Animal Detective

Chapter 140: Double Happiness

Zhang Qingpeng was brought back to Nanjiang.

Sun Zhao and Chen Chao were quite surprised to hear the case had been cracked.

After all, when they’d set out, their only key clue was the two dogs. The evidence wasn’t all there yet; for example, they still hadn’t figured out who had bought the dogs.

But unexpectedly, Shen Xin had stumbled upon a key clue during the interrogation.

What’s more, it was decisive evidence that sealed Zhang Qingpeng’s guilt.

"Good work, Xiaoshen," Sun Zhao said, patting Shen Xin’s shoulder in praise.

To deduce the real reason he was evading the investigation from one of Zhang Qingpeng’s instinctive reactions—that kind of sharp perception was truly rare.

Chen Chao followed suit, clapping Shen Xin on the shoulder and giving him a thumbs-up.

Neither of them was the type to be overly effusive with their praise, so a pat on the shoulder and a thumbs-up was already a big deal.

At this point, the case was pretty much wrapped up.

The next steps were to complete the chain of evidence and then hand the case over for prosecution.

The families of both parties began to arrive.

Shen Xin also met the "money-grubbing parents" and "useless younger brother" that Zhang Qingpeng had described.

The couple were, in fact, just ordinary people. The father, Zhang Li, drove an unlicensed taxi in their county town and had a fiery temper. When he rushed to Nanjiang and met Wang Wanming, his very first words were an accusation. He claimed Wang Lei was the one at fault, that he must have bullied Zhang Qingpeng. He insisted Zhang Qingpeng couldn’t take the abuse anymore, and that’s why he resorted to killing Wang Lei.

Wang Wanming was so furious he nearly fainted on the spot.

His mother, Huang Lanying, worked in the school cafeteria in town.

Shen Xin didn’t like to judge people by their appearance, but with her drooping eyes and fleshy jowls, Huang Lanying truly had the look of a sharp-tongued shrew.

Just like Zhang Li, she immediately started a fight with the Wang couple. She even accused Shen Xin of botching the case, arguing, "How could a good kid like Zhang Qingpeng, a college student, possibly be a murderer?"

Finally, there was the "useless" younger brother Zhang Qingpeng had mentioned.

He looked a bit like Zhang Qingpeng, only chubbier. He trailed behind his parents, silent.

But arguing was useless.

The chain of evidence was steadily being pieced together.

Even the buried husky had been found.

So, likely after a talking-to from their lawyer, Zhang Li and his family did a complete one-eighty. They started trying to negotiate a monetary compensation with Wang Wanming’s family in exchange for a letter of forgiveness.

With that, Zhang Qingpeng might have a chance at a suspended death sentence.

Wang Wanming’s family, who had also hired a legal aid lawyer, demanded two million in compensation.

Zhang Li immediately dropped the act, saying one hundred thousand was the absolute maximum; he wouldn’t pay a dime more.

Outside the mediation room, Shen Xin and his two colleagues leaned against the wall, silently listening to the explosive argument inside.

"What kind of lawyer did they hire? What was he thinking, asking the Wang family for a letter of forgiveness?" Zhao Tianxing scoffed.

Shen Xin thought the same thing.

Never mind how hard it would be to get the Wang family to sign that letter; even if they did, it would hardly change Zhang Qingpeng’s sentence.

In Shen Xin’s opinion, there was a greater than ninety percent chance Zhang Qingpeng would be sentenced to immediate execution.

The chances of even a suspended sentence were slim.

The reason was simple. He had spent a month planning Wang Lei’s murder.

Buying the dogs, getting them infected with rabies, frequently swapping them out to lull Wang Lei into a false sense of security, luring Wang Lei into getting bitten, and then deleting the relevant videos and destroying evidence after the fact.

It was highly premeditated.

And any crime classified as premeditated murder usually resulted in immediate execution.

Not to mention the fact that he’d remained silent for so long after Wang Lei was bitten, just watching him die.

The act was utterly depraved.

It could even be considered a significant threat to public safety.

A single letter of forgiveness could never be enough to offset such a heinous act.

