Animal Detective

The dialysis took four hours.

After the dialysis was finished, Shen Xin drove the mother and son home.

Tao Yiping thanked them profusely as she saw the two out.

Guo Jinhua was there too, leaning on the doorframe and watching them leave.

Even after driving quite a distance, he could still see the two of them in the rearview mirror, standing at their door and watching.

Yang Zeran immediately asked, "Shen Xin, what do you think? Do you think it was all an act?"

"If it was an act, then it was a damn good one."

Yang Zeran felt there was nothing wrong with Shen Xin’s probing.

He’d guided the conversation and provoked Guo Jinhua’s emotions.

When a person is emotionally agitated and completely unprepared, and you suddenly tell them there’s a breakthrough in the case...

It was the good news they had been waiting for for so long.

If Guo Jinhua were the killer, he would have definitely shown an unusual reaction in that instant.

But he didn’t.

His every reaction told Yang Zeran that this was just a pitiful man who had suffered a terrible tragedy and a miserable fate.

"I don’t know."

Shen Xin shook his head. He’d spent a considerable amount of time at the hospital, making small talk and observing Guo Jinhua’s reactions.

He truly hadn’t noticed anything unusual.

Just as Yang Zeran said, if it was an act, it was an incredibly convincing one.

What kind of self-control would it take to be able to coldly poison your wife for over two months, and then, afterward, completely hide your emotions and repeatedly brainwash yourself into believing you had nothing to do with the case?

’That would take a goddamn split personality.’

’A split personality?’

A thought suddenly struck Shen Xin.

Guo Jinhua’s poisoning had led to severe aftereffects, including nerve damage that resulted in his partial paralysis, functional impairment, and speech difficulties.

’Could the damaged nerves have also affected his memory?’

’Or maybe, as he lay all alone in the ICU, constantly telling himself he had nothing to do with the case, his memory skewed and he began to believe he was a victim himself?’

That was also a possibility.

"Damn it, this is too hard." Beside him, Yang Zeran furiously scratched his hair.

They thought they’d locked onto the killer, thought they’d seen a glimmer of hope, but in the end...

This kind of case made Yang Zeran’s heart burn with anxiety and his head ache.

"Alright, that’s enough."

Shen Xin shot him a look. "I think our judgment is sound. If it’s not him, then there’s no one else."

His previous assessment should have been correct.

It wasn’t just him; old-timers like Zhang Hancheng and Sun Zhao had thought the same thing.

Today’s confrontation was just one attempt; it wasn’t guaranteed to be accurate.

If you tell a lie a hundred times, you can actually start to believe it yourself.

Yang Zeran stared intently at Shen Xin and countered, "Are you sure? What if there really is someone else, and we just haven’t found them yet?"

What if they were all wrong?

What if there was someone who had never fallen under the scope of their investigation?

It was even possible the poison was intended for someone else.

"Don’t be such a jinx!"

Shen Xin glared at him. "We’re just getting started. Can’t you have a little faith and hope for the best?"

He said that, but even Shen Xin himself couldn’t help but waver.

He suddenly understood the mindset Zhang Hancheng must have had back then.

’What if my judgment is wrong?’

Back then, Zhang Hancheng had mobilized a lot of manpower. Now, wasn’t he doing the same, calling in favors?

If they were headed in the wrong direction at this point, the efforts of so many people would all be for nothing.

"Trust me. My gut tells me it’s him," Shen Xin said in a low voice, gripping the steering wheel tighter.

Yang Zeran rolled his eyes so fast they were a blur. ’I wonder if you even believe that yourself,’ he thought.

"I hope Yuwei’s team finds something."

Yang Zeran sighed softly and said no more.

An investigation isn’t a computer program where you input a target and immediately get a result.

To get results, you have to pound the pavement, questioning people one by one.

And in the end, you’re still not guaranteed to get an answer.

「Two days passed in a flash.」

That morning, on the training grounds of the city bureau, Shen Xin had a bird whistle in his mouth, letting out a series of sharp calls.

In the air, seven birds, not including Teddy, whistled past.

