Animal Detective

Chapter 240 Catching the Thief with the Stolen Goods
The Lankou Town Police Station is not large.

The interrogation room wasn't very big either.

Shen Xin leaned against the corner of the wall, silently observing the man named Zhang Fan.

"Officer, I really didn't steal that dog."

"That night, I forget which day exactly, but I remember I finished parking my car and went home. I bought half a roast duck and hadn't gone far when this golden retriever followed me."

“It barked at me and circled around me. I guessed it was hungry, so I gave it the duck head to eat.”

"After it finished eating, it became attached to me and followed me around."

"I was wondering whose dog this was, how it got out on its own. It's a golden retriever, and it's wearing a collar, so it's obviously someone's pet. I even took it around the neighborhood and asked people for directions."

"Everyone said they'd never seen it before, so what could I do? It's been following me around, and I'm just kind-hearted, so I took it home and raised it."

"As for why I sold it, it was mainly because it ate too much. Oh, and it also destroyed the house, so I thought I might as well sell it and get some money."

“Officer, I admit I was wrong. I didn’t return the lost dog to her, and when I met that girl, I was still hoping to get away with it, so I didn’t return the dog to her immediately.”

"How about this, I apologize to her and I'll compensate her for her phone?"

Zhang Fan spoke with conviction.

When people are panicked, like before, when Shen Xin asked three questions in a row and Zhang Fan didn't know how to answer, when they are extremely panicked, their minds are not clear at all, and they are capable of doing anything.

Once a person calms down, they can immediately make up lies to cover up their nervousness.

Therefore, in the criminal investigation team, sometimes when arresting people, they will also conduct surprise interrogations on the spot, just in case you put the person in a police car and take them back to the branch office for slow interrogation. On the way there, the person will calm down and be able to think of how to deal with the police.

Clearly, Zhang Fan had already prepared his explanation.

And at first glance, it really seems flawless.

The girl's golden retriever had been missing for almost a month; with such a long time, Zhang Fan could make up whatever story he wanted.

Even if you say you found it, you can't verify it.

However, Zhou Wenyang, the colleague who received the call, was not so easy to deal with.

He snorted and retorted, "Then why are you running?"

Zhang Fan glanced at Shen Xin, clearly having prepared his explanation on the way here, and said, "I was scared, mainly because look how scary he is. He reached into his pocket and pulled out handcuffs. I think I heard someone say that stealing dogs can lead to jail time."

"I was afraid he would catch me. I was so scared that I ran away in a moment of confusion, but I didn't manage to escape."

He pointed at Shen Xin.

Shen Xin wondered to himself who was scaring him.

However, this explanation is barely acceptable.

Zhou Wenyang said, "Aren't you from Yanling? Where do you usually live? How come you picked up a dog in Nanjiang?"

Zhang Fan's gaze shifted slightly.

Clearly, in figuring out how to deal with the police, he forgot to consider the most basic issues.

For example, if the girl is from a certain place and lives there, the dog must have been lost near her home, but she doesn't know where it is.

Moreover, he was from Yanling.

This dog couldn't possibly have run dozens of kilometers and gotten lost in Yanling, could it?

Zhang Fan subconsciously wiped the cold sweat from his forehead, then shook his head and said, "I don't know, but I found him near my house, so maybe someone else took him there."

Zhou Wenyang slammed his hand on the table and shouted, "Zhang Fan, do you think we'd believe what you're saying?"

Anyway, I told the truth.

Zhang Fan muttered something, then said, "I've returned the dog to her. If you insist on accusing me of stealing it, you have to provide evidence. You can't frame an innocent person."

Zhou Wenyang was about to say something more when Shen Xin coughed lightly to stop him, gave him a wink, and the two went outside.

Shen Xin said, "Brother Zhou, let's proceed with the mediation process first."

Zhou Wenyang looked at Shen Xin in surprise.

If the mediation process is followed, then the dog theft will be considered closed.

After a slight hesitation, Zhou Wenyang said, "That works too."

He figured Shen Xin didn't want to get involved anymore.

Firstly, this isn't a big deal, and secondly, it's difficult to find evidence to confirm that the dog was stolen.

