Solving the case: Combining the police dog's olfactory genes at the beginning

How could a prisoner have such abilities?

"Alright, alright."

Wang Qiang waved his hand impatiently.

"That kid might be talking nonsense. It's good that you didn't do it. But be careful in the future, stay away from that Luo Fei, that guy is a bit creepy. Go out."

"Yes, yes, Director Wang, I will definitely pay attention."

Old Liu felt as if he had been granted a pardon, nodded hurriedly, and left the office.

After closing the door, he stood in the corridor, still feeling somewhat confused. Fragments of memories from yesterday afternoon seemed impossible to piece together, a feeling that made him very uncomfortable, yet he couldn't quite put his finger on why.

After seeing Old Liu off, Wang Qiang leaned back in his chair and rubbed his temples. The origin of the playing cards remained a mystery, but he couldn't be bothered to delve into it further.

His thoughts were now entirely focused on the thirty million and Xue Jingshan's entrustment. Luo Fei had to deal with it as soon as possible; delaying could lead to unforeseen complications.

The "harmonious" scene he witnessed in the cell today made him even more uneasy. Xue Debiao not only didn't punish Luo Fei, but instead played cards with him? This was too abnormal.

This Luo Fei seems to have some real skills; we can't let this drag on any longer.

He began to carefully plan in his mind how to use the environment and rules of the detention center to create a seemingly flawless "accident." Would it be a sudden illness? Or a mishap during a conflict between inmates? Or perhaps... exploiting certain routine management procedures? He needed to choose the method with the least risk, the fewest traces, and the least suspicion.

At the same time, we must also consider how to get Xue Debiao and his men to "cooperate," or at least not become an obstacle.

Thinking about the 30 million yuan in cash, Wang Qiang's eyes gradually became cold and resolute.

He picked up a pen and unconsciously scribbled on a sticky note, and a vague outline of a plan began to take shape in his mind.

He knew he had no way out.

While Wang Qiang was racking his brains to plot a murder in the detention center, the atmosphere inside the Dongguan City Police Department building was one of different—heavy and anxious.

The special task force led by Chen Yifan, along with the special operations team codenamed "Ghost," secretly arrived in Dongguan City as quickly as possible after receiving orders.

Their entire team moved into the Dongguan City Police Department and was assigned to a relatively independent floor as a temporary office and command center.

Chen Yifan, in his capacity as deputy head of the special task force, was received by Chen Yunfei, deputy director of the municipal public security bureau.

The meeting took place in a small conference room at the Municipal Bureau.

Chen Yunfei had already conducted a brief investigation into Chen Yifan's background through internal connections.

When Chen Yunfei learned that this young and capable deputy group leader was actually the only son of a senior military region commander, he was genuinely surprised.

Given his background and family connections, Chen Yifan was willing to serve as Luo Fei's deputy. Moreover, his words and actions revealed a genuine respect and concern for Luo Fei.

This made Chen Yunfei feel even more apprehensive and curious about Luo Fei, whom he was currently "protectively" hiding in the detention center.

What kind of abilities and background does Luo Fei possess that would make someone like Chen Yifan willingly follow him? He probably holds far more than just Xue Shihao's deadly secret.

"Team Leader Chen, you must be tired from your journey."

Chen Yunfei forced a formulaic smile and shook hands with Chen Yifan.

"Our municipal bureau attaches great importance to the whereabouts of Director Luo. Mayor Ding has also given instructions on many occasions, requiring us to fully cooperate and spare no effort to find Director Luo as soon as possible."

Please feel free to ask if you need anything.

Chen Yifan's expression was serious, his eyes sharp, and he nodded.

"Thank you for your support, Director Chen and the Dongguan police. Time is of the essence, so let's not stand on ceremony. Please provide all relevant surveillance footage and eyewitness reports before and after Director Luo's disappearance, as well as any leads you currently have. We need to launch a comprehensive investigation immediately."

"Of course, of course, it's all ready."

Chen Yunfei quickly signaled his subordinates to hand over a stack of organized documents and several storage devices to the members of the special case team.

He secretly rejoiced, knowing that he had already cleaned up the surveillance footage at key locations, putting on a very good show.

Under Chen Yifan's command, the members of the Special Case Team and the Ghost Team immediately threw themselves into their work. In the temporary command center, various electronic devices lit up, and the sounds of keyboard typing and hushed conversations rose and fell.

As the core of the technology team, Zhou Xiaobei quickly connected to the surveillance system provided by the police and began tracking Luo Fei's movements after he left the airport.

