Animal Detective

Chapter 312 The Mountain of Despair

Shen Xin went out; the night was deep.

The starry sky is still brilliant, and tomorrow will be another sunny day.

After the case analysis meeting concluded, Li Xiaowen decided to postpone the search of Duan Dongqiang's home and instead focus on tracing the murder weapon while secretly investigating Duan Dongqiang.

Shen Xin ran to fetch Tian Kui.

This guy is fast asleep.

Guo Jin had also laid out a straw mat for him and turned on the air conditioner. He lay there sprawled out, feeling incredibly comfortable.

After getting on the bus, Li Xiaowen asked Tian Kui worriedly if he was too tired after working so hard all day.

They traveled so far in the morning to track down Li Xingping, and then searched the whole village in the afternoon. The workload was considerable.

"It's alright, he's fine." Shen Xin patted Tian Kui's head.

He barked once.

【it is good】

His inner voice proves that he is full of energy.

Li Xiaowen was relieved and called everyone to set off, discussing the case with Shen Xin along the way.

Once the case analysis meeting started, he realized that Shen Xin had a very strong logical ability.

Furthermore, the various on-site handling procedures that Shen Xin handled previously are sufficient proof that he is quite capable.

Shen Xin was also reflecting along the way.

If Tiankui can successfully track down the murder weapon, that would be the best outcome, as it would immediately pinpoint Duan Dongqiang.

But if they fail to track down the perpetrator and find the crucial murder weapon, the case could very well end up being half-finished.

It's not like before.

The chain of evidence must be sufficient and complete; otherwise, even if it is transferred, it will be returned.

In this situation, Shen Xin thought of the donkey.

I had thought before that since it was right next to the crime scene, it probably wouldn't be tied up at night.

Donkeys sleep standing up during the day, but they should sleep lying down at night.

But even if someone is arguing or killing someone right next to it, it won't react at all and won't be disturbed to get up and watch the commotion.
Especially in situations where the owner might also be alerted.

Therefore, it is very likely that it witnessed the incident and was an eyewitness donkey.

Referring to Liu Laibin's case, I can use my abilities to try to reconstruct the scene as accurately as possible.

Thinking of this, Shen Xin took out his phone and searched online to find out how intelligent donkeys are.

The first search result that popped up said that donkeys have the highest intelligence among all domestic animals, comparable to dogs and dolphins, two well-known highly intelligent animals.

It was also said that he had outstanding cognitive abilities. For example, when searching for food in complex terrain, donkeys would first observe and analyze the optimal path, while other livestock would blindly search.

Donkeys also possess the ability to make independent judgments.

A stubborn donkey is one that refuses to execute instructions because it finds them unreasonable.

And crucially, memory skills.

It is said that donkeys have an extremely strong memory; they can recognize their home, remember water sources in the wild, and even recognize their owner's face.

Therefore, calling them "stupid donkeys" is inappropriate; they are not stupid at all, but rather quite intelligent.

Such conditions allow for a replication of the Liu Laibin case.

But then Shen Xin thought again that the current situation was different from Liu Laibin's case and other cases he had handled before.

In the Liu Laibin case, the perpetrator was unknown, so a parrot was used to reconstruct the scene and search for the killer.

The suspect in the current case has been identified through certain physical evidence.

If we already know who the suspect is, why bother using animal memory to reconstruct the scene?

Even if you could hear the donkey's thoughts, it wouldn't make a difference.

The key is to find evidence.

As for finding evidence, Tian Kui is enough; there's no need for this donkey.

Lost in thought, the group rushed to Baijiashao.

It was just past 10 p.m., and lights were still on in many parts of the village.

Especially at the village entrance, villagers were gathered.

They are presumably discussing cases that occurred during the day.

From afar, Zhang Kaiyong's house was brightly lit, with a large number of people gathered there.

Zhang Kaiyong is the village head, and Zhang Kaisheng is a contractor; the two brothers have a strong network of connections.

At this time, many people should come to offer their condolences.

Shen Xin thought of Tan Guizhi.

This woman is so carefree; her husband didn't come home all night, and she didn't even go out to look for him.

I asked her, and she said that Zhang Kaiyong often stayed out all night, so she didn't care.

If she had gone out and looked for Zhang Kaiyong, the case might not have turned out this way.

Upon seeing the police car arrive, the villagers immediately surrounded it.

The police car was not parked in front of Duan Dongqiang's house, but near the village entrance.

Then everyone got off the bus and continued their daytime work.

