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

Upon entering and seeing Wang Qiang sitting behind the desk, Zhou Shaokang seemed to have a switch flipped. He suddenly broke free from the hand of the police officer behind him who was supporting him—despite the heavy shackles that made him clumsy—and knelt down with a thud. His handcuffed hands stretched out urgently forward, and he cried out in a hoarse voice.

"Director Wang! Director Wang, you must do justice for me! I'm innocent! I'm truly innocent!"

Since being sentenced to death, especially after the final appeal upheld the original verdict and the execution order was issued, Zhou Shaokang would rush to anyone who might be in charge—whether it was a prison guard, a resident prosecutor, or even a leader who occasionally came down to inspect—and cry out for his innocence. This had almost become an instinctive reaction for him, the last straw he was grasping at, even though that straw was already extremely fragile.

This time, however, Wang Qiang unusually did not show his usual impatient or businesslike indifference.

He gave the guard escorting him a wink, and the guard understood, leaving and quietly closing the door behind him. Only Wang Qiang and Zhou Shaokang remained in the office.

Wang Qiang stood up, walked around the desk, and went to Zhou Shaokang, who was kneeling on the ground, his body trembling slightly from excitement and the weight of the shackles.

He reached out, not to scold, but to personally help Zhou Shaokang up, with just the right amount of force.

"Shaokang, get up and speak, the ground is cold."

His tone even carried a rare hint of gentleness.

Zhou Shaokang was taken aback by this unusual behavior, but his survival instinct made him stand up quickly, and his tears flowed even more fiercely as he continued to sob incoherently.

"Director Wang... thank you... I really was framed!"
Those guns…those guns aren’t mine! They…they forced them on me! I’m just a driver, why would I need so many guns…”

He kept saying "they," but never dared to say their specific names.

Wang Qiang helped Zhou Shaokang to sit on the old sofa next to him, while he pulled over a chair and sat opposite him.

He sighed, a mixture of sympathy and helplessness on his face.

"Shaokang, I know a little about your case. You say you're innocent, and personally... I don't completely disbelieve you."

Zhou Shaokang suddenly looked up, a glimmer of light bursting from his cloudy eyes, like a drowning person finally seeing a ripple.

"Director Wang! You believe me? You really believe me?"

Wang Qiang nodded, then slowly shook his head, his tone becoming heavy.

"Whether I believe it or not is not important. What is important is what the law believes and what the evidence points to. In your case, the chain of evidence is there in the first and second trials. Those 'guns' were seized from the warehouse you rented. You were caught red-handed. The final judgment was made by the High Court. It's in black and white: death penalty, to be carried out immediately."

He deliberately emphasized the words "execute immediately," and Zhou Shaokang's body visibly trembled.

No...that's not it!

That's false evidence! Someone's trying to frame me!

Zhou Shaokang became agitated and tried to stand up, his shackles rattling loudly.

Wang Qiang reached out and pressed down lightly, signaling him to calm down.

"Want to harm you? Then tell me, who wants to harm you? Why? What evidence do you have to prove that someone framed you?"

He stared into Zhou Shaokang's eyes and fired off a series of questions.

Zhou Shaokang opened his mouth, his facial muscles twitching violently, his eyes filled with extreme fear and struggle.

His lips trembled for a long time, but the name that was almost bursting out was ultimately swallowed back down.

He lowered his head dejectedly, painfully burying his hands in his tangled hair, letting out a whimper like a wounded beast, but no longer daring to name the specific person.

A silence fell over the office, broken only by Zhou Shaokang's suppressed sobs and the occasional clinking of the shackles.

Wang Qiang waited patiently, knowing that the time was not yet right.

After a while, once Zhou Shaokang's emotions had calmed down a bit, Wang Qiang changed the subject and asked in a casual, caring tone.

"Shaokang, I remember... you have an elderly mother at home, right? Her health doesn't seem very good, does she? And... you have a three-year-old daughter?"

Zhou Shaokang looked up in surprise, his eyes blurry with tears, not understanding why the director had suddenly asked this question.

He nodded, his voice hoarse.

"Yes... my mother has a heart condition and takes medication regularly. My daughter... her name is Niu Niu, she's only three years old... just started kindergarten..."

When his family was mentioned, tears welled up in his eyes again. This time, they were not tears of excitement as he cried out for justice, but tears filled with deep guilt and pain.

