Animal Detective

Chapter 309 - 256: In a Hurry to Inherit the Estate

Shen Xin silently observed Hu Yueqin’s reaction.

She must have seen Huang Weili’s Prado surrounded by police cars and cordoned off with police tape.

She stopped, blocked by the crowd of onlookers.

Her expression shifted—first surprise, then a thoughtful frown.

After pausing for a few seconds, she pushed through the crowd and identified herself.

Everything about her reaction, from the moment she walked over, seemed quite normal.

She didn’t know her husband was dead, only that the police had contacted her to say he’d been in an incident.

That’s why she was in such a rush when she got out of the car.

Then, when she saw the heavy police presence and the crime scene tape, her expression turned to one of surprise and confusion. She hesitated for a moment before coming forward to identify herself.

If she were Huang Weili’s killer, she’d likely be feigning composure at a time like this, not displaying such a natural progression of emotions.

But you could never be sure.

Shen Xin had seen a TV show where they could deduce if someone was a killer through their microexpressions.

It was uncanny.

But having handled so many cases and dealt with so many people, Shen Xin knew that stuff wasn’t always accurate.

’The human heart is hard to fathom.’ That was no empty saying.

People were too complicated. Some were masters of deception, while others told a lie a hundred times and started to believe it themselves.

So, it all came down to the evidence.

When iron-clad evidence is staring you in the face, no amount of denial will help.

At a signal from Liu Baoqing, Zhong Yu stepped forward, led Hu Yueqin aside, and began to question her.

Meanwhile, Liu Baoqing stood nearby, silently observing Hu Yueqin’s reaction.

They were too far away for him to hear what was being said.

Shen Xin felt a pang of regret. ’I shouldn’t have come over here.’

’But on second thought, what does it matter if I go over?’

With that thought, Shen Xin lifted the police tape and walked over.

’It’s their case, but there’s no harm in listening in, right?’

The officer at the cordon glanced at Shen Xin but didn’t stop him.

Seeing what Shen Xin did, a curious Li Mo tried to do the same, lifting the tape to pass.

But as soon as he lifted it, the officer looked over and held up a hand to stop him.

Li Mo said awkwardly, "I’m a cop too."

The officer nodded. "I know."

Li Mo got it instantly and stepped back. ’So not all cops are created equal, huh.’

Shen Xin stood next to Liu Baoqing.

Liu Baoqing glanced at him from the corner of his eye but didn’t react.

Zhong Yu was asking Hu Yueqin about the previous night.

"So where were you? You didn’t even know your husband didn’t come home?" Zhong Yu retorted.

Hu Yueqin kept her brow furrowed and hesitated before saying, "That’s my private business. I don’t want to talk about it. Anyway, why did you call me here? Where’s Huang Weili? What on earth happened to him?"

There was a hint of impatience in her voice.

Zhong Yu’s tone grew sterner, warning her that this was no small matter and she needed to take it seriously and answer the questions.

However, Hu Yueqin wasn’t intimidated. She snapped, "I already told you, it has nothing to do with you, and I don’t want to talk about it. Where is Huang Weili? Bring him out. I’ll talk to him if there’s an issue."

Zhong Yu glanced at Liu Baoqing. Seeing no reaction, he changed tack and asked her what time she came to the reservoir and what time she left.

As if she had lost all patience, Hu Yueqin demanded irritably where on earth Huang Weili was.

Just then, Liu Baoqing suddenly said, "Ms. Hu, your husband, Huang Weili, is dead. We asked you to come here to cooperate with the investigation."

The words stunned Hu Yueqin into silence.

Her expression was one of astonishment. She stood frozen for several seconds, then her eyes widened and she blurted out, "Fuck, are you fucking kidding me? He’s dead? How did he die?"

"Wait!"

Her eyes darted, as if something had just occurred to her, and she hurriedly asked, "Are you sure he’s really dead?"

Liu Baoqing frowned slightly, then nodded.

Hu Yueqin took a step back, crossed her arms, and said nothing more.

