Animal Detective

Chapter 234 - 225: Letter of Accusation (2)

"It’s nothing."

Ding Junbao shook his head, confirmed with the notary on camera, then stuffed the letter and USB drive back in and quickly left.

The video feed on their end cut out.

"What the hell was that?" Zhao Tianxing muttered.

Judging by Ding Junbao’s reaction, it seemed to be something incredible.

He just took one look before putting it away. It was bound to make anyone curious.

Curiosity was killing Chen Chao, too. He immediately called Ding Junbao to ask what was going on.

Everyone strained their ears to listen.

Apparently, Ding Junbao told him something, because Chen Chao blurted out, "Holy shit!" before clamping his mouth shut.

"Alright, alright, I get it." Chen Chao hung up the phone.

Everyone eagerly asked what was going on.

"Discipline. I can’t say. And don’t you guys go snooping around, either."

Chen Chao shot everyone a warning glare, but unable to contain his own urge to share, he ran into Sun Zhao’s office.

Everyone immediately followed and pressed their ears to the door.

Chen Chao suddenly yanked the door open and gestured for them to get lost.

The group dejectedly dispersed.

Zhao Tianxing grabbed Shen Xin, reminding him that he’d met Ding Junbao and urging him to call if he had the number to ask what was going on.

He had, but Shen Xin really didn’t have his phone number.

’Come to think of it, if I go to Pingyu to help Liu Jie investigate Han Xiaolong’s case, that case is the very one Ding Junbao is in charge of.’

Just then, Ding Yuwei offered her analysis. "Could it be a whistleblower letter?"

When everyone looked at her, Ding Yuwei continued, "Think about it. Jiang Qi used to work at Shenghai Bank. Why would she, on the verge of death, deliberately leave behind a puzzle to lead Bai Jifei to this safe deposit box?"

"Or, maybe she was killing two birds with one stone. On one hand, for the two letters buried in the ground, to give Bai Jifei hope to live on."

"On the other hand, she must have figured that once she died, the police would definitely investigate. Then we’d find this letter and be led to open the safe deposit box."

"Most importantly, there was a USB drive, right? In TV shows, whenever they leave evidence, it’s always on a USB drive."

Everyone exchanged glances and nodded in agreement.

Ding Yuwei’s theory was very plausible.

Otherwise, there was no reason for Ding Junbao to shut the letter so quickly after just one glance.

"And that guy from the bank," Shen Xin said. "Don’t you remember? He took the initiative to ask Captain Ding what was in the letter."

"That’s a bit odd, isn’t it?"

Jiang Qi was the bank’s client. Whatever was in the safe deposit box had nothing to do with him.

Was he really so curious that he just had to ask?

Everyone nodded in agreement again.

Just then, Sun Jingyi muttered, "In that case, Songling really hit the jackpot. This involves a bank, so it has to be a major case right from the start."

He then looked at the others and said, "Should we let Captain Zhang know? After all, this case started here with us."

The Captain Zhang he was referring to was Zhang Songhao, captain of the branch’s Economic Crime Investigation Division.

Zhou Zhongyi nodded in profound agreement. "If Xiaoding’s theory is correct, the folks in Songpu won’t let go of this easily. That being the case, they can’t just leave us out of it."

The case started in Nanjiang, Jiang Qi died in Pingyu, and the safe deposit box was opened in Songpu.

It involved police from three different jurisdictions.

If this really turned into a major economic crime case, would the leadership here in Nanjiang just let it go and not get involved?

Bai Jifei was still being held in the Nanjiang detention center.

Qian Zhihai snorted, pointing to Sun Zhao’s office. "What do you think Old Chen went to talk to Captain Sun about? They’ve probably already figured out how to squeeze a big meal out of Captain Zhang."

Come to think of it, he had a point.

Li Haifeng said, "Captain Zhang will definitely have to treat us. There’s no such thing as a small bank case."

Just then, Sun Zhao and Chen Chao came out of the office.

They saw everyone huddled together, their heads snapping in unison to stare at them.

"What are you looking at?"

Sun Zhao waved dismissively and hurried off with Chen Chao.

Zhao Tianxing ran over for a look. They were heading upstairs.

’No doubt about it, they’re heading to the Economic Crime Investigation Division upstairs.’

News travels fast in the bureau. By lunchtime in the cafeteria, Zhao Tianxing had already gotten the scoop.

Apparently, Zhang Songhao had already rushed over to Songling.

"Whatever, it doesn’t have anything to do with us anyway."

Shen Xin waved it off. Different departments had different responsibilities. In any case, on the criminal investigation side of things, their case was closed.

In the afternoon, Shen Xin and his colleagues went out to arrest a suspect in a rental dispute who had stabbed a real estate agent.

The incident had happened the night before. They’d identified the target today and were moving in for the arrest.

The arrest went smoothly. It didn’t take much effort; they found him at a hotel and pinned him to the bed.

These were the kinds of cases the Criminal Investigation Division handled most often.

Before his shift ended, he played with Dou Dou and the others for a bit, then clocked out early.

The two bloodhounds Bai Jifei had mentioned were delivered to the branch by his parents as promised. In a way, the "family of three" was reunited.

He’d read online that bloodhounds weren’t particularly intelligent, ranking low among dog breeds.

But after spending some time with them, Shen Xin found that while their ability to understand commands was a little poor, it wasn’t too bad.

They were mainly just very affectionate. With a little patience and communication, it wouldn’t be a big issue.

’I originally had to wait for Loki to grow up, but now with these full-grown bloodhounds, I can start their police dog training right away.’

’My police dog program proposal has already been submitted. It looks like Zhao Hongjie is very supportive, but I still don’t know when it’ll be approved and I can actually get started.’

「The next day.」

Not long after Shen Xin got to work, he was summoned by Lv Youwei.

It was about Liu Jie.

The higher-ups had discussed it and agreed to let him go and help out.

The jurisdictions were too close; there would inevitably be more interactions and joint case assistance in the future.

Besides, Liu Jie had come in person to ask for help. It wouldn’t look good to refuse.