Animal Detective

Chapter 83 The Reason the Parrot Called It an Idiot
Amidst the roaring laughter of the tourists, the macaw, like a clown entertaining the audience, hopped around, clearly and shrilly yelling "idiot, idiot."

"Officer, what do you want with this parrot?" Director Hong asked curiously.

This was the first time he had ever encountered a police officer specifically looking for an animal.

Shen Xin said, "There's a case that needs to be investigated. Director Hong, could you please invite... Pipi, right? Pipi's keeper over so we can ask him some questions?"

Upon hearing that a case needed to be investigated, Director Hong's expression changed slightly.

He instinctively assumed that the tourist had been injured while interacting with the parrot.

But upon careful reflection, he realized that no similar situation had occurred.

It's surrounded by a fence, and the parrots are chained up, so tourists can't reach them.

There are also staff members on site who will immediately stop anyone from climbing over the fence.

Moreover, Pipi is obsessed with arguing; she only uses words, not fists.

If something really happens between the tourists and the park staff, they usually complain to the park management on the spot, and only call the police if they are not satisfied.

He didn't ask any more questions, nodded, and left.

After he left, Shen Xin continued to observe the parrot silently, pondering what to do.

Having learned from past experiences, Shen Xin had already figured out what to do when he was looking for this parrot.

Assuming the parrot was at the crime scene, it most likely saw the murderer.

And there's a high possibility that the murderer wouldn't care about a parrot.

Shen Xin had researched the information and found that macaws are not only intelligent, as intelligent as a four- or five-year-old human child, but also have excellent memory.

I saw a news report saying that even after 10 years, a macaw can still recognize its original owner.

There is now a composite sketch of Sun Kai in the case file.

It was drawn based on multiple people's testimonies, so it should be very realistic.

So Shen Xin's plan was simple: cultivate the parrot's affection, ideally to the second stage, to the point where he could hear its thoughts, and then try to reconstruct the crime scene.

Let's see if we can discover any new clues through their inner thoughts.

For example, how many people were involved in the crime at the scene?

In the case file, Qin Chuanwang only speculated that it was a gang crime, but he never concluded how many people were the specific murderers.

Before long, Director Hong and a young man returned.

"Xiao Li is the one who usually takes care of these King Kongs," Director Hong introduced.

His name is Li Xiaobing, he is 29 years old this year, and he has been working at the zoo for six years, so he is the one who took in Blue.

Shen Xin took him to a secluded spot outside and asked him to recall the circumstances of receiving Bru.

"It should be able to talk, right? Did it say anything unusual at the time?"

Shen Xin asked him to try to recall.

When the zoo took in Blue, not long after the incident, Blue's memory should have been clear.

Li Xiaobing asked curiously, "It's been several years, why are you asking this now? I need to think about it."

"Don't be in a hurry, think about it slowly."

Shen Xinwen smelled the cigarette on him, took out a pack of cigarettes from his pocket, and handed one to him.

He doesn't smoke, but in Zhao Tianxing's words, it can be useful when visiting people; a cigarette might just start a conversation.

Li Xiaobing took it, thought about it carefully for a long time, and then said, "I remember that Pipi was sent by the Forestry Bureau. They said that someone had illegally brought it into the country. This kind of thing has happened before, so we didn't think much about it at the time and just accepted it."

“At that time, Pipi was not yet an adult. We fed it well because it didn’t eat what we fed it at first. It ate pistachios, pine nuts, and macadamia nuts, which we couldn’t afford to feed it.”

"I remember it was quite well-behaved. It was a male, and although parrots are social animals, they can easily fight. But it didn't fight and always hid from the other male macaws. It seemed quite intelligent."

"I remember it could talk back then. It would say hello, nice to meet you, and other basic things. Oh, and it would also say Tingting, but I don't know what that meant."

Shen Xin and Ding Yuwei exchanged a glance.

That must be referring to Liu Yuting.

It seems that Liu Laibin bought this parrot for his daughter.

“As for the rest, like you said, there shouldn’t be anything unusual.” Li Xiaobing shook his head and added, “Besides, it’s just a parrot, what could be unusual about it?”