Shen Xin knew what Zhou Wenyang was thinking and said, "Brother Zhou, I only said to go through the mediation process first, but I didn't say I wouldn't take responsibility. This guy has other things to deal with."

The saying goes, "Catch the thief with the stolen goods."

In the past, when the anti-pickpocketing team caught thieves, they had to wait until the thief made a move before taking action, because they needed evidence.

In this situation, the girl's dog has been missing for almost a month, which is too long.

If there is surveillance footage showing Zhang Fan stealing the dog into the car, then it's easy to determine that he stole the dog.

But there is no such evidence.

So Zhang Fan understood this point, which is why he became fearless and started spouting nonsense.

He insists he found it, and you need evidence to refute him.

This guy was very arrogant when we argued before, so he's obviously not the type to be cowardly or afraid of trouble. If you scare him a little, he'll immediately drop everything.

Shen Xin has a video taken by Yu Dalin.

They photographed his car and him.

Besides Chen Fang and her husband, two young men were also involved in moving the cages at the time.

One of them is Zhang Fan.

But the same problem remains: you haven't proven that Chen Fang has a problem yet, so how do you prove that Zhang Fan has a problem?

He could easily say that he came here to pick up goods.

Through his conversation with Li Dian, Shen Xin had a vague feeling that there was more to this than met the eye.

Even if you now have solid evidence that Zhang Fan stole a dog, it's just a golden retriever, so what can you do to him?

But it might startle the person behind him.

Therefore, Shen Xin decided to take a step back, first find out the situation on the outside, and then take action once he had evidence.

Now that they know who it is, they can't possibly run away.

Therefore, Shen Xin did not produce the video evidence.

Zhou Wenyang raised an eyebrow and asked curiously if there was anything else.

Shen Xin didn't say anything, but just told him to try mediating first.

"Let's try mediation first. Besides, the girl might not even agree to mediation."

If the girl doesn't agree to mediation, then this matter isn't over yet; we can start investigating at any time.

Zhou Wenyang understood and turned to go inside.

Shen Xin came to the side and first called Hu Guangyu to ask if he had heard of anyone reporting that Chen Fang had committed fraud.

Hu Guangyu is probably on duty. There's a lot of noise around him; it looks like passengers are arguing.

He walked away a bit before saying that he had spoken to the director, but there had been no news yet.

Finally, he asked Shen Xin what was wrong. The two had just met that morning, it hadn't been that long.

"nothing."

Shen Xin didn't urge him, exchanged a few polite words, and hung up the phone.

After thinking for a moment, Shen Xin called Chen Chao.

Although I discovered this myself, the principle of territorial jurisdiction is fundamental.

Just like when Shen Xin discovers a thief in another place, even if he catches him on the spot, he still has to hand him over to the local branch office for investigation and processing.

The situation is now more complicated.

If Chen Fang has any issues, the New District Branch should investigate and handle the matter.

Zhang Fan's side, on the other hand, was discovered in Donglin.

Donglin is a county-level city, and it has a proper Donglin Municipal Bureau, which is nominally a direct subordinate unit of the Nanjiang Municipal Bureau. However, the relationship between Donglin and Nanjiang is more complicated than that between Tingyang and the New District.

Secondly, Zhang Fan is from Yanling.

So this matter is rather complicated, and Shen Xin wants to discuss with Chen Chao how to handle it first.

After listening attentively to Shen Xin's explanation, Chen Chao thought for a while and asked, "Little Shen, how serious do you think this is?"

Shen Xin understood what he meant.

First of all, we certainly can't overstep our bounds and come to the new district to file a case for investigation. You, from Tingyang, are here to investigate.

Will the relationship between the districts still be good after this?

However, Chen Chao asked if the matter was serious, meaning that if it wasn't serious, then it would be best to leave it to the new district to investigate and handle.

If it's a big deal, a major case, then he'll try to coordinate something, at least to get a collaborative investigation.

He wouldn't dare to get involved in a big case.

If not, then trust your colleagues in other districts.

Shen Xin thought for a moment and said, "Captain Chen, I think this is no small matter. Think about it, Li Dian said that Chen Fang was able to buy a house worth more than three million yuan in cash, so she must have made a lot of money."

