Animal Whisperer: Take Back My Life and Love Chapter 478: The Animal Bounty

"Wait a second. I will send you the photos of the scene we took just now."

Soon, a notification for a new message popped up on Nancy's phone. She opened the files from the Dimsdale police and began scrolling through them one by one.

The balcony in the photos was spotless. A few pots of greenery were tucked into the corner. Their leaves were healthy but unremarkable, showing no signs of the unnatural, aggressive growth she had seen before. Nancy's gaze fixed on the pots. The soil was uniform and fresh. The way the plants were paired with their containers looked like a deliberate, standardized aesthetic.

"These plants," she said, her voice dropping. "They have all been replaced."

They were not the original ones. Clearly, the viral help video had spooked someone in the shadows. Flowie’s husband had not only dealt with the suspicious quartz sand but had also swapped out the plants that might have exposed the soil’s composition.

This level of thoroughness actually made the invisible shadow more concrete. It was the kind of rapid cleanup that only a guilty person would perform.

The officer's voice came through again, sounding powerless. "Nancy, we believe your animal intelligence completely. It is just that, right now... we have no legal grounds to open a case. Our hands are tied. For now, the investigation has to stop here."

It was not realistic to deploy a long-term stakeout near the villa during the New Year, especially without a solid lead. Her husband had already been alerted by the video and would only be more cautious from now on.

Flowie might be safe for the moment, but how long would that last? Where were the replaced plants and quartz sand now? Someone that cunning likely would not dump them near the villa complex. Dimsdale was over three hundred kilometers away, and there was no way Nancy could get there in time.

Even if she did arrive, if the husband stayed still and did nothing, what could she do? Forcing entry would only alert the suspect and put her in a difficult position.

Nancy’s heart felt tight with anxiety as her fingers unconsciously tapped the table. Then, a thought struck her like lightning, cutting through the deadlock. The police needed deployment orders, a reason, and paperwork. But there were eyes and ears that already lived there.

"Near Flowie’s house," Nancy asked quickly and clearly. "Are there any common animals? Like sparrows? Or bats?"

The officer on the phone was taken aback for a moment. "Yes. There are plenty of sparrows in the green belts, and the villa area has a lakeside forest where bats often roost."

"Nancy, are you planning to... communicate remotely?"

"Yes," Nancy said firmly.

Since she could not be there in person, she would let the local residents become the extensions of her investigation!

Nancy quickly gathered her animal partners. She recorded several versions of a bounty notice using the ultrasonic frequencies of bats, the raspy caws of crows, the purrs and hisses of felines, and the sharp, rapid trills of squirrels. To human ears, these sounds were just a chaotic mix of mews and squeaks. But in the information network of the animal kingdom, it was an urgent intelligence bounty!

"To the southeast, in the nest with the pointed roof and floor to ceiling windows, there live two humans, one male and one female. Has anyone noticed them doing anything special lately? Anything strange? To whoever finds a useful lead: an unlimited, delicious New Year's buffet!"

"Hey guys! Free food over here!"

"Help out with a small favor and you can eat until you burst! Come check it out!"

Once the audio files were recorded, Nancy rushed them over to the Dimsdale police.

The Dimsdale officers disguised themselves as landscaping maintenance workers and community fire inspectors, carrying tools as they quietly appeared in the public areas near the villa. They carried portable speakers that looked ordinary but broadcasted the processed bounty audio that could be clearly received by animals within a specific range.

The officers worked with serious faces, though they found the method both bizarre and fascinating. They were broadcasting a bounty in plain sight, a secret operation right in front of everyone that no human could decode. Taking advantage of the fact that no one could understand them, they broadcasted the request for leads to the animal kingdom.

Immediately, nearby sparrows stopped mid flight, squirrels on the trees perked up their ears, and even the stray cats in the corners looked up alertly. Countless eyes and ears that humans usually ignored turned toward Flowie’s villa.

It did not take long after the loop started playing for movement to begin in the surrounding greenery and woods.