Zhong Yu was about to ask another question, but Hu Yueqin held up a hand to stop him. "Wait a minute. I’m going to call my lawyer first."

With that, she pulled out her phone to make a call.

Zhong Yu wanted to say that calling a lawyer was useless, but Liu Baoqing stopped him.

Hu Yueqin’s call connected, and she immediately asked, "Lawyer Chen, something unexpected has come up. My husband is dead. In this situation, does this mean I don’t have to go through with the lawsuit to divide our assets anymore, and I can just inherit everything directly, right?"

Zhong Yu’s eyes widened. He never expected Hu Yueqin to call her lawyer and ask about *that*.

Liu Baoqing’s frown deepened.

Shen Xin frowned as well.

’Hu Yueqin’s reaction is all wrong. If this is an act, she’s a phenomenal actress.’

’But if she isn’t the killer, this case just got a lot more complicated.’

Just then, Hu Yueqin, who had stepped a little ways away, turned her head and asked, "By the way, how did my husband die? Was it an accident or what? Your investigation won’t affect issuing the death certificate, will it?"

Whoa!

Shen Xin shook his head to himself. ’She’s already worried about getting the death certificate.’

’In such a rush to inherit the estate.’

Although it was cold-blooded, with a reaction like this, the suspicion that she had killed Huang Weili was rapidly diminishing.

Liu Baoqing obviously understood this as well. He stepped forward to stop Hu Yueqin and asked with a stern expression where exactly she had been last night.

It was unclear if her lawyer had prompted her or if Hu Yueqin had figured it out herself, but she stopped being defiant and immediately said, "The Hyatt Hotel, room 1126. I wasn’t the one who booked the room, but you can check. They have surveillance cameras in the hallways."

"By the way, what time did my husband die?"

Liu Baoqing cursed under his breath and waved for Zhong Yu to continue questioning Hu Yueqin.

Then he immediately started giving out a series of orders.

Keep searching the surrounding surveillance footage.

Expand the canvassing area. Don’t miss anything.

Expand the search area at the crime scene as well.

And get someone to find this Zhao Cunyong and take his statement.

Then he arranged for a team to look into Huang Weili’s social circle.

These tasks were already in progress, but now, he needed them expedited.

After giving the orders, Liu Baoqing looked up and saw Shen Xin next to him. An embarrassed look inevitably flashed across his face.

’And to think I just made a bet with Shen Xin that the killer was Huang Weili’s wife.’

’I even said we had some good leads and the case should be solved quickly.’

’Now... this is a total slap in the face.’

He was embarrassed, and Shen Xin felt awkward too.

’I can’t believe I went on that whole spiel by the shore,’ he thought, ’talking about a crime of passion committed by someone close to him.’

’Guess I should be more careful about jumping to conclusions.’

’But if it wasn’t Hu Yueqin, then who was it?’

Shen Xin still felt his analysis wasn’t fundamentally wrong.

’Only someone close to Huang Weili would know about his night fishing habit.’

’And based on the evidence at hand, a robbery-murder seemed unlikely.’

’A premeditated revenge killing wouldn’t have left such a sloppy crime scene.’

So, given the circumstances at the time, and especially after learning that Hu Yueqin had come to have a huge fight with Huang Weili, it had been perfectly logical to suspect her.

’With her build, she was even physically capable of it.’

Shen Xin turned his head and glanced at Hu Yueqin.

’Could it all be an act?’

His superior had made a wrong guess, so Shen Xin tactfully decided not to crowd Liu Baoqing any further.

Seeing him on the phone assigning tasks, he left the scene.

Li Jiahui and the others came up to him, eagerly asking what was going on.

You could practically see the word "gossip" written all over their faces.

"You want to know?" Shen Xin asked back.

Everyone nodded.

Who wouldn’t be curious about the drama happening right at their doorstep?

Shen Xin smiled. "I’m not telling you."

"Tch!"

Chen Guo rolled her eyes dramatically.

Li Jiahui looked so mad she could have punched Shen Xin.

