Animal Detective

Poisoning cases, unlike typical crimes of passion, are highly premeditated.

This case was a perfect example.

On June 28th, Fu Lanting showed signs of poisoning, with bruises and purpura appearing on her body.

These are the classic symptoms of poisoning by bromadiolone, a hemorrhagic rat poison.

Her third hospital visit wasn’t until September 7th, meaning this had been going on for over two months.

This gave them ample reason to suspect that the perpetrator had administered poison on multiple occasions.

Under such circumstances, there must have been a very strong motive for murder.

Therefore, the special task force initially focused on motive, conducting a thorough investigation into the couple’s social network.

Anyone they had ever had a conflict with was investigated.

They even considered the possibility that the killer was someone who’d had a conflict with Guo Jinhua and his wife years ago, had an interruption in the meantime—like going to prison—and then committed the crime after being released.

In his youth, Guo Jinhua could be described as a bit of a delinquent.

He was a taxi driver with money in his pocket. He went to bars with friends, got into fights, and even had conflicts with passengers, leading to complaints against him.

So it was possible he had made some enemies during that period.

But after investigating all leads, nothing was found.

Fu Lanting’s social life was even simpler. She came from an ordinary family that made tofu and ran a small business.

Her grades weren’t great, so she didn’t get into university.

Her father, who favored sons over daughters, didn’t let Fu Lanting continue her education and had her stay home to help with the family business.

She had a relationship when she was younger, but it went nowhere.

Later, as she got older and was becoming an old maid, her parents grew anxious.

The way she met Guo Jinhua was actually a little romantic.

「2009.」

One time, Fu Lanting drove a van to the wholesale market to buy soybeans. While backing up, she wasn’t paying attention and bumped into Guo Jinhua, who was also at the market buying spices.

Guo Jinhua didn’t try to extort her. His magnanimous handling of the situation left a deep impression on Fu Lanting.

Because of this, the two gradually started to stay in touch.

They eventually got together and married in 2010.

So, after a thorough background check, no suspects with a strong motive were found on Fu Lanting’s side either.

Investigating motive was one angle. The other was for the task force to focus on the rat poison.

This part of the investigation was the most intense, consuming the most manpower and resources.

But at the time, there were no clear suspects.

Bromadiolone was a primary ingredient in rat poison, and there were far too many brands on the market. The time span was also wide. The investigation into sales records—how much was sold, and to whom—went on and on until the case was finally classified as cold.

Finally, there was the method of poisoning.

The task force had made a judgment on this, believing the poisoning occurred at the noodle shop.

Guo Jinhua lived with his parents. If the poisoning had happened at home, it would have been impossible to target the victims so precisely without affecting Guo Kaitai and his wife.

The task force sealed the noodle shop and took samples from every corner for toxicological analysis.

To this day, the Tingyang Branch still has a large amount of physical evidence from the scene in storage, waiting for technological advancements that might facilitate a new investigation.

The task force considered many possible poisoning methods.

For example, every morning before 5:00 AM, a designated person would deliver noodles and other ingredients.

The couple hadn’t arrived at the shop yet, so the ingredients would be temporarily left at the entrance, by the roll-up door.

This meant a suspect would have had an opportunity to poison the ingredients at that time.

There were surveillance cameras inside the shop, but they only covered the dining area.

The back kitchen and the area outside the front door were not covered.

However, if the poison was administered this way, it wouldn’t have just been Guo Jinhua and his wife who suffered.

The kitchen had a back door with a regular lock.

The task force then suspected someone might have picked the lock, snuck in, and poisoned specific food items.

This was because the couple ate almost all three of their daily meals at the shop.

But this raised the same problem: poisoning in this manner would inevitably harm innocent people.

Moreover, traces of the poison should have been detected at the scene after the incident.

But none were found.

They also considered the possibility of accidental ingestion, similar to Ding Yuwei’s earlier theory: the shop’s cat might have eaten bait laced with rat poison and then contaminated other food, which the couple then accidentally ate.

As for why no traces were detected afterward, there was a possible explanation for that too.

Fu Lanting was a very clean person. Every day after closing, she would spend a considerable amount of time thoroughly cleaning the back kitchen and the dining area.

This cleanliness was a major reason why their business was so successful.

Secondly, the task force also considered the possibility of on-site poisoning.

Because he had been a taxi driver, Guo Jinhua had a habit of drinking tea and was often seen carrying a water bottle.

It was possible someone could have taken advantage of a moment when the couple was distracted and specifically put poison in his water bottle.

Bromadiolone is water-soluble, and if it was the concentrate, it wouldn’t have much of a distinct smell. Mixed into tea, it might not be noticeable.

This method of poisoning would be very bold, but it was still a possibility.

Therefore, they conducted another round of investigations on all customers who visited before the incident.

The shop’s surveillance system had a small hard drive, and the footage was overwritten every seven days.

The incident was reported on the 11th.

Symptoms of poisoning appeared on the evening of the 7th.

But the poison acted slowly, so the actual time of poisoning must have been even earlier.

This meant it was possible the poison was administered before the period covered by the surveillance footage.

Or someone could have gone directly to the back kitchen to do it.

There was no camera aimed at the back door, so they conducted a thorough review of all nearby surveillance footage, looking for suspicious individuals.