"Yes, when your family came to visit before, I happened to be by the window and chatted with your mother for a few minutes."

Wang Qiang's tone remained calm, as if he were narrating an ordinary event.

“It’s not easy for the old lady. She’s so old and her health isn’t good. I heard her say that ever since your verdict came down, your wife… ran off with someone else, right? And left Niu Niu with her.”

Zhou Shaokang closed his eyes in pain, his nails digging deep into his palms.

This is the deepest scar in his heart, more shameful than the death sentence.

"I'm not human... I'm sorry to my mom, I'm sorry to Niu Niu..."

He kept repeating it, regret gnawing at his heart like a venomous snake.

Wang Qiang leaned forward slightly, lowering his voice, but it reached Zhou Shaokang's ears even more clearly.

"Your mother held my hand then, tears streaming down her face."

She said her biggest fear wasn't that she might suddenly die of a heart attack, but what would happen to Niu Niu after she was gone? A three-year-old girl, with neither parents by her side, and her grandmother gone, becoming an orphan... how would she live? Who would take care of her? Would she be bullied? Would she...?

He didn't finish his sentence, but the implication was enough to send chills down one's spine.

"Please stop... Chief Wang, please stop..."

Zhou Shaokang completely broke down. He hunched over, his forehead pressed against his handcuffed wrists, letting out a suppressed, animalistic cry. His family, especially his young daughter's future, was his most vulnerable and unbearable weakness.

Wang Qiang's words were like a blunt knife, precisely cutting into his most painful spot.

Looking at the man before him, utterly crushed by despair and guilt, Wang Qiang knew the time was ripe.

He waited until Zhou Shaokang's crying subsided slightly before speaking slowly in an almost whispered voice.

"Shaokang, things have come to this point, and it seems that the legal avenue is no longer viable."

But... perhaps there's another way, so that before you go, you can do one last thing for your mother, and especially for your daughter Niu Niu, leaving yourself a way out.

Zhou Shaokang suddenly raised his head, his red and swollen eyes filled with confusion and a faint, incredulous expectation.

"A solution? What solution? Director Wang, I'll do anything as long as it makes things a little easier for my mom and Niu Niu! I'm already in this situation, what else do I have to be afraid of?"

His tone was urgent, as if he had grasped at the last straw, even though he didn't know what that straw was.

Wang Qiang's gaze deepened as he stared intently into Zhou Shaokang's eyes, speaking each word clearly in a voice only the two of them could hear.

"The new guy you're locked up with is called Luo Fei. I need you... to find an opportunity to 'cause an accident' for him. It doesn't need to be too complicated. It's normal for conflicts to occur between inmates in a detention center, and for him to slip up."

He paused, noticing Zhou Shaokang's pupils shrink and his face drain of color, before continuing slowly, "If you handle this matter, I guarantee with my integrity and this police uniform that your mother's future medical expenses, and all of Niu Niu's living and educational expenses until she reaches adulthood, will be taken care of and properly arranged. I guarantee they will have no worries about food and clothing, and Niu Niu will grow up healthy and strong. Otherwise..."

Wang Qiang didn't continue, but only sighed softly. The threat in his unspoken words was colder and more chilling than any straightforward statement.

Zhou Shaokang was struck dumb, sitting there blankly, as if his soul had been ripped out.

To send him to kill someone? To kill a complete stranger in his cell? No, this wasn't a straw; it was the clutches of evil that would push him into an even deeper hell! Yet, his mind was uncontrollably filled with the image of his mother's aged and frail face, and the innocent, smiling face of his daughter, Niu Niu, calling out "Daddy"... On one side was the bloody crime, and on the other, the tragic and helpless future of his family.

Overwhelmed by immense conflict and pain, he opened his mouth but could not utter a sound; only tears flowed silently from his eyes.

Wang Qiang stopped talking and just watched him quietly, waiting.

He knew that for someone already in dire straits with the heaviest burdens in their heart, this choice, though cruel, was almost a foregone conclusion.

He didn't need Zhou Shaokang to agree immediately; he just needed to plant the seed and let fear and guilt towards his family nurture it.

After a long while, Wang Qiang stood up, walked to the door, opened it, and gestured to the guards waiting outside.

The guard came in.

"Take him back."

Wang Qiang resumed his usual serious expression and spoke to the guard as if the conversation had never happened.

