Animal Detective

Chapter 254 A Motive Preordained, A Crime of Passion

Liu Baoqing was slightly surprised. He handed the scene over to the technical investigation team, then waved to Shen Xin and led him to the upper reservoir.

Liu Baoqing said, "In other words, you believe that the victim was a very good swimmer, so it couldn't have been a drowning."

On the way, Shen Xin shared what he knew.

Liu Baoqing then asked if anyone knew anything else.

Shen Xin thought for a moment and said, "There weren't too many unusual things. I've met Huang Weili a few times. Since he also likes dogs, we chatted briefly."

"I don't know exactly what he does, but he's probably in business."

His fishing tackle is very professional and expensive.

This is what Li Mo said.

Then he put on a watch, but Shen Xin didn't pay attention to what brand it was.

But in modern society, people usually wear watches to show off their status.

In addition to driving a Prado, based on these points alone, it can be basically concluded that Huang Weili's income must be quite substantial.

And they are most likely in business.

He's not in business, and he doesn't have the free time to come fishing often.

"Then there are a lot of people fishing in this area. There are a group of people who come here often, and a few of them often go night fishing. As for how many there were yesterday, I'm not sure."

Shen Xin didn't know much either; they had only chatted a few times.

Liu Baoqing nodded and quickly led Shen Xin to the reservoir.

The mountain in front of us should be called Shitang Mountain.

The reservoir halfway up the mountain was originally a water storage reservoir for irrigating the farmland below the mountain.

It's not big, and it's been abandoned for a long time. Over the years, it has almost become a wild lake.

The road up the mountain runs roughly north-south, and the reservoir is to the west of the road.

The gentle slope to the north of the reservoir is where Shen Xin fished yesterday.

The crime scene was located northwest of the reservoir, which is actually west of Shenxin's fishing spot.

The water is deeper over there, and there are several bays of varying sizes near the shore.

Big fish hide in the bays, which are considered prime fishing spots.

Huang Weili died at one of the fishing spots.

The specific location is at the tip of the birch tree at the head of this bay.

This spot is only about 50 or 60 centimeters above the water. There's a small flat area there, so you can sit down and cast your line directly. It's very comfortable.

Liu Baoqing pointed to the current location and then to the fishing spot to the northwest.

It's about two hundred meters long in between.

Liu Baoqing explained, "The body was found here. It must have been drowned and floated over from the other side."

The terrain here is slightly lower, so the bodies tend to drift this way.

The area is now cordoned off, the body has been retrieved, and forensic and technical investigators from the New District Branch are taking photos and examining it.

Shen Xin frowned.

That's Huang Weili.

She was still wearing the clothes I saw yesterday. She was of medium height, around 1.7 meters, and had short hair.

As for body shape, since I'm middle-aged and my metabolism slows down, I've definitely gained a little weight, probably around 130 or 140 pounds.

He has a fairly average height and build.

Shen Xin couldn't help but sigh, "We met and chatted just yesterday evening."

As a result, in such a short time, he turned into a cold corpse.

Liu Baoqing introduced the people.

The middle-aged man wearing black-rimmed glasses is Wang Xiaojin, the chief forensic doctor of the New District Branch.

He initially estimated that the time of death was around midnight last night.

Shen Xin inserted a little.

"Those who night fish usually fish from dusk until late at night, but they still need to go home to rest."

Nobody would go fishing all night.

"If the fishing is good, it might be later. And Huang Weili was probably not the only one night fishing last night. He must have drowned after everyone else had left."

Checking on the people who went night fishing yesterday can help determine the exact time of death.

Liu Baoqing nodded and pointed to Huang Weili's head.

He suffered a head injury from an impact.

Therefore, it was definitely not an accidental drowning; it was intentional homicide.

"It should be a rock this big, with an uneven surface, some edges and sharpness."

Wang Xiaojin gestured with his hand to indicate the weapon.

Looking around, he picked up a stone a few steps away, weighed it in his hand, and said it was about right.

It's about the size of a palm, so it's easy to hold.

Then it becomes irregular, so it has sharp edges.

He then gestured to indicate the location of the wound.

