Animal Whisperer: Take Back My Life and Love Chapter 187: The Witness Birds

Three minutes later, the seven "bandit birds" who had been so arrogant just moments ago were now lined up in a neat row. Standing before Master Crow and Bobby, they tucked their heads low, looking utterly cowed as they admitted their mistake.

"We were wrong!"

Master Crow held his head high, pacing back and forth in front of this row of "delinquent students" like a stern dean. With every step he took, the seven White Wagtails buried their little heads a bit deeper.

"What were you wrong about?" Master Crow asked in a deep tone, his wings tucked behind his back.

"Shouldn't have blackmailed... shouldn't have stolen snacks..." the birds chirped their self-reflections one after another in tiny voices.

Bobby sat to the side, clutching a nut he had just "recovered." He wagged his little tail smugly while munching on his snack and watching the show.

Master Crow glared at them fiercely. "You said you saw the victim on the day she went missing. Was that true or false?!"

The seven bandit birds nodded their heads frantically like chickens pecking at grain.

"It's true, Boss! How would we dare lie to you!"

"We saw the victim in the photo talking to a girl. Later, the two of them even started arguing..."

Nancy immediately took a step forward and followed up softly, "Where did you see this?"

One White Wagtail shrank its neck in fear upon hearing a human voice. Master Crow immediately slapped his wing beside it. "Answer her!"

The little bird shivered and quickly spoke up. "At... at the snack street near the school's back gate..."

Another White Wagtail added hastily, "There's a lot of food there, so we go there often to look for scraps..."

Nancy continued to ask, "Do you remember what the girl arguing with the victim looked like or what she was wearing?"

Though White Wagtails have small brains, they are very intelligent. They have excellent memories and the ability to recognize human faces.

The seven birds chirped all at once, "We remember! We remember!"

Nancy's portrait-drawing skills came in handy at that moment. She immediately took a drawing board and a sketching pencil from her bag. Following the birds' descriptions and piecing their information together, she outlined the appearance and clothing of the girl who had argued with the victim.

Nancy stopped her pen and looked at the now-clear silhouette of the woman on the paper: a dark blue top and black jeans. She sent this portrait of the suspect to Simon and then asked the birds:

"What time were they arguing?"

The bandit birds answered honestly:

"It was right after the sky turned dark. There were so many people then; it was very lively."

"Yes, yes! That's when there's the most food!"

Nancy checked the sunset time from three days ago; it became dark around 5:30 PM.

"Where in the snack street were they arguing? Can you take me there to see now?"

The birds nodded repeatedly—how could they dare refuse?

"This way, Boss!"

"Follow us."

Master Crow flew off to perform a side mission, but the bandit birds didn't dare cause trouble. Nancy had a little white ermine poking its head out from her pocket, watching them curiously. This fellow was a fast climber and an expert at raiding bird nests!

The bandit birds finally realized that, since Nancy could communicate with all animals, finding them was a simple task. If she wanted to, she could have this ermine wipe out their nest at any time. Thinking of this, the White Wagtails completely lost their arrogance.

On the way, Nancy asked, "Do you know why they were arguing?"

"We only noticed them because we heard them fighting."

One White Wagtail tilted its head, indicating that birds love to gossip too. "The girl in the dark blue top said the victim was jealous of her talent and was belittling her on purpose!"

Nancy was stunned. Was it revenge?

The word "talented" immediately reminded Nancy of how her brother had noted the killer possessed a certain artistic talent when examining the clay sculpture. The girl arguing with the victim was very likely the killer!

Nancy gave Simon a brief summary of the argument described by the birds. The White Wagtails then led Nancy and the animal detectives to a spot under a large tree near the Townsville University snack street.

It was currently morning, so there were few stalls out and the street was quiet. Nancy searched for cameras near this location and then dialed her brother's number.

"I've met some witness birds!"

Nancy carefully observed the camera IDs. "A group of White Wagtails said they saw the victim arguing with a girl on the snack street! I'm standing at the exact spot where they fought three days ago. The time was likely after 5:30 PM."

Nancy reported the surveillance camera numbers to Simon.

Simon replied immediately, "Good. I'll have Jack pull the footage right away!"

By pulling the footage from the snack street, they would soon be able to track the suspect's movements! However, a short while later, the message Simon sent back made Nancy's heart hang in suspense.