But in the end, nothing was found.

In other words, all three avenues of investigation ultimately yielded no results.

At that point, the investigation stalled, and it was gradually classified as a cold case.

After leaving the Tingyang Branch, Shen Xin saw he still had some time, so he decided to make another trip to Guo Jinhua’s house.

His house was on Tingyang Old Street, a standalone courtyard home with a glazed tile roof.

It would have been considered a nice house in the past, but now it just looked old and worn.

Ding Yuwei had been here once before. She knocked patiently on the door, and after a long while, the sound of shuffling footsteps could be heard.

Then the door opened.

The person who opened it was Guo Jinhua himself.

This was the first time Shen Xin had seen Guo Jinhua in person.

The photo of Guo Jinhua in the case file was from when he was young, showing him with the medium-length, side-parted hair common for that era.

A square face, a straight nose, deep-set eyes, and double eyelids—he was quite handsome.

So when Fu Lanting agreed to marry him, his looks must have been a factor.

But the Guo Jinhua standing before him now was a man ravaged by illness.

His face was gaunt, his cheekbones prominent. For convenience, his head was shaved bald.

He had nerve damage, and one side of his body was stiff. He came to the door leaning on a quad cane.

His mouth was also crooked, which made his expression somewhat frightening.

He was tall, over 1.8 meters, but now his loose-fitting hospital gown hung off his frame.

A urine bag was hung at his waist.

On the way over, Ding Yuwei had mentioned that his kidney disease had worsened over the past few years, developing into uremia.

"Officer... Ding."

Guo Jinhua’s words were slurred and strained as he greeted Ding Yuwei.

Seeing how unsteady he was, Ding Yuwei stepped forward to support him and then introduced Shen Xin. "This is our team leader."

Guo Jinhua nodded a greeting, straining to say hello.

Guo Kaitai and his wife weren’t home.

The family’s only source of income was the noodle shop. It was too much for one person to handle, and they couldn’t afford to hire help.

So the old couple had to run it themselves.

At home, Guo Jinhua could still move around a little, so he could manage by himself.

"A bur... den... to them..." Guo Jinhua said with great effort, meaning that with no chance of recovery, he felt his life was just a burden on his parents.

Shen Xin quickly reassured him, "Don’t say that. As long as you’re alive, they have hope."

Guo Kaitai was just over sixty years old.

"May I have a look around?" Shen Xin asked.

Guo Jinhua nodded, gesturing for Shen Xin to go ahead.

The old-style house had two floors.

Now that Guo Jinhua had mobility issues, he had moved downstairs to share a room with his parents so they could more easily care for him.

Inside was the kitchen, with leftovers covered on the counter.

Shen Xin gave it a brief glance before heading to the second floor.

The inner room was Guo Meijing’s. It was well-preserved; the bed, desk, and wardrobe were simply covered with cloths.

But a thick layer of dust had settled on them, indicating they hadn’t been uncovered for years.

Shen Xin lifted the cloth from the desk. Everything was as it had been, neatly tidied.

He gave it a quick look-over. Nothing special.

He did, however, find a diary.

He flipped through it briefly.

She didn’t write every day; it was just a simple record of her daily life.

Reading between the lines, Shen Xin could feel that Guo Meijing had lived a happy life.

Even during her illness and treatment, she would record happy moments.

She referred to Fu Lanting directly as "Mom," showing how close their relationship was.

The entries seemed to stop around the New Year of 2014.

He checked other places but found nothing else. She was just an ordinary little girl who had some bad luck.

He then went to the front room, which had belonged to Guo Jinhua and his wife.

His first impression was one of tidiness; everything was neatly organized.

Their wedding photo still hung on the wall.

Fu Lanting wasn’t stunningly beautiful, but she had a pleasant face. She looked like a homemaker, the good wife and loving mother type.

After looking around, he found nothing.

That was to be expected.

The special task force had already investigated this place. If they had missed something, it would have been a serious mistake.

After going downstairs, he chatted with Guo Jinhua for a little while longer.

Three years had passed. Barely clinging to life, the torment of his illness seemed to have extinguished Guo Jinhua’s anger. He trembled as he lamented that he might not live to see the day the killer was found.

He only expressed his gratitude that, after so long, the police hadn’t given up on the investigation.

Despite his mobility issues, he personally saw the two of them out.

"Shen Xin, what do you think?"

Ding Yuwei asked after they got in the car.

Shen Xin glanced at Guo Jinhua in the distance, who was struggling to close the door, and shook his head slightly.

He hadn’t seen anything out of the ordinary.

Just an ordinary, ill-fated man.

"Let’s go."

Shen Xin started the car and drove away.

He had originally planned to go to Hutang to check out Fu Lanting’s family home.

But there wasn’t enough time, so he had to give up the idea.

But since they were in the area, he decided it was a good opportunity to check out the small park next to the Jinzhu Vegetable Market.

After all, yesterday he had paid the price of two sausage links to ask those two cats to help him find the tabby cat that Guo Jinhua used to own.

’No, wait,’ he thought. ’I also promised them Da Mei’s beauty.’

He wondered if they had found anything.

The cat angle was a long shot, but it was worth a try.