The sign on the ticket booth out front read: Ludong Red Star Circus.

Past the entrance, a large circus tent was already set up.

A line of box trucks was parked around the tent.

They seemed to be one of those roving troupes that traveled all over the country to perform.

The lights were all on. His colleague, Sun Jingyi, was questioning a young man. When he saw Shen Xin, he gestured toward the inside.

Shen Xin entered the tent.

In the middle was a stage, enclosed by a tall iron fence.

The perimeter was lined with simple folding chairs.

Right now, in the center of the stage under the glare of a spotlight, the medical examiner and the forensics team were at work.

Outside the fence, Chen Chao was questioning a young man.

He was quite thin, wrapped in a worn-out, padded green military coat and wearing earmuffs. His matted hair was a tangled mess like a bird’s nest, and there was stubble on his upper lip. He was anxiously explaining something to Chen Chao.

"Captain Chen."

Shen Xin greeted him and looked toward the stage.

The stage was cluttered with performance props like high stools and iron hoops.

And there, near the exit, a man in a down jacket lay motionless on the ground.

"My dear Medical Examiner Du, what’s the situation?" Shen Xin called out.

Du Xin Kai, who looked like he’d also been dragged out of bed, walked around to the side of the body. "I suspect it was an acute heart attack, but the traces at the scene are a bit strange."

He pointed to the corpse’s right arm.

Shen Xin saw it too. The down jacket on the corpse’s right arm was torn by something.

"Are those claw marks?"

Shen Xin made a clawing motion with his hand.

Kang Bin, who was taking photos, nodded in agreement. "I think they look like claw marks too. Mostly because of this."

He gestured at the surroundings.

In the center of the stage, performance stools, poles, and other things were knocked over everywhere.

It looked like a struggle had taken place.

Chen Chao walked over and explained the situation.

It was now 5:53 AM.

At 4:48 AM, Chen Chao, who was on duty, received a call from the Houxia Police Station about a homicide here and rushed over immediately.

The exact time of the incident was unknown.

The person who called the police was the young man Chen Chao had just been questioning. His name was Lu Wenxue.

The deceased was his maternal uncle, Tian Haoming.

With the end of the year approaching, Houxia was holding a series of Spring Festival celebrations, and they had been invited to perform their circus act.

They had rushed over from Ludong three days ago.

They spent two days setting up the stage.

Tian Haoming was the head of the circus troupe. After they finished setting up the stage yesterday, they all went out to a restaurant for dinner. Afterward, most of them went back to the hotel in town to rest.

Tian Haoming and Lu Wenxue stayed behind at the circus to watch over the equipment.

They were supposedly watching the equipment, but public safety was much better these days, so there weren’t many thieves or robbers around.

Plus, he’d had a lot to drink that night. So when Lu Wenxue got back before 9:00 PM, he went straight to sleep. He slept soundly, all the way until after four in the morning, when a full bladder woke him up to go pee.

That’s when he noticed the lights were on in the tent. He went over to take a look and found Tian Haoming’s body. Scared out of his wits, he immediately called the police.

Since it was a potential homicide, the Houxia Police Station immediately transferred the case to the branch bureau.

"Captain Chen, do you believe him?" Shen Xin asked, glancing over at Lu Wenxue.

’Only the two of them were on watch at the circus. One of them dies, and the other one sleeps through it without hearing a thing?’

Chen Chao said, "Hard to say. Old Du said it might have been an accidental death."

He walked over to the fence and asked Du Xin Kai if he could confirm the time of death.

Du Xin Kai stood up. "Based on the livor mortis, the degree of rigor mortis, and last night’s temperature, my preliminary estimate is that he’s been dead for about six hours. So, sometime between 11:00 PM and midnight last night."

"As for the cause of death..."

He pressed his lips together. "I haven’t found any external injuries for now. Didn’t that guy say the deceased had a heart condition? I’d say there’s a high probability he died of acute heart failure."

The subtext was that this might just be an accident.

Chen Chao nodded, staring at the stage in thought. Just then, a young man with short hair and a small ponytail came running from the entrance to the backstage area.

"Bro, something’s happened! Da Chun is missing!" he shouted, a panicked look on his face.

Lu Wenxue, who had been anxiously scratching his head, his expression changed drastically. He said in astonishment, "What do you mean, missing? Don’t talk nonsense."

Chen Chao immediately asked, "Who is Da Chun?"

The young man with the ponytail said hurriedly, "Officer, Da Chun isn’t a person. It’s a tiger—our circus’s tiger! I was just about to feed it, but when I opened the door, it was gone."

"A... a tiger?"

Chen Chao froze.

Shen Xin was startled too.

’You’ve got to be kidding me. A tiger is missing.’

