Animal Detective

Chapter 166: A Cold Case with a Suspect

’Well, at least a cold case isn’t dangerous.’

Shen Xin told Sun Zhao about the Shajin Farm case.

"I know about that case."

Sun Zhao recalled it immediately. After a moment’s thought, he said, "This case will work. Not too much time has passed. Re-examine it from a new perspective, and you might uncover something. Settle on this one."

With the green light, it was time for the usual routine: first, to understand the details of the case.

「In the small conference room.」

Zhou Zhongyi looked at the beef jerky placed in front of him and asked warily, "What do you two want? Let me be clear upfront: if it’s something difficult, you’ll find I’m not much help."

"Old Zhou, what are you thinking? We just want to ask you about a case."

Shen Xin pushed the case file for the Shajin Farm case across the table to him.

As soon as he saw the name on the file, Zhou Zhongyi’s expression shifted slightly.

"You’re planning to investigate this case?"

He knew the bureau had tasked Shen Xin with solving cold cases.

But he hadn’t expected him to choose one of his own.

He didn’t dwell on it, though.

’If Shen Xin can crack this case, I’ll be the one thanking him.’

"What’s your angle?"

He didn’t open the file. He remembered its contents crystal clear.

He tore open a pack of beef jerky and asked while he ate.

Shen Xin and Ding Yuwei exchanged a look, then Shen Xin said, "Old Zhou, the investigation on this case was suspended in March 2016. It’s been over a year now."

"Now that some time has passed, looking back, do you still think Yang Huixia was the killer?"

According to the file, after Zhou Zhongyi took over the case, he initially investigated it as a robbery-homicide.

But he quickly ruled out that line of inquiry.

First, if it was true, as Yang Huixia claimed, that the farm’s surveillance system was accidentally shut down, then the crime would have occurred between the 13th and the 15th.

This lined up with the food scraps found in the sink.

With no surveillance, the conditions for a robbery were met.

At first, Zhou Zhongyi had even suspected the four employees, because they knew severance packages were about to be paid out, meaning there was cash in the safe.

Moreover, the safe showed no obvious signs of being forced open, which meant it could only have been opened by someone who knew the combination.

It was possible that an employee had managed to sneak a look at the combination.

Of course, a mere thirty thousand didn’t seem like enough to kill for.

But the suspect wouldn’t necessarily have known there was only thirty thousand.

Alternatively, the suspect’s initial intent might have only been theft, but they were discovered by Zhu Guishen, and it escalated into an accidental killing.

However, after investigation, that was quickly ruled out.

First, none of the four employees had a criminal record for theft or anything similar; they were all ordinary people. Furthermore, their movements starting from the 13th had all been traced, and, at least on the surface, none of them had an opportunity to commit the crime.

Second, although there were signs of a struggle at the scene, no murder weapon, suspicious bloodstains, or DNA was discovered.

They did collect DNA and fingerprints from the four employees.

But it was an office they frequently entered and exited, so it was normal for them to leave traces behind.

Third, the missing thirty thousand was found.

While investigating Zhu Guishen’s social circle, it was discovered that on the morning of the 13th, the thirty thousand from the safe had been paid to an animal feed supplier who had come to collect a debt.

So the money wasn’t stolen; it had been paid out.

This also proved that Zhu Guishen was still alive before 10 a.m. on the 13th.

Since the money wasn’t missing and no other valuable items were stolen, the possibility of a robbery-homicide could be largely ruled out.

A revenge killing was also unlikely.

The investigation into his social circle revealed that Zhu Guishen didn’t have any real enemies, though he had plenty of creditors.

Those creditors were counting on him to stay alive and repay his debts, so why would they murder him?

At this point, Zhou Zhongyi shifted the focus of his investigation back to Yang Huixia.

In his experience, once robbery and revenge were ruled out in a case like this, the culprit was almost always the spouse.

And as the investigation into Yang Huixia progressed, a number of suspicious points did indeed emerge.