He was building up their affection levels.

Shen Xin was also taking the opportunity to train them, trying to use different whistle sounds to express simple intentions.

For example, north, south, east, and west.

This call meant east.

Thanks to his own talent and the fact that ravens are sufficiently intelligent, the process wasn’t too difficult.

Having just flown overhead, Plane—the male African grey parrot, whom Shen Xin had decided to just call Plane—peeled off, turned around, and spiraled down to land in front of Shen Xin.

"I’m dead tired," it squawked in perfect human speech.

As one of the animal kingdom’s best talkers, with talent layered on talent, the little guy’s linguistic ability was improving at a frightening pace.

Moreover, he couldn’t just speak; as his affection level increased, he was beginning to understand the meaning of the words he was saying.

That was the key—it was more than just mimicry.

"You’ve only been flying for a little while and you’re already complaining," Shen Xin said, annoyed, and gave him a gentle nudge with his foot.

The parrot flapped its wings to dodge, squawking about how tired it was, before flopping sideways onto the grass.

It was playing dead.

Shen Xin’s eyes widened. ’Oh, so you think I can’t handle you, is that it?’

He put two fingers to his lips and let out a piercing whistle.

The next moment, a shadow streaked across the sky—it was Teddy.

After a brief circle, it let out a cry and dove.

Plane scrambled up, frantically flapping its wings to get airborne and escape, not forgetting to mutter, "Bad man!"

It was complaining about Shen Xin.

"Teddy!" Shen Xin shouted.

It was the signal to teach the parrot a lesson.

When Shen Xin connected with Teddy, his mind would often fill with images of it hunting Plane and the others.

It was safe to say that Teddy was exercising immense self-control to keep from turning Plane and the others into a meal.

In mid-air, Teddy descended with precision and grace, intercepting Plane and giving it a smack on the head.

Plane didn’t dare fight back, only ducking its head to dodge, but the curses coming out of its beak were filthy.

"Bad bird!"

This angered Teddy, who gave chase again, forcing Plane to land. It then rushed over, knocked the parrot flat, and pinned its head to the ground before stopping.

Just then, the other birds landed. One of the ravens hopped over and squawked, "Idiot."

Like African grey parrots, ravens have a powerful ability to mimic speech. There are clear records and instances of them imitating human voices and even holding conversations with people.

Excluding Plane, there were six birds in total. Shen Xin had given them simple, auspicious names: Yifan, Er Long, San Yang, Four Seasons, and Wufu.

The name "Six" didn’t sound right for the last one, so he called it Dashun instead.

One of them happened to be a magpie, which wasn’t technically a raven.

The one formerly named Charcoal was now called Wufu.

The raven that had just spoken was named Er Long. Among the ravens, he had the strongest linguistic ability.

Shen Xin would teach him.

Plane taught him too, and when the two birds were in the mood, they would even have a cussing match.

"You’re the idiot," Plane retorted to Er Long, its head still pinned. It wasn’t scared, probably knowing Teddy wouldn’t actually hurt it.

Then it started begging Teddy for mercy, "I’m gonna die, I’m gonna die."

Just then, Yang Zeran appeared from the office building in the distance.

"Shen Xin, stop playing with your birds! We’ve got a lead!" he shouted excitedly.

Shen Xin didn’t have time to comment on the ambiguity of that statement and hurried over to ask what was going on.

"I’ll tell you on the way." Yang Zeran tossed him the car keys.

It was from Ding Yuwei’s side of the investigation.

For the past two days, Ding Yuwei had been following Shen Xin’s instructions, checking the hospital’s doctors and nurses, looking up inpatient records from that period, and then tracking people down one by one to interview them about Guo Meijing’s situation back then.

And today, she’d actually found something.

「Donglin City District. A mall. A women’s clothing store.」

Ding Yuwei and a colleague from the New District were waiting for him.

"Ms. He, hello. My name is Shen Xin."

Shen Xin quickly greeted the woman, who was in her thirties and slightly thin.

Her name was He Liyuan, and she was the owner of the clothing store.