"Look, the wound is located rather high up, and towards the back."

"If we disregard other factors, I think the victim was sitting down when the assailant attacked from behind, using his right hand, from above at an angle."

He grabbed the stone with his arm and swung it.

"It should be with one hand, because it would be awkward to smash the stone at an angle if you held it with both hands."

“Even if the stone is hard, the murderer must have been quite strong. I suspect the victim was knocked unconscious on the spot after just one tap.”

"Because no defensive wounds were found on him."

"As for whether he was already dead before drowning, we'll have to go back for an autopsy to determine that."

He explained it in great detail.

Liu Baoqing then took the evidence bag from the technical investigator.

It contained Huang Weili's personal belongings.

Car keys, wallet, cell phone.

The phone has been unable to be turned on for a long time.

Liu Baoqing handed the items to Shen Xin and said, "It doesn't look like a robbery."

Shen Xin nodded.

There was a thin wad of banknotes in the wallet, several red ones, which I didn't touch, nor did I take the phone.

This is a flagship phone, a new model from last year, the Pro version, which costs eight or nine thousand.

If it were a robbery, it's impossible not to take something.

Return the items to the technical investigation team.

Liu Baoqing pointed to the distance again, leading Shen Xin to the fishing spot.

The area has been cordoned off, and our technical investigation team is meticulously searching for evidence inch by inch.

It hasn't rained for the past two days, so the soil on the mountain is quite hard.

But it's only spring now, and the weeds are growing wildly. I don't know if I'll be able to collect any useful footprints.

Shen Xin surveyed the scene; the fishing spot was right on the shore.

His equipment was complete.

The fishing box is still there, the bait tray on top is still there, and there's still a clump of bait about half the size of a fist.

The fish basket is placed on the bank, and the landing net is next to the fishing box.

The gun turret support is still there, but there are no fishing rods on it.

He might have been pulled into the water by a fish. Shen Xin saw that his colleagues were also searching around the reservoir in the distance.

About three or four meters from the shore, there was a broken fishing rod.

It shouldn't have been a broken rod.

The broken fishing rod was in pieces, but this one was only bent, not broken, so it must have been violently snapped.

Next to the fishing box, there is a folding chair.

The folding chair is now tilting to the left.

This aligns with Wang Xiaojin's prediction: the blow landed on Huang Weili's head from behind, with his right hand, coming down from above.

Then the person fell directly to the left.

There was also a folding table lying on its side not far away.

It seems that after Huang Weili fell, his feet naturally knocked over the folding table.

There are some charging nightlights scattered around, and they are still on.

Then there were some drinks and snacks scattered on the ground.

There was another mosquito coil below, which had already burned out.

Then they probably just knocked Huang Weili unconscious and threw him into the water.

Huang Weili, who was unconscious, eventually drowned.

Liu Baoqing asked the on-site forensic investigators if they had found the stone that had hit the person.

not at all.

He looked around and asked Shen Xin, "Little Shen, do you think it was thrown into the water or into the mountains?"

He pointed to the reservoir, then pointed behind him.

Shen Xin thought for a moment and said, "I think we should throw it in the water; it's too easy to handle."

If you throw it into the mountains behind, no matter how hard you try, how far can you throw it?

It's more convenient to just throw it in the water.

Liu Baoqing nodded slightly, his expression somewhat pained.

Such a large reservoir, we don't know which direction the murderer threw it in, and there's still a long way to go in the search.

But not looking for it won't work.

It is a crucial piece of evidence. Even if the bloodstains and DNA are washed away by the water, the shape of the stone can still be compared with the wound, becoming important evidence.

Liu Baoqing couldn't help but sigh, "Sometimes, I really hate people who just pick up a stone or a brick and use it as a weapon. What I hate even more is throwing it directly into the water."

Shen Xin thought it was better to be thrown into the water.

Like in Han Xiaolong's case before, if a stone is thrown into a latrine, you still have to look for it.

Liu Baoqing stood with his hands behind his back, stared at the scene for a while, then turned and patted Shen Xin on the shoulder.

"Xiao Shen, what are your thoughts?"