"I found it."

Zhou Xiaobei stared at the rapidly changing images on the screen.

"After leaving the airport, Director Luo got into a taxi with license plate number Yue S·XXXXX. According to road surveillance footage, the taxi's route was..."

The footage followed the taxi across half of Dongguan's urban area, finally stopping on the roadside outside the Dongguan City Police Station. Luo Fei paid and got out, and the taxi drove away.

Seeing Luo Fei appear at the entrance of the Municipal Public Security Bureau, Chen Yifan and the others breathed a slight sigh of relief; at least he had safely arrived near his destination.

"Retrieve the taxi company's records and contact the driver!"

Chen Yifan gave the order.

However, news that quickly followed sent everyone's hearts racing again. The taxi company provided information about the driver, Liu Fuquan, but after contacting the police, they discovered that Liu Fuquan had been found dead at home the morning after picking up Luo Fei, with the preliminary examination results indicating a sudden myocardial infarction.

This coincidence was too suspicious and immediately aroused high alert. The special task force requested a more detailed investigation into Liu Fuquan's cause of death, but the local police made slow progress, citing that the case had already been closed as a sudden death and that the family had no objections.

With the driver's trail temporarily cut off, Zhou Xiaobei could only pin his hopes on surveillance cameras around the city bureau.

"Expand the search area. Centered on the point where Director Luo got off the bus, within a radius of 500 meters... no, one kilometer, screen all available civilian and public security surveillance footage! Pay attention to Director Luo's physical characteristics; he may change his coat or put on some simple disguise."

The members of the Special Case Unit and the Ghost Team devoted themselves to the tedious and arduous task of video investigation.

Hours passed, and their eyes started to ache from staring at the screen. Frustratingly, despite repeatedly reviewing the surveillance footage from various angles, they couldn't find any clear images of Luo Fei getting out of the car and walking towards the city police station, or leaving the area in any other direction. It was as if he had vanished into thin air on that sidewalk.

Unbeknownst to them, the place where Luo Fei got off the car happened to be on the edge of a blind spot for security surveillance.

The surveillance footage from the beef noodle restaurant he walked into had already been completely destroyed by Chen Yunfei's men under the pretext of "equipment malfunction and repair."

This most important clue was cleanly and decisively cut off.

Time ticked by, and it was already the afternoon of the second day after Luo Fei arrived in Dongguan. Nearly forty-eight hours had passed since his disappearance. During this time, Luo Fei's phone remained switched off, showing no signs of being turned on or attempted to be contacted.

What's even more disturbing is that, through technical investigation, it was found that none of Luo Fei's bank cards or electronic payment accounts had been used during this period.

This means that he is either completely isolated from the world and unable to access external resources, or... he has lost the ability to use those resources.

The atmosphere in the command center grew increasingly tense.

Chen Yifan frowned; the ashtray was already piled high with cigarette butts. He knew Luo Fei's skills and wit; ordinary dangers could hardly hold him captive for so long.

This complete silence was extremely unusual. Recalling the previous experience of female team member Guo Mengyun being imprisoned and abused by a criminal gang, an ominous premonition gripped everyone's hearts.

If even Luo Fei met with misfortune, then what kind of terrifying existence must their opponents be?

During this time, Chen Yifan's phone rang; it was Chen Xuanran calling from headquarters.

"Yifan, what's wrong with Luo Fei? His phone is always off. Headquarters needs to confirm something with him."

Chen Xuanran's voice was filled with concern and doubt.

Chen Yifan took a deep breath, walked to a relatively quiet corner, and lowered his voice.

"Sister Xuanran, Director Luo... he is currently carrying out a highly confidential emergency mission and is temporarily unable to contact the outside world. His mobile phone is also required to be turned off by the mission. I cannot say more about the specific situation; it is a matter of discipline."

He had to lie; the news of Luo Fei's disappearance had to be kept strictly under wraps to avoid causing unnecessary panic or being exploited by the enemy.

Chen Xuanran was silent for a few seconds on the other end of the phone. She could clearly hear the unnaturalness and concealment in Chen Yifan's tone, but out of trust for her comrade and respect for discipline, she did not press for details, but only gave him some instructions.

"I understand. Please take care of yourselves and contact us anytime if needed."

"Okay, thank you, Sister Xuanran."

Hanging up the phone, Chen Yifan felt a heavy weight in his heart. He could hide it for a while, but not forever. If Luo Fei couldn't be found...

At the same time, the entire Dongguan City Police Department is also under tremendous pressure.

