The Savage Within

Chapter 8: The Suspect

Ethan opened the door and found his landlady, Mrs. Tsui, standing there with two young people—a man and a woman.

The woman was tall, dressed in a fitted black denim T-shirt, her hair pulled back into a neat ponytail. Her sharp eyes carried a natural authority.

The man looked like he was born in the ’90s, with fair skin and a carefully styled side-part haircut. His gaze held a scrutinizing edge as it landed on Ethan.

“Ethan,” Mrs. Tsui began quickly, worried he might misunderstand, “Lucky still hasn’t turned up, so I called the police. These two officers just want to ask you a few questions. That’s all.”

“Hello, Mr. Ethan.” The woman took out her badge and introduced herself with firm composure. “I’m Detective Li Yanchiu, Criminal Division, Xiufeng Precinct. We need to ask you about a few details.”

A female detective? And this beautiful?

Although Ethan was fond of Lucky, the dog was just a mixed-breed Labrador. Even if it had been stolen, at most it should have been a neighborhood security issue. Why would it require the attention of criminal investigators?

He remembered overhearing Mrs. Tsui and her husband the night before, discussing how several pets had gone missing in the area. But in his dazed state at the time, he hadn’t given it much thought.

The case had originally been handled by the local community police station, but as the number of missing pets grew and no culprit was found, it had been escalated to the Criminal Division.

Ethan hadn’t expected the situation to reach this level, and his nerves tightened. He wasn’t sure if anyone had seen him call Lucky into his apartment that night.

His worry wasn’t about being held responsible for Lucky’s death—he was more concerned about ruining his relationship with Mrs. Tsui and disappointing her.

“Hello, Detective Li,” Ethan said, forcing calm. “What do you need to ask?”

Li Yanchiu didn’t waste time. Her sharp eyes locked onto him. “When was the last time you saw Lucky? Roughly what time?”

Ethan lowered his head, pretending to think, while his mind raced.

“Uh… I think it was the evening of the 11th. I can’t recall the exact time.”

She nodded, then asked, “Where did you see him? And what were you doing at the time?”

Her piercing gaze made Ethan uneasy, though he managed to keep a calm front. “I’d just gone out to buy food. On my way back, I saw Lucky downstairs.”

“And then? Did he follow you upstairs?”

“I usually share a bit of food with Lucky, but lately he’s gotten pretty overweight. Mrs. Tsui said he needed to go on a diet, so I didn’t give him anything that night. I just went upstairs with my food.”

Ethan hesitated—he didn’t dare say yes or no. With three other tenants on the second floor, there was a chance someone might have seen something.

“Did Lucky follow you upstairs?” she pressed.

“I was starving at the time and only cared about getting back to eat. I didn’t notice if he followed me.”

At this, Li Yanchiu’s eyebrows lifted slightly. “Think again. Did he or didn’t he?”

“I really can’t remember. I was too hungry to notice,” Ethan insisted, sticking with vague answers.

“One of the tenants said they saw Lucky follow you upstairs,” she countered.

Ethan’s heart skipped, and he couldn’t help sneaking a glance at Mrs. Tsui. “Really? I didn’t notice.”

“Are you sure he didn’t go into your apartment? Maybe to eat with you?”

“No. He was too overweight. I wouldn’t have fed him anything.”

Li Yanchiu studied him carefully, as if weighing his words. Finally, she asked, “Do you have anything else to add? Any clues about Lucky?”

“Uh… no. I haven’t seen him since.”

“Alright. Thank you for your cooperation,” she said crisply, ending the exchange.

“Of course. Happy to help.”

She nodded, then turned to Mrs. Tsui. “Auntie, I’ll check around the neighborhood for more leads.”

“Alright.” Mrs. Tsui gave Ethan a polite smile. “Sorry to bother you, Ethan. You’re not at work today?”

“No, I’m on leave.”

“Okay then, get some rest.”

“Sure.”

With that, Mrs. Tsui followed Li Yanchiu and her young partner down the stairs.

Ethan closed the door and focused, activating his sharpened hearing. The conversation downstairs came through clearly.

“Yanchiu, do you think Lucky can still be found? Could he have been taken by dog thieves, or even killed?”

“Auntie, don’t worry. If dog traders were involved, there’d be traces left behind. I’ll ask around and look for clues.”

“Yanchiu, your cousin Lan says you’re great at solving cases. Please, you must help me find Lucky.”

“Don’t worry, Auntie. I’ll do everything I can.”

“Yanchiu… do you have a boyfriend yet?”

“Auntie, why are you asking that?”

“Your mom’s been trying to set you up. She worries about you.”

“…”

So, the beautiful detective was actually Mrs. Tsui’s niece.

Leaning against the doorframe, Ethan recalled her penetrating gaze and felt uneasy. Killing Lucky hadn’t been intentional, but even though he’d disposed of the remains, any thorough investigation would turn up traces.

It wasn’t a serious crime—even if discovered, at worst he’d pay compensation. But the thought of facing Mrs. Tsui filled him with dread.

“I just hope that detective doesn’t dig up anything…”

With a sigh, he shut off his computer and decided to head to another hospital for a full checkup. He felt fine, but an exam would give him peace of mind.

…

“How about it, Yanchiu? Did you notice anything?” her male partner asked once they’d left.

Li Yanchiu’s eyes narrowed in thought. “Didn’t you feel something was off about Mr. Ethan’s answers?”

“Yeah. He doesn’t seem like a bad guy, but he wasn’t being entirely honest.”

“When I mentioned that someone saw Lucky follow him upstairs, he instinctively glanced at my aunt. And about whether Lucky actually followed him, he kept dodging, saying he ‘didn’t notice.’ It felt like he was deliberately hiding something.”

The young officer looked impressed—and distracted by her figure. “Wow, Yanchiu, you’re sharp. I completely missed that. Captain Wang was right to pair me with you.”

Ignoring the compliment, Li Yanchiu focused on the case. “There are still a lot of loose ends. Since I took over, Lucky is the second pet to disappear. The others were all under fifteen kilos, while Lucky was over thirty. That’s a big difference.”

“You mean Lucky’s disappearance might not be connected to the others?”

“It’s too early to say. But Lucky’s too big to just vanish. We’ll check the surveillance at all the exits of the complex. There has to be a clue.”

“Got it.”