Several employees said that starting last year, when the farm’s business began to decline, the couple started arguing frequently.

One employee recalled seeing bruises on Yang Huixia’s arm once. When she asked what happened, Yang Huixia claimed she had fallen.

But the employee suspected Zhu Guishen had hit her.

From this, it could be inferred that their relationship had broken down over daily trifles, and there was a possibility that Zhu Guishen was abusive.

Under these circumstances, Yang Huixia already had a motive for murder.

Finally, the investigation discovered that on February 26, 2015, the eighth day of the Lunar New Year, Zhu Guishen had purchased a term life insurance policy with a two-million-yuan payout.

The beneficiary was listed as Yang Huixia.

The policy had a 60-day waiting period, and it just so happened to become active in May, right after the waiting period ended.

Now that was food for thought.

Yang Huixia might have been planning to kill Zhu Guishen for a while, and in order to maximize her husband’s ’value,’ she purchased a life insurance policy in his name beforehand so that she could collect the payout after his death.

Second, Yang Huixia had the opportunity to commit the crime.

Based on the creditor’s statement and an analysis of the kitchen items, it was conjectured that Zhu Guishen had likely died on the 13th.

On that day, Yang Huixia had spent the morning in her hometown. Around lunchtime, she returned to Nanjiang and went to her parents-in-law’s house. She claimed she missed her son and wanted to wait for him to get home from school in the afternoon so she could see him.

However, after having lunch at her in-laws’ house, she got into a small argument with them during the meal and left in a huff.

As for where she went next, Yang Huixia’s story was that she went hiking on Dingshan Mountain. She said she stayed there until dark before returning to Pingyu.

She claimed she took a taxi to Dingshan. Zhou Zhongyi had actually managed to find the taxi driver, who confirmed her story. But after that, nobody knew where she went.

There were no witnesses; it was all just her word.

Going hiking for no apparent reason was clearly suspicious.

The case file noted that Zhou Zhongyi had calculated the travel time. From the Dingshan Temple trailhead where Yang Huixia was dropped off, it was only a 40-minute walk to take the mountain trail over Dingshan and follow a small path to their farm on the other side.

Therefore, Yang Huixia had more than enough time to commit the murder that afternoon and then leave.

The only problem was the body.

Zhou Zhongyi’s expression grew distant. After pondering for a long moment, he said, "I still believe Yang Huixia is the killer."

"As for the body, I still maintain that Yang Huixia used those two saltwater crocodiles to dispose of it."

Zhu Guishen’s Shajin Farm had started out as an actual farm, raising pigs.

Later, the pigs got sick, and he lost a lot of money.

He switched to raising cattle, but the profits were small.

Eventually, he had a new idea and turned it into its current form, which was basically a small-scale zoo or a family-friendly park on the outskirts of the city.

He kept cows, sheep, poultry, cats, dogs, and the like.

But business wasn’t great, so he found a way to acquire some more unusual animals.

For instance, alpacas, peacocks, monkeys, and miniature horses.

He even took over a pair of adult saltwater crocodiles from someone else and set up a crocodile exhibit.

Yang Huixia insisted her husband was just missing.

But Zhou Zhongyi suspected she was the culprit and investigated it as a murder.

And in a murder investigation, a body is essential.

He theorized that Yang Huixia had taken advantage of the farm’s unique setup and fed Zhu Guishen’s body to the two saltwater crocodiles.

A crocodile’s digestive system is astonishing; it can even dissolve bones.

But they digest slowly. If this theory had been developed earlier, they might have been able to find human remains in the crocodiles’ stomachs.

But the crime was presumed to have happened on the 13th, and the case wasn’t transferred to the sub-bureau until the 17th.

Initially, they were misled by Yang Huixia and investigated it as a robbery.

It wasn’t until around the 25th that they confirmed Yang Huixia was a strong suspect.

By then, ten-odd days had already passed.

So if Yang Huixia really had fed Zhu Guishen to the crocodiles, he would have been nothing but crocodile dung by then.