"She has to organize so many operations to resolve this issue, and so many people have been scammed. Just based on that alone, this matter is bound to be significant."

This is essentially a case of a group of people being scammed.

I kindly gave money to rescue stray animals, but in the end, it all ended up in your pocket. The victim would definitely be unhappy if they knew the truth.

Chen Chao said, "Okay, wait for my news."

As expected, the girl named Sun Huiya did not agree to mediation, believing that her dog had been stolen by Zhang Fan.

She wants an explanation.

What's even more unfortunate is that her home is in the Xinbei District. So if the Lankou authorities want to open a case and investigate, such as checking the surveillance footage of her residential complex, they will have to notify their colleagues in the Xinbei District.

Zhang Fan, however, refused to admit it.

He found nothing in the car; there was no lasso for catching dogs or horses.

While having dinner with Li Jiahui, Shen Xin also searched online for videos and reports related to dog theft.

Some people use lassoes; they drive a car, stop the car, aim carefully, lasso the dog, and pull it directly into the car—it takes at most a few seconds.

Some people even used sticks to knock them unconscious with one blow and then carried them directly into the car.

Even more ruthless methods included poisoning or shooting with arrows.

This could be due to dog theft and resale for meat.

But in the city, there are also many cases of pet dogs being lost.

To put it bluntly, it's similar to the old-fashioned bag-snatching robbery.

Therefore, Shen Xin felt that even if Lankou went to investigate Sun Huiya's community, it would be difficult to find any problems.

Fake license plates can be used for vehicles, and people can wear hats or masks to cover their faces if they are afraid of being caught on camera.

Moreover, in some cases, the pet dog runs away first and is then targeted.

Shen Xin put down his chopsticks, picked his teeth with a toothpick, and then said, "To be honest, when I was a kid, everyone in the countryside had a guard dog. Back then, there were a lot of dog thieves."

"But now, with surveillance cameras everywhere, isn't the risk of stealing dogs a bit too high?"

This is theft, an illegal act.

There must be a fundamental question: returns versus risks.

Taking the risk of going to jail for three years or more, just to steal a few stray dogs and sell them for a few hundred yuan each, the risk and reward are completely mismatched.

"And why would you steal pet dogs? These little poodles don't have much meat, so they probably won't fetch a good price."

"If you want to steal, you can only steal medium to large dogs, but these dogs are not cheap, and because they are large dogs, their owners will watch them more closely for fear of hurting people, so the risk of stealing them is even greater."

If you're already risking going to jail, why not do something more profitable?

Li Jiahui put down her chopsticks, thought for a moment, and said, "You think the profits aren't high? Maybe they have other ways to make money. Otherwise, why would Chen Fang be so enthusiastic about running the shelter?"

Shen Xin nodded.

That's right, there must be other ways to make money that you don't know about.

Zhang Fan's situation hasn't been resolved yet, and he'll likely be staying at the police station for some time.

So Shen Xin went to the rescue station in Lankou as planned.

The boss's name is Niu Haipeng, and he follows the same path as Li Dian.

He used to run a pet hospital, but it went out of business. Then he noticed the popularity of short video platforms, which gave him the idea to start a rescue station.

However, its scale is not as large as Li Dian's.

Moreover, they mostly rescue stray cats; as for dogs, the entire rescue station only has fewer than thirty.

He was a big, burly man who didn't look like a doctor.

Upon closer conversation, it turned out that, like Li Jiahui, she had graduated from Ningshan Agricultural University.

This person is an alumnus.

He had always welcomed Shen Xin and his companion, and this new relationship made him even more enthusiastic.

His dog is well-cared for; its fur is glossy and shiny.

I reckon they invested a lot of money.

In his words, he was just kind-hearted and couldn't bear to see these cats and dogs suffer.

He also said that his pet hospital went bankrupt because he often rescued injured stray animals for free.

Shen Xin unleashed a series of skills and selected four suitable ones.

Shen Xin also took the opportunity to ask Chen Fang a question.

"Chen Fang?"

Upon hearing this name, Niu Haipeng frowned slightly, then asked Shen Xin why she was being mentioned.

Shen Xin did not reveal any specific details, and gave the same explanation as Li Dian.

