Animal Detective

Chapter 248 - 229: You Laid a Hand on My Brother

Lai Yong didn’t dare to complain.

Shen Xin cut in and asked about the situation inside.

They couldn’t blame the colleagues left behind on surveillance.

Mao Yanru was a living, breathing person; they couldn’t just restrict her movements. It was winter, and her clothes were thick. Who could have possibly seen a cleaver tucked into her coat?

The problem was, the investigation into Zhou Hui couldn’t avoid her. They had to question her.

They just never expected Mao Yanru to go after Zhou Hui with a cleaver.

Lai Yong said, "She’s in the office. Our guys were following her. The moment she turned this way, they figured she was going to find Zhou Hui and tried to stop her, but she wouldn’t stop her car. They didn’t dare do anything drastic to her."

"Then she just charged in. Luckily, Zhou Hui wasn’t there."

Liu Jie strode quickly into the factory complex.

There was a four-story office building, which had already been cleared of people.

Mao Yanru was in Zhou Hui’s office on the fourth floor.

Even before they entered, they could hear Mao Yanru’s curses.

Then came a series of loud CRASHES. One look inside revealed Mao Yanru had smashed the office to smithereens.

Liu Jie rushed into the office and barked, "Mao Yanru, what do you think you’re doing? Calm down!"

Mao Yanru was indeed holding a cleaver. She brought it down on the desk with a THUD and yelled, "Liu! I can’t fucking calm down! You got here just in time. Get Zhou Hui over here. I’ll ask him right in front of you if he’s the one who killed Xiaolong."

"Son of a bitch! Everyone in the village knows Xiaolong is my brother! I fucking slept with him, and he still goes after my brother!"

"Liu! If you people don’t have the guts to take care of him, then I will! I’ll kill him!"

She screamed, sending Zhou Hui’s executive chair flying with a kick.

Liu Jie’s face was grim. He said in a low voice, "Mao Yanru, calm down. We are investigating the case. If Zhou Hui is a suspect, we will handle him. We don’t need you to do it."

"Acting like this will only interfere with our investigation."

’Her little spectacle has basically tipped Zhou Hui off that the police are onto him.’

"Besides, what you’re doing is a crime. Think about your parents. Calm down."

Mao Yanru sneered. "My mom calls me a slut. Why the fuck should I care what they think?"

"Liu, I’m telling you right now, this isn’t over until Zhou Hui gets here."

"Go ahead, arrest me if you have the guts. Otherwise, I’m still going after him!"

As she spoke, she yanked open a nearby window and started throwing things out.

Below was a carport. There was a loud CRASH!

She had only thrown out two items when she suddenly spotted a Mercedes S-Class pulling up outside the factory gate.

She immediately started shouting.

Liu Jie’s expression changed. He instantly guessed Zhou Hui had arrived and hurriedly told Lai Yong to go down and stop him.

But it was too late. Zhou Hui got out of his car and rushed into the complex. When he saw Mao Yanru leaning out the window, screaming curses at him, he was stunned for a moment before shouting, "Mao Yanru, are you out of your mind? What do you think you’re doing?!"

Mao Yanru was leaning halfway out of the window, a sight that made Shen Xin’s heart pound with fear.

’If she fell, the consequences would be unimaginable.’

"Zhou Hui, did you kill Xiaolong? Fuck you! You’ve got some nerve! I fucking slept with you, and you kill my brother! Get up here! I swear I’m going to hack you to death today!"

Down below, Zhou Hui was already being pulled away by the other officers.

But Zhou Hui had clearly heard Mao Yanru’s words. His face changed drastically as he allowed the officers to pull him outside the factory gate.

Just then, Lai Yong finally made it downstairs.

Mao Yanru was relentless, still shouting nonstop, yelling for everyone to come and see, proclaiming that Zhou Hui was a murderer who deserved to die.

Liu Jie didn’t become a deputy detachment commander without the courage to be decisive. While Mao Yanru was leaning out the window screaming, he stealthily approached, then suddenly accelerated, lunging forward and grabbing her from behind in one swift motion.