The group hurried through the backstage area and out of the tent.

Across from them was a field, and to the side was the line of box trucks.

The rear door of one of the trucks was open, revealing an iron cage inside.

"See? It’s really gone," the young man exclaimed, pointing at the empty truck.

Lu Wenxue was completely dumbfounded.

Chen Chao and Shen Xin were stunned as well.

"Are you saying there was a tiger in there? Was it still here when you got back yesterday?"

Even in the dead of winter, Chen Chao nearly broke out in a cold sweat.

Lu Wenxue stared blankly, shaking his head in a daze. "I don’t know. I remember it was there when we went to dinner, but I didn’t check when I got back. I just went straight to sleep."

"But... the cage is locked! How could it be gone?!"

He looked completely incredulous.

Shen Xin saw it too. There was indeed a lock hanging on the cage inside the truck.

"Who has the key?" Shen Xin asked urgently.

Lu Wenxue said, "My uncle."

Chen Chao snapped back to his senses and quickly told the young man, "Hurry and check all the animals. See if it was put in the wrong cage, or if any other animals are missing."

With that, he quickly called Lu Wenxue back into the tent and asked Du Xin Kai if there was a key in Tian Haoming’s pocket.

"Yes."

Du Xin Kai said, holding up an evidence bag.

Chen Chao quickly took it and had Lu Wenxue identify if the key to the tiger’s cage was on the ring.

"It’s here."

Lu Wenxue recognized one of the keys. "This is the only one."

’Then who opened the cage?’

Chen Chao then urgently asked what kind of tiger it was and how old it was.

"A Northeast Tiger. It’s eleven years old. My uncle bought it from another circus six years ago, and all the paperwork is in order. But still... who would steal a tiger?"

As he spoke, Lu Wenxue scratched his head fiercely again.

’It’s a tiger, for crying out loud!’

’What kind of thief would be dumb enough to try and steal a tiger?’

Chen Chao wanted to know the answer to that, too.

Shen Xin said, "Captain Chen, that tiger might have been missing for hours."

The two exchanged a look. Chen Chao understood.

Tian Haoming died six hours ago. If he had an accident around that time, someone could have taken his keys and stolen the tiger. That would mean the tiger has been on the loose for six hours.

"You really didn’t hear a thing? And wouldn’t your tiger make noise if it saw a stranger?" Shen Xin asked again.

’This guy couldn’t have been sleeping *that* soundly.’

Lu Wenxue shook his head. "Officer, I was fast asleep. I didn’t hear a thing."

Shen Xin remained skeptical.

’He had initially thought Tian Haoming might have died accidentally from a heart attack. But now that the tiger was missing, the situation might be completely different. Perhaps someone had planned to steal the tiger, was discovered by Tian Haoming, and in the ensuing conflict and high emotions, Tian Haoming had a fatal heart attack. It was a possibility. After all, a tiger was quite valuable. And that made Lu Wenxue a suspect. Stealing a tiger would definitely make a lot of noise. For him to have heard nothing seemed strange no matter how you looked at it.’

Just then, the young man ran back. He said he’d checked everything, and besides the tiger, no other animals were missing.

Chen Chao immediately led Shen Xin back outside, looking left and right for a target.

Shen Xin knew what he was looking for.

’Checking the surveillance cameras.’

’It was a tiger. To steal it, a suspect would have to tranquilize it and use a cage. The best option for transport would be a box truck.’

"Captain Chen, over there."

Shen Xin pointed across the road.

There was a machine processing plant on the side of the road. It had a surveillance camera at the entrance, angled toward them.

The two of them immediately went to the guardhouse.

The old security guard had run across the street to see what the commotion was about. He hurried back and opened the door for them.

Chen Chao operated the computer, rewinding the footage.

He started watching from 11:00 PM last night.

From the camera’s angle, about two-thirds of the circus area was visible.

And thanks to the streetlights on the road, the footage was reasonably clear.

A few cars passed by, but they were all sedans.

Chen Chao kept fast-forwarding. Then, at 11:52 PM, his eyes narrowed.

Shen Xin’s eyes widened in an instant.

"Captain Chen..."

Shen Xin turned to look at Chen Chao, his heart pounding wildly.

The surveillance footage showed that at 11:52 PM, from between the line of trucks near the circus entrance, a tiger ran out.

That’s right—it ran out on its own.

A living, breathing tiger.

It didn’t go onto the road. Instead, it headed east and disappeared from the camera’s view.

"Holy shit!"

Chen Chao cursed out loud.

An adult tiger had escaped, and it had already been on the loose for six hours.

At that moment, the hairs on Chen Chao’s arms truly stood on end, and a chill ran straight to the top of his head.