Niu Haipeng hesitated for a moment, then said, "I've heard some things about her. How should I put it? Don't let her being a woman fool you, she's a bit ruthless."

“Take pet blood donation for example. In the past, pet hospitals would post on social media to call on kind-hearted people to come and donate blood for matching.”

"Then the pet owner gives some compensation for nutrition, but Chen Fang has made this matter lose some of its original intention of showing love."

"It used to cost ten or twenty yuan per milliliter, but now she's driven up the price to forty or fifty yuan per milliliter, and a single infusion can cost several thousand yuan. It's really disgusting."

"I remember someone complaining in the group last time that the price was too high, and the owner couldn't bear to part with it, and then watched the dog go through life and death."

As he spoke, he took out his phone and showed Shen Xin their chat history.

He used to run a pet hospital, so there's a group chat for local pet hospitals in Nanjiang.

I checked the chat history and found it.

It's a record from over two months ago.

"look."

He handed it to Shen Xin.

Shen Xin glanced at the chat history and saw it was a complaint from someone with the ID "Puai Xinbei Store Pet Doctor He".

The situation is roughly that a Labrador was hit by a car and needs a blood transfusion for surgery, with an estimated 200 ml of blood to be donated.

Then he complained that someone was charging too much, including matching, and then 50 yuan per milliliter.

That 200 milliliters would cost a full 10,000 yuan.

Adding the cost of surgery, the dog owner ultimately hesitated and chose to give up.

Then the dog died in the store.

There are quite a few comments below, and judging from the tone, they all seem to know about Chen Fang's existence, but they all refer to her as "someone".

Then everyone complained that the price was originally not high, but now it's getting higher and higher, which is a bit of a rip-off.

However, they were all quite restrained.

Chen Fang should give them a commission, otherwise she wouldn't be able to monopolize the business.

So they didn't eat the food and then smash the pot.

Shen Xin then asked him if he knew anything about the rescue operation.

This involves fraud, which is the key to getting to the bottom of it.

Niu Haipeng shook his head and said, "I don't know, but I would never do such a thing."

He smiled, unsure if he was hiding anything.

But Shen Xin felt that he could ask more questions while visiting the rescue station.

They all run shelters, so they have contact and must know something about each other.

However, the most crucial thing now is to have a legitimate reason for the case to be investigated.

Shen Xin received a call from Chen Chao while driving the four dogs back to the police dog base.

He asked where Shen Xin was, and said he would come to find Shen Xin.

He said he contacted Liu Baoqing, the captain of the Criminal Investigation Brigade of the New District Branch, to prepare to open a case for investigation into Chen Fang's situation.

That means Tingyang can also participate and collaborate on the investigation.

This is a good thing.

Chen Chao arrived late; people from the new district arrived first.

Of course, it wasn't Liu Baoqing who came in person.

Criminal police officers are still under a system of responsibility.

The two, one older and one younger, the older one, probably in his forties, was named Ma Chunxin.

Even those who are not particularly attractive are always smiling when you meet them.

But when they shook hands, Shen Xin felt the strength in his hand.

The fingers are thick, rough, and strong.

He's quite stocky, but he has a certain...

Shen Xin couldn't find a suitable adjective for a moment. The most fitting description was that a dog that bites doesn't bark.

This is a veteran detective who has been in the force for many years. He looks friendly and approachable, but when he gets serious, he's a formidable fighter.

Qian Zhihai in the team is like that. He once accidentally broke into a thief's den, managed to capture the leader alive, and held out until reinforcements arrived.

The other young man was named Zhao Tong. He had probably only been with the company for less than two years. He was overly polite and even called Shen Xin "Brother Shen Xin" when he shook hands with him.

That's unacceptable.

Shen Xin was explaining the situation to them when he unexpectedly received a call from Hu Guangyu.

They said the institute found out.

Last November, someone actually went to the police station to report that Chen Fang had cheated them out of two thousand yuan.

But later, when the investigation just started and they contacted Chen Fang, she withdrew the case.

They explained that it had been resolved privately and that it was a misunderstanding.

Whether it was a misunderstanding or not, Shen Xin knew what was going on after thinking about it.

And now, this news has come at just the right time, allowing us to initiate an investigation.

(End of this chapter)