This is another test for myself.

Although we have just arrived at the scene and the technical reconnaissance is not yet over, it does not prevent us from making reasonable inferences and determining the direction of the investigation.

After thinking for a moment, Shen Xin said, "Given that the wallet and phone were both there, the possibility of robbery and murder is relatively low."

They're after money; they'll suddenly attack from behind, knock someone unconscious, and then take their phone, wallet, and other valuables.

In the desolate wilderness, with such a sudden attack, Huang Weili might not even be able to spot the enemy.

Then there's no need to take the next step, which is to throw Huang Weili into the water.

This is a very obvious sign of a potential killer.

Of course, not necessarily.

It's possible that Huang Weili discovered the other party.

When fishing, one is very focused, but late at night, when it's quiet all around, it's impossible for a person not to react at all if someone approaches you.

However, with the current good public security environment, people are generally not very vigilant.

Late at night, if you encounter someone in the middle of nowhere, you might assume they're watching you fish and start a conversation.

Huang Weili is the kind of person who can chat with anyone.

Then the killer waited for an opportunity and launched a surprise attack.

Later, perhaps because Huang Weili saw his own face, and to prevent any future trouble, he threw him into the water to silence him.

Although it doesn't seem very reasonable, after working as a police officer for so long, Shen Xin felt that anything impossible was actually possible.

Reality is far more absurd than people imagine.

Shen Xin continued, "I think the possibility of premeditated murder is relatively small."

"Because the murder weapon was chosen rather casually, and the scene was not properly prepared."

Shen Xin pointed to everything in front of him.

"And the body was just thrown into the water. It was too careless. If there had been any premeditation, they could have dragged the body into the mountains and buried it somewhere."

Liu Baoqing nodded in agreement.

Premeditated murderers plan in advance how to kill the person and how to dispose of the body and the crime scene.

Even if his idea isn't perfect, he'll still think about it.

Shen Xin continued his analysis: "That would be a crime of passion."

“There are two types of crimes of passion. The first type is completely random.”

For example, if you meet someone and you don't like each other, and you have an argument for some reason, the other person gets so angry that they pick up a stone and hit Huang Weili.

Just like the Xiao Hong case.

If you encounter a ruthless person like Sun Yongxi, you might think of exchanging words, but he's thinking of killing you.

"But I think that possibility is smaller. I've met Huang Weili a few times, and he can chat with anyone."

"He has a relatively stable personality and is quite amiable. He gets along well with the anglers in the neighborhood, and I heard they sometimes get together for drinks."

"The kind of person he is, even if he does get into arguments, I think he would definitely avoid it before things get out of control."

Some people are easily swayed by their emotions and act recklessly.

But people like Huang Weili are quite successful in life and have a stable personality.

To put it simply, he is quite rational. When faced with a problem, he won't lose his temper and let things escalate to an uncontrollable point.

Shen Xin thought it was highly unlikely that he would randomly encounter someone, get into an argument, and end up arguing with them to the point of wanting to kill them.

"So it's most likely the second type, which is a crime of passion committed by someone close to the victim."

Shen Xin felt that even a revenge killing was unlikely.

If there is hatred, so great that it leads to murder, then it will definitely be premeditated.

It wouldn't be done so casually.

"Because there's another point: the murderer must have known about Huang Weili's situation and knew that he had a habit of night fishing."

"Then he had a motive all along, and something triggered it, leading him to make a last-minute decision to commit a crime of passion."

In most cases, this involves people close to you.

A smile appeared on Liu Baoqing's face, and he looked very satisfied.

In fact, at least 80% to 90% of the murder cases fall into the category described by Shen Xin at the end.

It was a crime of passion, committed with a pre-existing motive.

So it seems that Shen Xin did a lot of analysis and finally came to the most common conclusion, which seems like he was just talking nonsense.

But Liu Baoqing knew that what came before was not just empty talk.

Shen Xin meticulously and logically analyzed each situation, and based on the clues he gathered, he made reasonable inferences and eliminations.

Finally, the most probable result was obtained.

That's quite an ability.

(End of this chapter)