The technical investigation team continued searching for physical evidence, while Zhu Qiuwei and his team continued their interviews.

I'll still do the same work as during the day.

But the objective is different now; the technical investigation team needs to find donkey dung and potential murder weapons.

Zhu Qiuwei and his group would then subtly inquire whether there was any conflict between Duan Dongqiang and Zhang Kaiyong.

“You guys work so hard, it’s already so late, aren’t you going to get off work?” a villager asked.

Li Xiaowen doesn't talk much, and as a partner, having another taciturn person would obviously be inappropriate.

So Zhu Qiuwei was a very shrewd and resourceful person. He smiled and said to the old man who asked the question, "Sir, this is a murder case. It's not a small matter. We need to find out the truth as soon as possible."

"So if you see anything or think anything, don't hide it from us. Try to tell us clearly so we can feel sorry for you and let us get off work earlier."

Everyone nodded.

At this moment, a middle-aged woman in the crowd said, "Didn't they say Li Xingping was the killer? Why are they still investigating?"

This is the village entrance, the intelligence center.

Immediately, a villager asked, "Officer, is Li Xingping really dead?"

When Li Xingping was mentioned, everyone asked him a series of questions.

"They said it was intentional, that he deliberately crashed into the car. Wouldn't that be considered suicide out of guilt?"

"Of course, and he didn't kill him, so why would he run away?"

“I don’t know what he was thinking. He ran away, leaving behind two children, and he doesn’t even want his old mother anymore.”

"He's already killed someone, why would he care about that?"

"It's also Zhang Kaiyong's fault. Li Xingping is such an honest man. If he hadn't been driven to desperation, would he have done something like this?"

Everyone was talking.

Clearly, news of Li Xingping's death in a car accident had already reached the village.

Zhu Qiuwei immediately joined in, and they started fighting.

They said it was just like the TV dramas they watched, and like Bao Zheng, they had to investigate the cases thoroughly to avoid wrongful convictions, so they had to continue investigating late at night.

Ignoring all that, Li Xiaowen gave Shen Xin a wink and led the technical investigation team to Duan Dongqiang's house.

The person wasn't there; they'd gone to Zhang Kaiyong's house to see what was going on.

Li Xiaowen sent someone to find him, and then peered over the wall at Duan Dongqiang's house.

His courtyard gate wasn't big; it was just the kind of common square iron gate.

The courtyard wall isn't high, only about 1.2 meters, and it's made of red bricks.

You can see into the courtyard from the wall. The main house faces south, and the kitchen is on the east side.

The traditional houses on the mountain were made of black tiles and wood, but after they were moved down the mountain, they were all replaced by brick bungalows.

We moved here in 07, so this house is already ten years old.

The courtyard had a cement floor, and many things were piled up haphazardly.

There was a donkey cart, and the donkey shed was in the southeast corner.

The donkey was lying in the shed, but it had already been disturbed and was staring at the crowd with wide eyes.

Li Xiaowen leaned over, scooped up a clump of donkey dung from the donkey shed, and handed it to the technical investigator.

Then he winked at Shen Xin, signaling him to look.

Shen Xin saw it.

The donkey shed was made of asbestos tiles, with wooden pillars, and red bricks piled up at the base of the pillars, with the thick wooden pieces sealed inside with cement.

A stone trough was placed facing north and south.

There were some bricks scattered around the donkey shed.

So Duan Dongqiang probably used what was available and took a brick that was stained with donkey dung.

Li Xiaowen didn't stand on ceremony and picked up another brick, handing it to the technical investigator.

Perhaps we can compare the impurities in the bricks with the residue in the wounds of the corpse.

But Shen Xin felt that this was still not solid evidence.

Because the bricks may not be from the same batch, and even if they are from the same batch, the material composition should be different.

Most importantly, the wall is so low that you can reach out and bend down to pick it up. If Duan Dongqiang says something, then other people can't pick it up either.
At this moment, Duan Dongqiang returned and asked what was going on.

Li Xiaowen said, "As you may know, we searched the village with police dogs this afternoon. You were out working at the time, so we're making up for it now."

I had already prepared my explanation on the way here.

Shen Xin silently observed Duan Dongqiang, trying to find a panicked expression on his face.

Unfortunately, it wasn't found.

If someone manages to conceal it well, it might be because they lack the ability to observe people's micro-expressions.

Upon hearing Li Xiaowen's words, Duan Dongqiang swiftly opened the door, not even locking it, and immediately inserted the plug to search for something.

