Looking out of the window, I was greeted by the sight of several dead dogs in the kennels in the southwest corner. They were bigger than Alaskan Huskies, some with brown hair and the others were grey. They were Tibetan Mastiffs.

Xiaotao was about to head out to check the dogs when I patted her shoulder, "Wait, we’ll go in a bit!"

I left the room and moved on to the next one. There were obvious traces indicating that someone had laid on the ground with their hands tied behind their back. Since no laceration marks were visible on the victim’s body, the murderers might have used something soft like cloth for binding.

Scanning the room, I found some dog food in the corner. When I picked it up, Xiaotao unexpectedly placed a piece into her mouth, chewing a few times. I looked at her in amazement as she spat it out. "When I was a child, we raised dogs as well. Dog food of better quality doesn’t contain starch. It’s usually pure meat without any crushed bones. What the murderers fed the victim is imported dog food."

"I can’t believe you aren’t disgusted!"

"Unfortunately, I’ve been influenced by you!” remarked Xiaotao. “Testing will take too long and we don’t have the time."

I found some dog hairs in the corner, which I compared to those found in the victim’s pocket. The length and color were exactly the same which confirmed this was the place where the first victim was detained.

Before leaving the room, I sprinkled some seaweed ash on the doorknob but failed to find any fingerprints.

"These murderers are very cautious. They left no fingerprints for us to find," Xiaotao frowned.

"Cautious yet careless," I smiled cryptically.

"What do you mean?" asked Xiaotao.

"They are cautious in certain details, such as making sure not to leave any fingerprints. And they know binding the victim with rope would leave laceration marks. However, they’ve been very careless in some aspects, such as the shoe prints left at the scene and the food fed to the victim."

I endeavored to create a psychological profile of the murderers, "Their average age won’t exceed twenty-six. They are wealthy and willful, most likely four second-generation rich kids[1]! They crave excitement for their numb hearts and have no regard for human life. At least one of the four is slightly older and more cautious, while the rest of them are more careless. That’s exactly why we see such a contrast."

We checked out the other room but came up empty. As we walked downstairs exploring the place, Xiaotao asked, "What are you looking for?"

"The toilet!"

"Is it urgent? If you can wait, we’ll look for a gas station later.”

"I don't want to use the toilet,” I chuckled. “The murderers stayed here for about two days so they would have had to go."

"Are you thinking of testing that?" she grimaced.

"Feces are extremely important clues. We can analyze the perpetrator’s physical characteristics and sometimes detect DNA from feces. When the US military found bin Laden, it was through his feces that passed through the sewer."

There was a revolting odor in the air. I made my way forward and turned the corner. Sure enough, I came upon a simple squat toilet built with asbestos tiles in the southeast corner of the compound. I looked inside and found that the feces had been shoveled away, leaving only bits and pieces.

"Looks like they’re very cautious. They even knew to dispose of their feces! How do you think they handled it?"

"This is a dog breeding site. Isn't there a convenient way?" I arched an eyebrow.

The muscles in Xiaotao's cheeks twitched as the realization dawned upon her. As a dog lover, she was disgusted by their actions.

"This is the nature of dogs. They live in the wild and lack food. Because carnivores have shorter intestines, food stays in the body for a short time. So they can't ruminate like cattle and sheep. And the way to fully absorb nutrition is to consume feces..."

"Ugh, that’s enough. No more talking about this. I still haven’t had my lunch!" Xiaotao smiled wryly.

At the southwest corner of the compound were seven dead Tibetan Mastiffs. Upon closer inspection, I found human feces stained on their mouths and chest hair. The dogs had foam around the nostrils and corners of the mouth which smelled of rat poison.

In fact, the murderers were rather stupid. Though the Tibetan Mastiffs had been poisoned, the evidence was still in their stomachs. They had clearly overestimated their own intelligence!

I examined the dogs’ pupils and checked for rigor mortis. Despite knowing little about animal forensics, my preliminary conclusion for the time of death was around twelve hours ago. After further contemplation, a thought suddenly crossed my mind–wasn’t that exactly after the two murders?

After murdering the victims, they fled all the way here to finish off these Tibetan Mastiffs for fear their identities would be exposed. As extremely loyal animals, Tibetan Mastiffs recognized one master throughout their lives and obeyed the murderers entirely.

This foolish, counterproductive move was like putting up a sign here that shouted: We’re the owners of these Tibetan Mastiffs!

I instructed Xiaotao to call the criminal police as well as Bingxin down to the compound to collect evidence and dissect the dogs. Additionally, we had to investigate the owners of this dog breeding site which may prove to be a vital clue.

Since the team would take some time to arrive, Xiaotao and I climbed back up the wall and strolled around the area to see if we missed any clues. About a hundred meters in front of the compound was a road, followed by a hill.

Halfway up the hill, I caught a whiff of gasoline. As we approached the source of the smell, we found a pit dug in the ground filled with burnt embers that had been watered.

There were some lunch boxes, alcohol bottles and clothes inside. I even found the corner of a burnt ID card. "These items were probably burned by the murderers before they left. The victim’s clothes may be in there."

When I turned around, I suddenly noticed a glare on Xiaotao's button. I twisted my head around, only to see a figure in the distance, holding something reflective–binoculars perhaps.

At this point, Xiaotao’s attention had also turned to the man who stood there peeping at us, obviously with no good intentions. She pulled out her gun, ready for a warning shot.

"Don't, he’s too far away!" I interrupted.

Realizing his presence had been detected, the man quickly strode down the hill. The trench coat he wore was unusual in this season and he walked with a limp in his right leg.

Xiaotao immediately called the station and assigned several officers to search the area.

A while later, the police vehicles arrived. Bingxin alighted carrying a kit. "Did you find another body?" she asked excitedly.

"Yes, there were six!"

Bingxin’s shock turned to anger upon seeing the dead dogs in the kennels. "How cruel!"

"Begin the autopsy!" I instructed.

"But I don't know much about the structure of canines." cried Bingxin.

"I don't know much either. I just need you to have a look at the stomach contents,” I explained. “But a word of warning, what these dogs have eaten may be really disgusting!"

After carrying one of the dead dogs out, Bingxin wiped its abdomen with alcohol and carefully shaved the hair off. The dog had nipples–it was female.

"By the way, Xiaotao-jiejie, I have a lab report in my pocket. It’s about the capsule we found in the victim’s stomach."

Xiaotao removed the report from Bingxin’s pocket, taking a moment to go over the details though she couldn’t quite understand the content. After perusing the report, I realized I didn't understand the technical terms.

Bingxin explained, "We only tested the ingredients in the capsule but we couldn’t find the name of the drug. I’ve not come across such a drug so I don't know what it is."

"Nevermind about this. We’ll check that later!"

[1] Chinese term for the children of the nouveau riche in China.