Animal Detective

Chapter 316 Killing the Donkey as a Warning to Others

"evidence!"

Shen Xin jumped to the ground.

Guo Jin immediately realized what was going on and said, "Duan Dongqiang's donkey?"

Shen Xin nodded.

Guo Jin found it hard to believe; if that were the case, then it was indeed evidence.

But if you want to compare DNA, you can just get some donkey dung or even draw blood from a donkey, so why did you buy the donkey directly?

"It's not cheap, is it?" Guo Jin asked, looking at the 10,000 yuan.

Shen Xin said, "That's right, their names are all 'Ten Thousand'."

As for why he bought it, he couldn't explain it clearly in a short time. Shen Xin just said it was useful, and then led the 10,000 yuan into the police station courtyard.

Upon seeing He Wenyu, he asked him to watch over the 10,000 yuan while he quickly went to the case-handling area.

He Wenyu was a little dumbfounded when he saw the reins handed to him.

He worked in the propaganda department of the provincial government and followed Shen Xin in propaganda work. Naturally, he had done his homework, learned about Shen Xin's situation, and knew that Shen Xin had solved many cases by using animals.

But a donkey?
Seeing that Wan had two big ears standing up, tilted his head and looked at him, and even came closer to smell him, He Wenyu was so frightened that he took two steps back and got goosebumps all over his body.

On the other side, when Shen Xin found Li Xiaowen, he was talking to Zhu Qiuwei.

The two of them had serious expressions.

It seems the interrogation is not going well.

Upon seeing Shen Xin, Li Xiaowen glanced into the courtyard and saw 10,000. Curious, he asked Shen Xin how he had managed to bring 10,000 back.

Upon hearing that he had ridden back, Zhu Qiuwei couldn't help but burst out laughing.

This isn't buying evidence; it's buying a mount.

"Shen Xin, I'm not questioning you, I'm just curious. You know, at least a parrot can talk, but what about this donkey?"

He pointed to the ten thousand in the yard.

Zhu Qiuwei had already heard Li Xiaowen talk about it and knew why Shen Xin wanted to buy this donkey.

He was shocked that Shen Xin could solve the case using a parrot, but he also felt that it was a special case and that the experience could not be simply applied to the case at hand.

Shen Xin couldn't explain that he could hear the thoughts of animals, so he could only say, "Let's give it a try, it's an opportunity anyway."

Li Xiaowen patted Zhu Qiuwei, interrupting the conversation, and then said, "Duan Dongqiang is very stubborn, repeating the same things over and over again. I feel that simply bluffing him won't work; we have to throw solid evidence in his face before he'll admit it."

"So the key is still the murder weapon. There's no doubt that there's a brick like that. Since it can't be found in his house, it must have been lost yesterday while he was out working."

"Old Zhu, we don't have much time left. I'll keep an eye on things here. You organize people and keep searching for me. The city has some drones, right? Contact them and see if you can borrow some to increase the search efforts."

Zhu Qiuwei nodded and noted it down, and also offered some of his own thoughts.

For example, they could mobilize the masses to conduct visits in Yeyangjing Village and Mabaogou Village, where someone might witness Duan Dongqiang discarding the murder weapon.

"Also, Tiankui... could we borrow it for a while?"

He looked at Zhu Qiuwei with embarrassment.

Searching for the murder weapon with Tian Kui would definitely be much easier.

Shen Xin quickly said, "Captain Zhu, you're being too polite. Tiankui is yours now, so use it however you want."

Zhu Qiuwei quickly expressed his gratitude.

Compared to using a donkey to find the murder weapon, he still felt that Tian Kui was more reliable.

Li Xiaowen agreed with Zhu Qiuwei's idea, hesitated for a moment, and then said, "Also, we must be prepared for the possibility that we won't find the murder weapon, or that we will find the murder weapon but be unable to extract the key evidence."

"We can't put all our eggs in one basket. We need to think of other ways to find evidence from other directions and pin it down."

"And that old case you mentioned before, try to investigate it again, maybe we can find something."

He was referring to the incident where Zhang Lehui, a villager from the same village, went up the mountain to collect litsea cubeba and then accidentally fell to his death.

But nine years have passed, and Shen Xinzhen felt it was unlikely that she could find anything.

In this desolate wilderness, who could possibly know what happened?

However, Li Xiaowen said that time was tight, a point Shen Xin agreed with.

The hope of nailing Duan Dongqiang to the ground rested on this brick, but no one knew how he lost it or in what kind of circumstances.

The longer the time passes, the slimmer the hope of obtaining evidence becomes.

Shen Xin had actually considered this matter carefully.

One way to deal with a brick that's stained with blood, and might even have some scalp tissue on it, is to just throw it away.

But when leaving the village, shouldn't you hide it? You can't just put it in your pocket, can you?

It's so hot, and I'm not wearing many clothes.

There are police everywhere outside, so I need to find something to hide it from being discovered.

Simply stuffing him onto the cart won't do. He can explain having blood on his body, but he can't explain blood on other parts of his body.

Shen Xin was inclined to believe that Duan Dongqiang would use a bag.

Or put it in a plastic bag.

And it's not just bricks, there might even be bloodstained clothes.

No traces of burning clothes were found at Duan Dongqiang's house, so if there was such a bloodstained garment, he would probably have taken the opportunity to dispose of it as well.

In this case, the bricks are in a confined space, where the environment is relatively good and they are protected from wind and sun, making it highly likely that evidence can be extracted from them.

In reality, these are all the most ideal scenarios.

Because Duan Dongqiang had many other ways to perfectly dispose of the murder weapon and blood-stained clothes.

For example, burning.

If you can't burn things at home, you can go outside and find a place to burn them.