Zhou Shaokang, like a puppet without its strings, was helped up by the guards and moved his feet mechanically, the sound of his shackles dragging on the ground heavy and slow.

He was led out of the office and back down the long, dark corridor leading to the prison area. Throughout the entire ordeal, he didn't look at Wang Qiang once more, nor utter a single word. His eyes were vacant, his face ashen, as if all his life and hope had been completely drained away in those few minutes.

……

When Zhou Shaokang was escorted back to cell 307 by the correctional police, the cell was enjoying a rare "leisure" time of the day.

Although Wang Qiang verbally "confiscated" his playing cards, Luo Fei somehow produced several chess sets and set them up with Xue Debiao on the bunk, locked in a fierce and evenly matched battle. Several underlings watched with great interest, occasionally offering whispered advice or letting out sighs of frustration or admiration. The atmosphere was surprisingly lively, reminiscent of a street chess stall.

Luo Fei, playing as the red hero, made a move of "Cannon 2 to 5," intending to break through in the middle.

Just then, the cell door opened, and Zhou Shaokang was pushed in. Luo Fei glanced at him subconsciously and immediately noticed something was wrong. After going out for a while, Zhou Shaokang's eyes were swollen and red like peaches, his gaze unfocused and unfocused. He looked completely lost and dejected. He didn't look at anyone as soon as he came in, walked straight to his worst bunk near the toilet, lay down face down, curled up, and remained motionless, like a lifeless shell.

The bleak and despairing atmosphere was almost tangible, completely out of place with the "harmonious" atmosphere in the cell.

Luo Fei paused slightly, holding a chess piece in his hand. Xue Debiao, who was deep in thought, hadn't noticed the doorway and urged Luo Fei on when he saw him stop.

"Brother Fei, it's your turn. What are you thinking about?"

Luo Fei placed a chess piece down and casually asked a question.

"Brother Biao, what's wrong with that new guy who just came back? He was fine when he left, but he's acting like he's lost his soul since he came back?"

Xue Debiao glanced at Luo Fei and then at Zhou Shaokang, who was lying on the bunk. He curled his lip in disdain and said in a low voice.

"Him? Zhou Shaokang, what an unlucky fellow. Nothing special. Probably being interrogated again, or going to the station chief to plead his case. I've seen it all before, he's just like everyone else."

He seemed unwilling to talk much.

“What did he do wrong? He seems really off; it’s not just ordinary frustration.”

Luo Fei pressed for an answer.

Xue Debiao glanced at Luo Fei, thinking it wasn't a secret, and then said...

"He was convicted of illegally possessing a particularly large number of firearms and was sentenced to death in the first instance. His appeal was also rejected, and I heard... the execution will be carried out immediately. He doesn't have many days left to live."

So everyone in the cell usually ignored him; he was considered bad luck.

Possessing firearms illegally? The death penalty is that severe?

Luo Fei looked surprised.

This wasn't entirely an act. According to his understanding, it's rare for someone convicted of illegal possession of firearms to be sentenced to death with immediate execution unless the circumstances are particularly serious.

A tall, thin young man chimed in.

"Brother Fei, you have no idea, he hid more than just one or two, the quantity is astonishing!"

"Oh? How much?"

Luo Fei asked.

"I heard there are more than two hundred of them!"

The younger brother gestured, his face displaying an exaggerated expression.

"Goodness, that's enough to equip a reinforced platoon!"
Can these properties be the same?

More than two hundred? Luo Fei frowned even more.

That is indeed an astonishing number.

"So many guns? Is he an arms dealer? Where did he get them from?"

The younger brother shook his head.

No, that's not it.

I heard they're all replicas, BB guns.

"A replica gun?"

Luo Fei was genuinely taken aback this time.

"Replica guns are punishable by death? Even if the quantity is large, what's the basis for this sentencing..."

He didn't finish his sentence, but his meaning was clear.

Xue Debiao then took over the conversation. He looked around, lowered his voice, and concluded.

"This matter is... weird."

The quantity is one aspect, but I heard... well, anyway, a verdict has been handed down, and it's being carried out immediately.

The waters here are very deep. Let's not ask too many questions and stay away from him.

He gave Luo Fei a knowing look.

Luo Fei nodded and stopped asking questions, but his gaze returned to Zhou Shaokang's direction.

He remained face down, his shoulders seemingly trembling very slightly, as if he were weeping silently, or perhaps so desperate that he no longer had the strength to cry. (End of Chapter)