He wrapped one arm around her body and used the other to grab her right hand, which was holding the cleaver.

Shen Xin, who was right behind him, immediately rushed forward as well. He pinned down Mao Yanru’s hand, forcibly pried her fingers open, and took the cleaver away.

Mao Yanru struggled violently, screaming, "Liu, are you fucking crazy? Why are you grabbing me? Go get Zhou Hui! He’s a murderer!"

Liu Jie’s face was terrifyingly dark. He hauled Mao Yanru up from the floor and handed her over to his subordinates.

"Take her away."

Liu Jie snapped the order, then turned to ask Shen Xin if he was okay. He had noticed scratch marks on Shen Xin’s hand.

Mao Yanru had her nails done.

"I’m fine." Shen Xin leaned out to look down below.

Beyond the crowd at the factory gate, Zhou Hui stood silently.

He had obviously heard everything.

Shen Xin said, "Liu Zhi, although this was an accident, on the bright side, startling Zhou Hui isn’t necessarily a bad thing."

’Only a guilty conscience will lead to mistakes.’

’Of course, there’s also a risk. He might try to destroy some evidence.’

’But the problem is, we don’t have any evidence to begin with.’

’And we’d have to confront Zhou Hui sooner or later anyway.’

Liu Jie kept his eyes fixed on Zhou Hui below and said in a low voice, "That’s one way to look at it, but we weren’t fully prepared."

The first contact is crucial.

This whole mess means we’re going into this unprepared.

At this, he immediately pulled out his phone and called Lai Yong, telling him not to show himself.

He then called Ding Junbao with the same instructions.

He didn’t plan on showing himself either.

Then he ordered the subordinates below to take Zhou Hui away immediately.

This way, if the officers who investigated the case back then didn’t appear, it might take Zhou Hui a while to realize the police had reopened the investigation into Han Xiaolong.

As it happened, Mao Yanru’s rampage gave them a legitimate reason to question Zhou Hui.

Both of them were taken to the police station.

The station’s interrogation room didn’t have a one-way mirror, but it did have surveillance cameras.

Shen Xin and the others observed Zhou Hui through the surveillance feed.

Jiao Guoyi was preparing to personally handle the questioning. He was now asking Liu Jie how to handle the questioning.

What he could ask, and what he couldn’t.

Liu Jie had already figured it out on the way back. He said, "Just ask him about his relationship with Mao Yanru. Make him explain why she came looking for him. Then ask about her yelling that he was a murderer."

"Since Mao Yanru brought up Han Xiaolong—and you know about that case—be bold. Ask him about it directly and see what he says."

Jiao Guoyi understood. He nodded and was about to leave.

But Liu Jie called him back. "Li Jing is bound to show up soon. Arrange for someone to question her about threatening Mao Yanru back then. And finally, ask her about Han Xiaolong."

"Since we’ve already startled him, we might as well go all in."

After sending Jiao Guoyi off, Liu Jie pulled Ding Junbao aside. He told him to quickly look up all the records related to Mao Yanru and then arrange for a team to put Zhou Hui under 24-hour surveillance.

They had no reason to hold Zhou Hui here.

Ding Junbao left to do it.

Shen Xin stayed to watch the interrogation.

Sure enough, Zhou Hui started by playing dumb, claiming he had no idea why Mao Yanru came after him.

"What about the murder, then? Mao Yanru told us you killed Han Xiaolong."

Jiao Guoyi slammed the table and shouted, "I know about the Han Xiaolong case! Zhou Hui, what the hell is going on? Why would Mao Yanru say that? What was the deal between you and Han Xiaolong?"

"Jiao Suo, I’m innocent!"

Zhou Hui hurriedly denied it. "Mao Yanru is a lunatic! You can’t listen to her nonsense! Besides, didn’t you all investigate the Han Xiaolong case back then? It had nothing to do with me."

"It’s been years. Who knows what’s gotten into her."

Liu Jie remained silent.

The outcome of the interrogation wasn’t important. Zhou Hui was never going to admit to anything. The real question was what he would do next.

He truly hoped Zhou Hui would slip up somehow.