Animal Detective

Chapter 265 Returning to the old business
Hongmei Police Station.

Shen Xin and the other two sat and listened to community police officer Lao Gao introduce Fan Lei's situation.

In closing, he wanted to summarize, saying, "How should I put it, Director Chen should know about Lao Fan as well, he's rather..."

Old Gao pursed his lips before finding a suitable description: "In the past, he would have been called loyal and righteous. To be honest, I don't really think Chen Erming was that good to him."

"But he's always been loyal and does whatever he's told. Look at Zou Jun and Liu Haoyi, they've both become bosses following Chen Erming."

"He didn't get anything. The money Chen Erming gave him was used to buy his mother a small house, which was later taken by his brother."

"If you look at it now, this person is a bit simple-minded."

In the past, being honest and hardworking was considered a good quality; now, it's called being simple-minded or foolish.

"When was the last time? I remember going to the community for a fire inspection. The couple was crammed into a rented room. I even told him, 'Back then, your mother's house, although it wasn't very big, was in a good school district, so it was worth some money.'"

"Even if your mom says the house is for the eldest son, the problem is that it was his brother who said that, and you also paid for the house, so you should have a share. Think of a way to get it back."

"Guess what he said? He said that he's been in prison for so many years, and his mother has been taken care of by his brother. His brother has also had a hard time, so he'll just consider this house a gift to his brother."

"He's really generous, but the problem is his brother doesn't appreciate it at all."

"He's been in jail for so many years, and his wife has been raising a child alone. They're an orphan and a widow, and his brother hasn't taken care of them at all."

"Look at how this family is doing now. Their son is in his twenties or thirties, and he's still messing around outside."

Old Gao sighed, seemingly feeling sorry for Fan Lei.

Seeing that the atmosphere was a bit awkward, Chen Ju nudged Lao Gao and said, "Alright, I'm asking you something serious, why are you starting to feel sentimental?"

Then they asked Shen Xin if he had any other questions.

Shen Xin looked at Geng Ke, then at Ding Yuwei, then shook his head, stood up, and said thank you.

After leaving the office, Shen Xin didn't rush to get into the car. Instead, he grabbed the two men and asked for their opinions.

Ding Yuwei spoke first, saying, "There is some suspicion, after all, the construction site where he works is near the crime scene. And he is also going through a difficult time, so he has a motive to kill for money."

Geng Ke shared the same thought.

The main issue is that the construction site where Fan Lei currently works is near the crime scene.

This is quite concerning.

Shen Xin nodded in agreement, and after thinking for a moment, said, "In any case, it's a discovery. I'll report the situation to Zhang Zhi first."

The investigation into the professional killer line has reached the ninth person, and only now have we made some discoveries. We definitely need to verify and confirm them.

Shen Xin immediately called Zhang Hancheng and explained the situation.

“Zhang Zhi, Fan Lei’s wife is now a landscaping worker, and Fan Lei works as a laborer on construction sites. Their income is limited.”

"And their son, Fan Shunxi, was uneducated and had a prior drug conviction, so Fan Lei should have had sufficient motive to kill for money."

According to Lao Gao, Fan Lei's family situation is really not good now.

The Huian New Village where they live now is also rented.

The main problem is their son; he gets into fights and causes a lot of trouble, giving them a lot of worry.

Given such dire circumstances, it's possible that Fan Lei might return to his old ways.

Of course, such a motivation is somewhat far-fetched.

However, the construction site where he worked was near the crime scene, which is really suspicious.

On the other end of the phone, Zhang Hancheng thought for a moment and said, "Anyway, it's a discovery. Go directly to his construction site and find him. Odin can identify him, right? Make contact with him first and get to know him. Report back immediately if anything comes up."

After giving his instructions, he quickly hung up the phone.

I guess he's pretty busy over there.

The deadline is three days, and a third of that time has already passed.

He didn't mention the support either, but Shen Xin felt that he hadn't forgotten about it.

Zhang Hancheng is a very meticulous person. The reason he didn't arrange for support might be because of Geng Ke.

Shen Xin glanced at Geng Ke and sensed from their first meeting that this man must be very strong.

The three of them set off immediately.

On the way, Shen Xin used his handheld PDA to check Fan Lei's and his family's basic information.

Fan Lei in the photo has an ordinary appearance.

This photo was taken when he renewed his ID card after being released from prison.

That was in 2014, when I was 47 years old.

He still had the bald head common in prisons, but he looked much older, with deep forehead wrinkles and thick lips; he was really quite ordinary.

His wife, Yao Qian, on the other hand, has striking features and must have been quite beautiful when she was young.

That's normal; Fan Lei was quite a prominent figure back then.

Bad men are loved by some, which is why Yao Qian devoted herself to him, raising her child and waiting for him for ten years.

As for Fan Shunxi...

The son looks like his mother and is quite handsome.

But there's a whole bunch of criminal records below, mostly about fighting and brawling.

In the task force group chat, Shen Xin privately messaged someone, intending to send him the information about Fan Lei and the other two. He typed a few words, then stopped.

This person is from the Criminal Investigation Division. He is in the special task force this time and is specifically responsible for liaising with the bank.

If a suspect is identified and needs to access bank accounts, authorization can be obtained through him as quickly as possible, and then the inquiry can be conducted by connecting with the bank.