Shen Xin nodded and then asked him what was going on with Bru arguing with someone.

"Who taught it to call people idiots?" Shen Xin looked at Li Xiaobing.

Li Xiaobing hurriedly waved his hand and said, "It wasn't me. I think it was around 15, right? Yes, it should be 15. He was already 4 years old then. In 14, after he had adapted to the zoo for more than half a year, we let him out to interact with the visitors."

"I don't remember the exact date, but it was in July. I got off work that day and, as usual, put them in their cages. Then it suddenly called me an idiot." "I was stunned. I teased it, and it retorted, saying, 'You're the idiot.'"

“At the time, I didn’t think much of it, wondering if some tourist had said something like that to it and it remembered it. As a result, from then on, it started saying ‘idiot idiot’ all the time, and over time it became like this. Anyway, a lot of tourists who have nothing better to do come over and want to argue with it.”

"It's become quite a celebrity animal; many people know about it."

Li Xiaobing said it casually, but Shen Xin suddenly perked up.

After asking a few more questions, they told Li Xiaobing to go back first.

"Ding Yuwei, what do you think?" Shen Xin asked.

Ding Yuwei has a good habit: she doesn't talk much, she just does things, and she won't tell you unless you ask.

"Shen Xin, are you trying to say that the reason this parrot suddenly started yelling 'Idiot' is because it ran into someone it knows, like... Sun Kai?" Ding Yuwei asked tentatively.

Shen Xin nodded.

That's what I think.

Otherwise, in Li Xiaobing's words, he had been very well-behaved and obedient before, but suddenly started swearing, which was somewhat abnormal.

But there are still some problems.

If, as I speculate, Blue saw Sun Kai among the tourists, even if it witnessed its owner being killed, it should be like Lele—unable to understand the act of murder.

There is even less reason for him to have such a strong memory of Sun Kai.

Moreover, Sun Kai did go to Liu Laibin's company a few times, but only a few times. Why did the parrot call him an idiot?

In short, it doesn't make sense.

But this is a possible clue.

Chen Chao said that we should make bold guesses, and some things that seem unreasonable might actually become clues.

Shen Xin immediately found Director Hong and asked him how long the surveillance footage from the parrot area would be kept.

There are surveillance cameras here.

"Three months."

Not surprisingly.

"What about the records of tourists buying tickets and entering the venue? How long do we keep them?" Shen Xin asked again.

In July 2015, when real-name ticket purchases were required, Sun Kai's real identity information might have been found.

Director Hong shook his head again and said, "At most one year, one write-off per year. Our zoo business has been a bit worse in the last two years, but we still have a visitor flow of one or two million a year. It's impossible to keep it up forever."

Shen Xin sighed. Well, another dead end.

That's how cold cases are; if a case stays unsolved for too long, the conditions for solving it often become impossible.

"Director Hong, we'll head out now. I'll contact you again if anything comes up."

Shen Xin plans to come back after the park closes to try and build a rapport with the macaw.

Since there was still some time in the afternoon, Shen Xin wanted to go to Jin Hui Building to find the security manager, Guo Chunping.

Leaving the zoo, Ding Yuwei felt a sense of disappointment.

"Shen Xin, you seem to care a lot about these small animals," Ding Yuwei asked hesitantly.

She read Liu Laibin's case file several times, carefully memorizing every word, but she just didn't notice the parrot.

Shen Xin, however, almost found a clue about Sun Kai through this parrot.

The same was true of the Wu Jiawang case before; it was solved through Lele.

"I just prefer small animals."

Shen Xin casually brushed it off with a reply.

Soon, the two arrived at Jin Hui Building.

Four years have passed, and it has become even more dilapidated.

After showing his identification, he quickly met Guo Chunping.

Population information shows that he is 46 years old this year, has a square face, speaks in a muffled voice, and gives people a serious feeling.

His hair was a bit oily and his beard was stubble, so he probably doesn't pay much attention to personal hygiene.

He was visibly taken aback when he heard that Shen Xin and the other person had come to inquire about Liu Laibin's case.

"Has this case been investigated again?" he asked in surprise.

(End of this chapter)