomplete, with many bite marks. We also detected that the corpse had been fried before it was dumped. Other details will require lab analysis.”
Ruan Xingyao felt uneasy just listening to Su Wuyue’s description.
She turned her face away, struggling to suppress the nausea rising in her stomach.
Seeing her reaction, Xie Lin turned and brought a bottle of water from the car, handing it to Ruan Xingyao.
She took it, drank deeply, and then, with her pale little face, said, “Thank you, Captain Xie.”
Su Wuyue glanced at Ruan Xingyao, then at Xie Lin, before finally looking at the little mouse next to Ruan Xingyao.
Curious, she asked, “You can really understand what they’re saying?”
Ruan Xingyao’s attention immediately shifted, and she nodded. “Any small animal, yes.”
Su Wuyue let out an “Oh” and calmly said, “Then you’re really amazing.”
Ruan Xingyao blinked her clear, bright eyes, momentarily unsure whether Su Wuyue was complimenting her or mocking her.
Zhou Zelu quickly interjected, “Expert Ruan, Wuwu is just like that—angry, admiring, happy, sad, all in one emotion. You understand, right, human-machine?”
Ruan Xingyao nodded, becoming even more intrigued by this contrasting young woman.
She looked at Su Wuyue and said, “Forensic Officer Su, if you need anything, you can come to me anytime.”
Su Wuyue responded with a faint acknowledgment.
Suddenly, as if recalling something, her gaze fixed intently on the little mouse.
She asked, “Can they… be made to spit out the pieces of flesh they ate?”
Ruan Xingyao’s mouth fell open in shock.
This request truly put her on the spot.
She asked cautiously, “Do you really want to do that?”
Su Wuyue said, “From the fragments we’ve collected so far, we only have about a third of the human tissue. I want to judge how much is missing based on what they’ve eaten.”
In truth, Su Wuyue was just teasing Ruan Xingyao.
As a professional forensic doctor, she would never actually use such a method to determine the completeness of a body.
But Ruan Xingyao really believed her.
She grabbed the little mouse and asked, “Little mouse, can you call all your friends over?”
“Jiji jiji jiji jiji!”
【Human! Why are you calling us? Are you going to eat us?】
“Jiji jiji jiji jiji! Jiji jiji jiji jiji!”
【Human! We’re not tasty!】
The little mouse squeaked non-stop, as if it might faint from fear at any moment.
Ruan Xingyao continued to tease it, “Then tell me, how much did you eat?”
“Jiji jiji jiji jiji! Jiji jiji jiji jiji!”
【Not much! Not much at all! We’re tiny, we can’t eat that much!】
Su Wuyue commented, “So, there could be several dumping sites. Searching the whole city, I don’t know when we’d find everything.”
Ruan Xingyao poked the little mouse on the head and asked, “Can you call all your friends over? I promise I won’t hurt you, as long as you help us, okay?”
“Jiji! Jiji jiji jiji jiji!”
【Really? Human! We won’t die?】
“Don’t worry. Once you help us, you’ll become the Mouse Squad, alright?”
“Jiji! Jiji jiji jiji jiji!”
【Human! We agree!】
Ruan Xingyao put the little mouse down and let it call over its friends.
Before long, all the little mouse companions arrived.
But facing four humans and a beagle, the mice trembled, huddling together and squeaking nonstop.
— The end of the Chapter–
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