Mayor Ding called the bureau almost every one or two hours to inquire about the progress, his tone becoming increasingly stern each time.

As the leader in charge, Chen Yunfei was extremely overwhelmed.

On the one hand, he had to appear proactive and cooperative with the special task force, mobilizing a large number of police officers, dividing them into countless groups, and conducting a city-wide dragnet search of hotels, rental houses, and transportation hubs, creating chaos but ultimately yielding nothing. On the other hand, his anxiety and fear grew daily. Xue Shihao, that madman, had disappeared after meeting Luo Fei and wasn't answering his calls. He was truly afraid that Xue Shihao might recklessly do something irreversible and cause a major upheaval.

Luo Fei, in the detention center, was like a ticking time bomb. The lack of any movement from Wang Qiang made him restless.

He felt as if he were sitting on the crater of a volcano about to erupt, with thin ice beneath his feet that could collapse at any moment. The accountability from his superiors, the pressure from the special task force, the potential threat from the Xue family, and his own shady gambling debts—these forces were twisting together, almost tearing him apart.

At the heart of this storm, Luo Fei—the very man the special task force had been frantically searching for, the man Chen Yunfei had been terrified of, and the man the Xue family had been willing to pay a fortune to have killed—was currently living a rather leisurely life in cell 307 of the Xishan Detention Center. After the playing cards were verbally "confiscated" by Wang Qiang, he didn't dwell on it anymore. Instead, he leaned against his bunk, closed his eyes, and rested, as if all the outside turmoil was irrelevant to him. Only in his occasionally open eyes did a calm and profound light flicker, as if he were silently calculating the passage of time, waiting for a crucial moment to arrive. In the cell, Xue Debiao and the others, after the playing card incident and Wang Qiang's sudden appearance, had developed a more nuanced attitude towards Luo Fei, a mixture of awe, curiosity, and a barely perceptible dependence.

They vaguely felt that this young man was shrouded in an unfathomable mist, and that they themselves had been drawn into the depths of that mist.

Wang Qiang, returning from the prison area, slumped heavily into the leather swivel chair in his office.

The windows were tightly closed, and the room was filled with a stifling atmosphere, a mixture of the stale smell of documents and the lingering, distinctive odor from the prison that still clung to him.

He loosened his collar irritably, pulled out a pack of cigarettes from the drawer, and lit one. The pungent smoke filled his lungs, slightly suppressing the unease that had arisen in his heart due to Luo Fei's "abnormality" and the mystery of the playing cards.

But a stronger desire quickly dispelled this unease.

His thoughts drifted involuntarily to the unfinished apartment, to the three cold yet alluring "red hills".

Thirty million… This number echoed repeatedly in his mind, like the most potent stimulant. Xue Jingshan's aged yet dignified face, and his command to "shut him up forever," became clearer and more urgent than ever before.

The cigarette ash fell silently into the glass ashtray.

Wang Qiang narrowed his eyes and began to carefully plan how to make that young man named Luo Fei disappear from the world without leaving a trace.

Every year, there are bound to be some "accidents" in detention centers: illness, sudden acute illness, uncontrollable conflicts between prisoners... These are all opportunities to exploit.

The first person he thought of was the death row inmate who shared a cell with Luo Fei.

If that person could kill Luo Fei, that would be the ideal outcome. If a fight between prisoners results in death, the investigation would focus on the prisoners, and I would at most be charged with dereliction of duty and lax patrols.

Even if I lose my job or am forced to retire early, what does it matter? With that huge sum of 30 million yuan in my hands, the position of the detention center director instantly becomes as useless as a chicken bone, no, even less than a chicken bone.

He had secretly calculated that even if he simply put 30 million into a money market fund, the annual interest would be over 600,000, far exceeding his meager retirement pension and enough to allow him to live a much more comfortable life than he currently did. After much deliberation, he decided that using that death row inmate was the least risky and least troublesome option.

Once the decision is made, there is no more hesitation in taking action.

He stubbed out his cigarette, picked up the internal phone, and gave the order in a deep voice.

"Bring Zhou Shaokang from cell 307 to my office. Make sure he comes alone, and don't let anyone else see him."

A moment later, the sounds of shackles being dragged on the floor and footsteps could be heard outside the door.

The supervising police officers brought in a middle-aged man who looked haggard and was wearing handcuffs and leg irons.

This man was Zhou Shaokang. He wore a faded blue prison uniform, his hair was disheveled, his eyes were sunken, and his face bore the ashen complexion of someone who had long been consumed by despair and fear. (End of Chapter)