Just as they were talking, a middle-aged woman walked in through the door.

Shen Xin’s eyes lit up, and he hurried to greet her. "You must be Ms. Liu?"

The middle-aged woman nodded.

"This way, please."

Shen Xin quickly led her to a small conference room in the Criminal Investigation Division office, showing her to a seat.

Ding Yuwei brought her a drink.

"Thank you for coming," Shen Xin said, sitting across from her and turning on his voice recorder.

The middle-aged woman waved her hand, saying it was no trouble, then asked, a little embarrassed, if the one hundred thousand reward was real.

It was like a double blessing. The day after they returned from Fushan, they’d gotten a breakthrough in the Xiao Hong case as well.

The woman before him, Liu Shuxiu, had called in saying she believed she had seen the vagrant.

"Of course. If your information proves to be valid, you’ll receive the full reward," Shen Xin assured her.

Liu Shuxiu nodded, then added, "I’m not just here for the reward, you know."

Shen Xin quickly assured her that was fine and asked her to tell him what she knew.

Liu Shuxiu was in her forties. She smoothed a few gray strands at her temples and began. "Well, it’s like this. I’m from Guanzhuang Village. South of our village, by Panzhong Road, there used to be the An Su Logistics Park, you know?"

"I had a little fast-food place over there, maybe two hundred meters from the south gate of the logistics park."

"February 17, 2011. It was the Lantern Festival, so the date sticks in my mind."

"The logistics park started back up on the eighth day of the new year, so we opened our doors then, too. We didn’t close for the festival on the fifteenth. Since I run a fast-food place, I usually have to go to the wet market to buy produce around five in the morning and get back between six and seven."

"I spend the whole morning washing and prepping the vegetables, then cooking. It’s nonstop."

"I don’t remember the exact time that day, but it was starting to get light out. You can do the math, it must have been just after six o’clock."

"I ride a big electric scooter. I’d just pulled up when I saw a beggar sitting outside my shop’s roll-up security door. He was so still I thought he was dead. It gave me a good scare."

"When I went closer to check, he must not have been sleeping deeply, because he woke up with a start and turned his head to look at me."

"I asked him if he was hungry and wanted something to eat, but he ignored me and just walked off."

"And just like it said on your reward poster, he was carrying one of those big, red, woven plastic bags, wearing layers and layers of clothes, and his hair was a total mess."

Shen Xin nodded silently.

This was probably the vagrant he was looking for.

Liu Shuxiu continued, "I didn’t think much of it at the time and just opened up the shop. I’d just brought a bag of vegetables inside when I turned around and saw that the beggar was back."

"He asked if I had anything to eat. I asked if he had a bowl. He shook his head, so I packed some leftovers for him in a takeout container. He took it and left without even saying thanks."

"But..."

Liu Shuxiu suddenly lowered her voice. "I don’t really remember the details of his face. I mean, it’s been six years, and he had a beard and his face was all grimy."

"But I remember his hand."

Liu Shuxiu held up her right hand. "His right thumb... he had an extra finger there. He had six fingers on that hand."

Shen Xin’s eyes lit up. He quickly asked Liu Shuxiu if she was certain.

"Of course I’m sure. I even told my husband about it. It’s a pretty rare thing to see."

"And I knew about that driver who died, too. The police came around to investigate, but at the time, nobody knew a beggar was the killer."

"It was only because a customer in my shop was scrolling through videos on their phone and mentioned the case that I found out you’d posted a reward for this beggar. That’s when it all came back to me."

Shen Xin suppressed his excitement and was about to ask for more details when Ding Yuwei suddenly grabbed his arm and started shaking it nonstop.

"What is it?" Shen Xin asked, seeing the excitement on her face.

Ding Yuwei gripped his arm tightly. "Shen Xin, I know who she’s talking about! He’s in one of the case files we looked at."

Her eyes were wide with shock.

She tapped her head, concentrating. "Sun Yongxi! That’s it, that’s his name. Sun Yongxi. It’s in the files. The record says he has six fingers on his right hand, he’s from the neighboring area of Yanling, and he was taken into custody on March 18, 2012."