While he was away from work, he might not necessarily throw it away directly; he could simply find a place where no one would notice and burn it.

Bloodstains, DNA—burn them all to ashes. Shen Xin believed Li Xiaowen must have considered these possibilities, but he didn't say anything and remained focused on this direction, which meant he knew it was the only hope.

At this point in the case, we have to have some faith and take a gamble.

With this in mind, Shen Xin told Li Xiaowen to keep busy while he himself seized the time to find a way to increase his favorability by 10,000.

Ten thousand is outside the police station.

There was a vegetable patch, and Yiwan might have eaten some vegetables. He Wenyu's face turned red, and he stood rooted to the ground at a 45-degree angle, trying to pull Yiwan away, but he couldn't budge him at all.

Upon seeing Shen Xin, He Wenyu hurriedly sought help, saying, "Shen Xin, now I understand why he's called a stubborn donkey."

Shen Xinxin said, "Then you didn't see it in the village before."

"Ten thousand, let's go."

Shen Xin took the initiative, and only then did 10,000 move.

Ten thousand was bitten by Tian Kui a while ago and has a wound on his back. Shen Xin plans to take him to the vegetable market south of the town to have it checked.

They not only sell vegetables there, but there's also a place where they buy and sell live livestock.

There were cattle, sheep, and donkeys for sale.

With 10,000 yuan in hand, He Wenyu followed, and soon the two arrived at the vegetable market.

The vegetable market is an open-air shed with rows of cement platforms underneath.

It was a little after four in the afternoon, which was the time to sell vegetables.

As soon as they got here, Wan's stubbornness kicked in, and he refused to leave.

He dragged Shen Xin and headed straight for a vegetable stall, bending down to eat the vendor's carrots.

Shen Xin scolded and pulled hard, but he couldn't budge it at all.

The stall owner, a middle-aged woman, egged it on, saying, "Look how greedy it is, why don't you buy it some?"

Shen Xin couldn't pull it, so he gave up completely and took out his phone to buy it.

If he eats too much, he'll get diarrhea and get sick, but we can just treat him.

We're used to eating hay, so what's wrong with eating something fresh?

Who doesn't want to eat something good?

Let's go along with him and raise his favorability first.

Just then, a voice suddenly came from the side: "Officer Shen, this donkey can't eat too many carrots."

Shen Xin turned his head to look.

Xu Erleng!
He looked travel-worn, carrying his tools on his back, and in one hand he held a shovel for trimming donkey hooves; he must have just returned from work.

As he spoke, out of professional instinct, he glanced at the donkey hoof with ten thousand yuan on it and said, "Officer Shen, you need to fix your donkey hoof."

Shen Xin glanced down at the donkey hoof with the price of 10,000.

These are perfectly fine, standard black donkey hooves. They should be more than capable of fighting zombies.

When a donkey goes out to work, its hooves naturally wear down as it walks, unlike meat donkeys that are kept in enclosures and have limited range of movement, which causes their hooves to grow crooked and uneven.

However, it's okay to fix it.

Maybe it will even increase my favorability.

Who wouldn't want to get a beauty treatment and manicure?

If it weren't for the fact that donkeys dislike bathing and prefer to clean themselves by rolling around, Shen Xin would have liked to give Yi Wan a bath first.

Shen Xin asked Xu Erleng how much it would cost to repair a donkey's hoof.

Xu Erleng hurriedly waved his hand and said, "Officer Shen, you're being too polite. You're helping me find my wife, how could I possibly ask you for money?"

As he spoke, he beckoned Shen Xin to go to the livestock market next door, where there was a larger area.

Shen Xin asked him if there was a veterinarian there who could treat the wound on Wan's back.

Xu Erleng glanced at it and said directly, "Why waste that money? This donkey isn't afraid of pain, and its hide is thick. It's a small matter. Just go to the pharmacy and buy a bottle of iodine, and pour it on."

Shen Xin nodded and noted it down.

Xu Erleng spent his whole life repairing donkey hooves, so his words are credible.

He Wenyu took the initiative to buy iodine.

Xu Erleng had already gotten into position, tying 10,000 to the railing, placing a stool on it, grabbing the donkey's hoof with one hand and a shovel with the other, and with a quick and ruthless slash into its belly.

Shen Xin silently took out his phone to record the event.

I've seen pictures of donkey hoof repair services all the time online, and today I finally saw one in person.

Yiwan was still struggling, but Xu Erleng held on very firmly, while asking Shen Xin where he got a donkey.

"bought."

Shen Xin didn't explain the reason, but then a thought struck him, and he asked Xu Erleng if there was any way to quickly tame a donkey.

Shen Xin couldn't say that he was trying to increase his goodwill towards the donkey; if he did, Xu Erleng would probably think he was out of his mind.

So I simply used the word "subdue".

He spent his whole life repairing donkey hooves; he's worked on countless donkeys, so he must have a lot of experience.

"fast?"

Xu Erleng looked up at Shen Xin and asked how fast he wanted it to be.

Shen Xin said the sooner the better.

Xu Erleng slashed again, then said, "Officer Shen, if that's how you put it, I actually have a solution."

As he spoke, he pointed to the northwest side of the market and said, "Do you see that corrugated steel building? That's a slaughterhouse. This donkey is timid and stubborn, but it's clever and knows how to treat people differently. The nicer you are to it, the less it will take you seriously."

"So, if you want it to obey, listen to me. Take it directly to the slaughterhouse and find a time when donkeys are being slaughtered. Let it see it in person. Believe me, after seeing it, it will be very obedient and will do whatever you ask."

Shen Xin was puzzled. What was this all about? Was it a case of killing one donkey to warn others?

(End of this chapter)