Shen Xin was thinking of checking if there were any large sums of money deposited into Fan Lei's family's bank accounts.

In other words, it's money for hiring a killer.

But then I thought, Fan Lei is only a slight suspect right now, and there is no direct evidence to prove that he is the murderer.

In this situation, we really don't have the authority to check his bank account.

Not to mention the related accounts of Yao Qian and Fan Shunxi.

Bank account information is sensitive personal information, and there can't be any problems with the procedures. About half an hour later, the three arrived at the construction site called Fengyu Shanhe.

Before the car had even come to a complete stop, Shen Xin suddenly realized that he had been to this place before.

Ding Yuwei, who was sitting in the back row, hurriedly patted Shen Xin on the shoulder and said, "Shen Xin, isn't this the construction site we passed by the first time we were tracking the suspect?"

She was there at the time, so she remembers it.

Shen Xin hurriedly signaled Geng Ke to stop the car, then got out and looked around.

Yes, this is it.

That's a bit of a coincidence.

"No, we've already passed the construction site."

Shen Xin looked back.

I remember Odin following the scent, passing the entrance to the construction site, and chasing it for about a hundred meters before losing sight of it.

That means the suspect did not enter the construction site.

not always.

Shen Xin suddenly realized that a construction site is a construction site, but the workers on the construction site do not necessarily live on the construction site.

They usually live in the dormitory of the nearby project site.

Shen Xin rushed to the construction site, showed his police ID, and asked the security guard at the gate where the workers' dormitories were.

Upon seeing that it was a policeman, the security guard became a little nervous. He quickly came outside, pointed to the right front, and said to go forward, cross the road, go to the other side, follow the side road uphill, and the project site is not far away.

The workers' dormitories are also over there.

"Depend on!"

Shen Xin couldn't help but swear.

I feel like I've won the lottery!

Ding Yuwei, who had experienced the tracking at the time, quickly realized what was going on, but immediately shook her head and said, "That's not right, Shen Xin. I remember we expanded the tracking area and went to the other side of the road, but we didn't find anything."

Although they didn't go up the mountain along the side road, they went to the opposite side of the road where they lost the source of the smell.

At the time, it was considered that the suspect might turn back from the other side of the road to evade pursuit.

Shen Xin said, "That's not the case. First of all, at the construction site exit, trucks come and go, their tires get wet, and the ground is wet, which already affects the smell a lot."

"Then there are cars coming and going on the road, and all kinds of exhaust fumes, which will also greatly affect the tracking."

We chased it so far, past the garbage station and the damp construction site entrance, that the smell was already quite faint.

If you cross the busy road again, the smell might be lost right here.

"And think about it, the suspect was riding an electric scooter, so his range of movement was limited. Zhang and the others had discussed this before and suspected that the suspect was within a few kilometers of the crime scene."

Since you're riding an electric scooter, your range of movement is definitely limited.

Living across the street from the construction site, this distance is just right.

Ding Yuwei nodded thoughtfully.

Without wasting any words, Geng Ke invited the two to get into the car.

Shen Xin did not hesitate and immediately contacted Zhang Hancheng to explain the situation.

"Xiao Shen, wait for me, I'll take some people over right away."

After listening, Zhang Hancheng said one sentence and immediately hung up the phone.

The three of them turned around and soon turned onto the opposite side road.

Driving up the cement road for about a hundred meters, you'll reach the project headquarters of the construction site.

Behind the project site, nestled against the mountain, are numerous prefabricated houses, which serve as the workers' dormitories.

Geng Ke parked his car diagonally opposite the dormitory entrance.

The three of them didn't rush in. Even if Fan Lei was the murderer, and even if they were confident enough to take down a 51-year-old man, they would have to wait for their superiors to arrive and make a plan.

While waiting, Shen Xin took out his phone and looked at the map.

“Look, the area opposite us is also considered Shitang Mountain.”

Shen Xin pointed to the mountain in front of him and said, "And as you can see, the straight-line distance from the reservoir to this side is 1,100 meters."

Shen Xin used a map tool to adjust the distance between the two points.

"So after killing Xu Ruilin, the murderer chose to escape from the mountain, which means it is very likely that he went directly back to the dormitory here."

The first time I rode an electric scooter, the second time I went straight up the mountain.

The mountain road, which is just over a kilometer long, is not considered far.

And this route is definitely very safe.

Geng Ke nodded in agreement, his expression revealing excitement.

In other words, Fan Lei's suspicion has increased again.

At this moment, Ding Yuwei suddenly said, "Shen Xin, if Fan Lei is the murderer, then the nature of the whole case is that of hiring a hitman to commit murder."

The investigation into Fan Lei and his group was conducted along the lines of hiring someone to commit murder.

Shen Xin nodded, suddenly understanding Ding Yuwei's meaning, and said, "You mean, if in the beginning, Hu Yueqin hired Fan Lei to kill Huang Weili?"

"Then why did she hire Fan Lei to kill Xu Ruilin?"

Hu Yueqin probably doesn't know Xu Ruilin.

If you didn't know him, why kill him, especially just a week after the incident while the police were still investigating?

This doesn't make logical sense.

After thinking for a moment, Shen Xin had no idea and said, "Let's not worry about it for now. If it's Fan Lei, then we'll arrest him and find out by questioning him."

(End of this chapter)