Back in 2014, He Liyuan’s son had unfortunately developed osteosarcoma. While he was being treated at Nanjiang City Children’s Hospital, he was in the same ward as Guo Meijing.

He Liyuan sat down. Bringing up memories from that time, she couldn’t help but look crestfallen. In a soft voice, she said, "We were there for a long time. Even though our rooms were far apart, I remember that little girl."

"During the Children’s Day celebration on June 1st, the hospital organized an event. That girl went on stage and sang a song. She had a beautiful voice."

"After she finished singing, a nurse told her to make a wish. She wished that she could do magic, so she could cast a spell to make her mom and dad forget about her."

"That way, after she died, her mom and dad wouldn’t remember her, so they wouldn’t be sad."

"How could a child be so considerate?"

He Liyuan couldn’t stop herself from wiping away tears.

Ding Yuwei quickly handed her a tissue.

He Liyuan apologized and continued, "Because of that, I asked around a bit and found out what illness the child had. It was incurable. She was just waiting to die."

"Then... I forget the exact date, but it must have been sometime in June."

"One night, I was watching over my son, and I went to the utility room to get some water. On my way back, I passed the stairwell and heard people arguing."

"I listened closely, and it was that girl’s parents. They were having a huge fight."

"I didn’t hear it from the beginning, but I heard her dad yelling something like if Jingjing died, he wouldn’t want to live anymore."

"He was also cursing at his wife, demanding to know what she was trying to do, why she didn’t want to treat Jingjing, why she wanted to give up."

"His wife tried to explain, saying that wasn’t what she meant."

"Then the man stormed out. We saw each other, but he didn’t say anything and just left."

"Then his wife came out. I saw her face was bright red, with a handprint on it. Her husband must have slapped her."

"She ran into me and seemed a little embarrassed, saying something like, ’Sorry for the scene.’"

"I offered a few words of encouragement, saying there was still hope and not to lose heart. She said thank you and hurried away."

"Officer, that’s what happened. I really can’t remember the exact date. Later, sometime after July began, I think, they were discharged."

"After that, my son had his surgery, and we were discharged too. I never saw them again."

"If you hadn’t come looking for me, I would have forgotten all about it."

Shen Xin and Yang Zeran quickly exchanged an excited glance.

Just as they suspected, there had been conflict between Guo Jinhua and Fu Lanting.

From what He Liyuan said, it sounded like Fu Lanting had suggested giving up on treatment, which enraged Guo Jinhua.

Could that have been Guo Jinhua’s motive for poisoning Fu Lanting?

For instance, perhaps he believed Guo Meijing still had a chance, but ended up listening to Fu Lanting and giving up on her treatment.

The problem was, he would have been responsible for the decision to stop treatment as well, wouldn’t he?

"Officer, is this helpful?" He Liyuan asked.

Shen Xin nodded quickly and stood up to thank her.

’Helpful? It’s a huge help. At the very least, we’ve learned something about the couple’s situation back then.’

They took her statement on the spot, recording it on video as well. As he asked He Liyuan to sign it, Shen Xin casually asked how her son was doing.

He Liyuan’s hand paused for a fraction of a second, then she gave a sorrowful smile. "He passed away the year before last."

Shen Xin’s heart sank, and he quickly apologized.

"It’s alright."

He Liyuan waved her hand. "Everyone has their own fate. I’ve accepted it."

Her eyes welled up with tears. "That little girl said she hoped her parents would forget her. My own mother sometimes tries to persuade me, saying I’m still young, that I should have another child while I still can."

"’Once you have another child, you’ll be able to forget what happened,’ she says."

"But he was my only precious baby. How could you ask me to forget him?"

"Because of this, my husband divorced me. I don’t blame him. He was hurting too. He wanted to look forward, to start over."

"But I can’t. I just can’t do it."

She wiped away her tears and apologized again.

Ding Yuwei hurriedly comforted her.

Yang Zeran nudged Shen Xin with his elbow, his expression electrified, signaling for him to talk outside.

Shen Xin didn’t move. A jolt went through his brain. He slowly turned his head. "Lao Yang, I think I might know what the motive is."