Chapter 1

The tiger "Charlie" was chewing raw meat, staring intently at a man wearing a baseball cap.

Its thoughts echoed in my mind:

["This man reeks of a little girl's blood. Very strong. He was here three days ago too. Back then, he had another woman's blood on him."]

I whipped my head around, following Charlie's gaze.

The man was leaning against the railing of the viewing area, holding up his phone as if photographing the tiger. His movements were as natural as any other tourist around him.

Charlie spoke in my mind again: ["He has a knife in his pocket. Metallic smell, very new. Sharpened just yesterday. I can smell it."]

The metal bucket in my hand crashed to the ground with a clang.

Every visitor in the area turned to look at me, including the man in the baseball cap.

Three days ago, a serial disappearance case that shocked the entire nation had broken out in the city. Three young women had vanished within a week—no bodies, no trace of life.

The task force had turned the entire city upside down without finding so much as a strand of hair.

But now, I—a temporary worker at the zoo—had spotted the real culprit that even surveillance cameras couldn't catch.