Shen Xin shooed them away. "Alright, alright, this has nothing to do with us. Speaking of which, don’t you all have work to do? The chief will get angry."

Li Yinjiang’s gaze still lingered on the scene. "The chief went to the city bureau for a meeting today. He won’t be in this morning."

’Does that mean we can slack off?’

Shen Xin rounded up his crew and headed back to work.

Although his speculation was wrong, Shen Xin felt the general direction wasn’t. Investigating Huang Weili’s social circle would definitely turn up clues.

’And there’s still the surveillance footage.’

There were no cameras near the reservoir, but there were at the foot of the mountain.

For example, there were some outside the K-9 base gate, and at the entrance of the wire mesh factory next door.

Further out, there were traffic cameras everywhere.

Even with so many roads leading up the mountain, a person always leaves a trail. They were bound to find a clue.

’That’s one good thing about modern society—cameras everywhere.’

When they reached the kennels, the sound of barking was already deafening.

Tian Kui, in particular, was barking the loudest, as if to say, ’What time do you call this? Why aren’t you opening the door yet?’

Li Mo was still sighing dramatically. "Just yesterday, he was a living, breathing person, talking and everything."

"And today, he’s just gone."

As he spoke, he started pestering Shen Xin again for details.

The guy’s original dream had been to become a criminal detective, but he had somehow ended up in police support.

It was an active investigation, so of course Shen Xin wouldn’t reveal any information. He just told him to get to work.

They let Tian Kui and the others out.

They got on with their duties: feeding the dogs and cleaning the kennels.

Then, Shen Xin went back to building rapport with the police dogs.

The reservoir was sealed off, so he couldn’t go fishing there anymore.

But Shen Xin immediately thought of an idea.

He would exploit the dogs’ vanity again.

Shen Xin had them line up side-by-side.

Then he would pick the one with the highest affinity level, let it out, and play with it himself.

Right in front of the other dogs.

It was just as effective.

As he was busy with this, someone called his name from behind.

He turned to see it was Liu Baoqing.

Ma Chunxin must have arrived to provide backup, because Liu Baoqing had come over with Zhao Tong.

It was Zhao Tong’s first time at the K-9 base, and he looked around curiously.

Liu Baoqing, however, strode quickly up to Shen Xin.

He dispensed with the pleasantries and said, "Xiaoshen, I have an idea. I need you to tell me if it’s feasible."

His idea was to deploy the K-9s to the crime scene to see if they could distinguish the scents left there and then begin tracking.

Even if the killer had a vehicle, they could at least search along the route tracked by the dogs and hopefully find some clues.

It was nine o’clock now, about ten hours after the crime. He felt the conditions were still viable for tracking.

Shen Xin called Li Jiahui over and asked her if it was feasible.

Li Jiahui thought for a moment and said, "I think it will be difficult. Tracking is possible within a ten-hour window."

"The only problem is, there’s no definite scent source. You see, the scene is an open environment. It hasn’t rained these past two days, but with the wind and sun, the scent would dissipate very quickly."

"Also, people come here to fish all the time. With so many people coming and going, the area is heavily contaminated with other scents."

"Which leads to the most critical problem: a K-9 might be able to distinguish between these scents, but it can’t understand which specific one we want it to track."

"So I think it’s a long shot."

She finished with an apology.

Liu Baoqing frowned slightly, showing he understood.

He had only thought of this on a whim after seeing the gate to the K-9 base.

But he also knew full well that it was a prime fishing spot, with people there every day. With so many people coming and going, a police dog wasn’t a person; how could it possibly know who to track?

He thanked her again and prepared to leave.

"Captain Liu, wait a second."

Shen Xin called out to stop him.

"Captain Liu, shouldn’t we at least give it a try?"

Even though it was an open environment, it had been less than ten hours, so the conditions for tracking were still there.

The key issue was just as Li Jiahui had said: the dog couldn’t accurately understand who it was supposed to track.

’But maybe... that’s something I can handle.’