Li Xiaowen was also observing him silently, and said, "Just take a quick look, it'll be over soon. We'll be searching other places later."

Duan Dongqiang said "Oh" and led everyone through the door.

Shen Xin led Tian Kui around Duan Dongqiang.

"Does it smell on me?" Duan Dongqiang asked with a hint of nervousness.

Li Xiaowen nodded and said that the main purpose was to confirm who had been to the scene.

Duan Dongqiang immediately replied, "I have been there; I'm the one who called the police."

Shen Xin heard Tian Kui's inner thoughts.

【Have】

That is, it has Zhang Kaiyong's scent.

That's normal; he was there.

Shen Xin then led Tian Kui around the yard and the house, and when they passed the donkey shed, he let Tian Kui sniff around the donkey.

"That's fine." Shen Xin nodded to Li Xiaowen.

Li Xiaowen nodded and took his leave.

Duan Dongqiang saw him to the door and asked if it was really that simple.

Seeing Li Xiaowen nod, Duan Dongqiang hesitated for a moment, hung up the door, and then headed to Zhang Kaiyong's house again.

I still want to go see what's going on.

Li Xiaowen stopped and asked Shen Xin what he thought.

Shen Xin shook his head.

It's hard to say for sure.

Shen Xin has met many criminals and found that they are different from those in TV dramas.

Do you think criminals would panic and repent like in TV dramas?

Not necessarily.

People are different. Some are afraid, while others don't even care about killing, so why would they be afraid?

So let's track it first.

We arrived at the fork in the road.

Shen Xin had instructed that they should chase after the donkey that had left, and also follow its scent.

Duan Dongqiang walked alongside the donkey, which had a strong odor.

Tian Kui hesitated only slightly before heading towards the direction of leaving the village.

Duan Dongqiang went out to work, harnessing a cart to his vehicle. Climbing uphill was clearly impractical.

Everyone followed immediately.

Once on the highway, Tiankui turns right; this is the direction to the town.

On the way, every now and then, Shen Xin would check with Tian Kui to see if there was still a smell of blood.

However, this is not accurate either, because Duan Dongqiang had entered the scene at that time and helped carry the body, so he already smelled of blood on his body.

In the darkness, Tian Kui sprinted away, running for nearly three kilometers before turning right onto a side road.

It was still a mountain road. After rounding a mountain ahead, we saw lights in the distance, which should be a village.

The terrain gradually rises.

The smell persisted for over a kilometer before we arrived at the village.

The map shows it as Yeyangjing Village.

But Tiankui did not stop; he passed through the village and continued forward along the cement road.

Shen Xin looked at the map and noticed that there was a village ahead, and a road on the map ran between two mountains and extended to the other side of the mountains.

Moreover, that village is actually not far from Baijiashao in a straight line; it's like they're on opposite sides of the mountain range.

If we build a tunnel, we could probably get there in no time.

In the darkness of night, the mountains on both sides resembled heavenly gates, their dark expanse creating an indescribable sense of oppression.

A mountain road twists and turns upwards.

Donkeys have a good carrying capacity, and they're pulling an empty cart. The mountain isn't as steep as Baijiashao, so it should be fine.

After crossing the mountain, the view opened up, and a faint light could be seen at the foot of the mountain to the right.

The mountain path beneath our feet winds its way down the mountain to the right.

There were cars following behind, but Li Xiaowen didn't get in. Instead, he ran with Tian Kui. When they arrived, he was panting heavily, just like Shen Xin.

Looking at the distant mountains, Li Xiaowen suddenly said, "It's not far now. If he wanted to dispose of the murder weapon, wouldn't he have already thrown it away?"

Shen Xin didn't say anything.

Looking at the vast mountains in the night, I felt a sense of powerlessness.

If the murder weapon were a brick, you could have just tossed it into any nook or cranny along the way, and even a god wouldn't be able to find it.

Moreover, Shen Xin was thinking about a scenario.

For example, Duan Dongqiang hid the murder weapon in his car and took it out. On the way, he walked to a deserted place nearby, such as this mountain gully. He didn't need to stop much; he just threw it into the mountains like he was throwing away trash.

During this process, although the murder weapon smelled of blood, Tian Kui couldn't tell because it was thrown into the air.

How do we find it?
Considering he's a middle-aged man nearing fifty, able to throw thirty meters, then along the path he came from, draw a thirty-meter range on each side, and then search?

Even if a thousand people went down to search, they couldn't find it.

(End of this chapter)