Animal Detective

He Liyuan walked the four of them out of her shop.

After a moment’s hesitation, she asked what happened to the girl in the end.

In her heart, she surely knew the answer, but she still held onto a sliver of hope.

She had been through the darkest moments of her own life, and the only reason she had persevered was by always hoping against hope for a miracle.

Ding Yuwei hesitated, then gave a slight shake of her head.

He Liyuan sighed and turned back into the clothing store.

Yang Zeran immediately pulled Shen Xin aside and eagerly asked what the motive was.

"Don’t you think it was because Fu Lanting suggested stopping the treatment, and then maybe wanted to have another child? Guo Jinhua would have started holding a grudge against her because of that, and once his daughter died, he finally decided to poison and kill Fu Lanting," Yang Zeran speculated.

He Liyuan’s statement was very clear. The couple had argued at the time.

She didn’t know what started it, as she hadn’t heard the whole thing.

But from the bits and pieces she overheard, one could guess that Fu Lanting might have said something about giving up on the treatment.

Guo Meijing had a true terminal illness—the kind where you could only helplessly wait for death. The medical bills, the bedside vigils—it was all emotionally and physically draining for the family.

Knowing there was no hope and that continuing chemotherapy would only increase her suffering, choosing to let go was, in fact, a valid option.

But the problem was that Fu Lanting was a stepmother.

Guo Jinhua might have thought, ’All the kindness Fu Lanting showed Guo Meijing before was just an act. Adversity reveals true character, and she’s only showing her true colors now.’

Yang Zeran thought it was highly likely that this was why he came to resent Fu Lanting.

Ding Yuwei opened her mouth to say something, but the words died on her lips, and she swallowed them back down.

However, their colleague from the New District chimed in, "If that’s really what happened, then this Guo Jinhua guy isn’t much of a man."

"It’s a tragedy that his daughter was sick, but the stepmom didn’t do anything wrong, did she?"

"She was running herself ragged taking care of the girl. We went to the hospital and asked around. Even the nurses said she was more dedicated than a biological mother."

"That Guo Meijing girl even told people she only had one mom, and that was Fu Lanting."

"And even before she got sick, Fu Lanting treated her like her own child. If she was murdered so cruelly just for saying one thing, then I really feel it was a huge injustice to her."

Yang Zeran nodded in firm agreement.

Poisoning. And it was slow poisoning, lasting over two months, administered multiple times.

In the end, she was sent to the hospital, where she died a painful death in the ICU from diffuse systemic hemorrhage.

A method like that could only be described as incredibly cruel.

If his own girlfriend ever did something like that to him one day, just the thought sent a chill down his spine.

Ding Yuwei nudged Shen Xin and asked what he really thought.

Shen Xin snapped out of his thoughts. "The specific details aren’t important right now. Everything will become clear when the case is solved."

"What’s important is that I believe we’ve found a possible motive, which increases the suspicion on Guo Jinhua."

"So now, our focus shifts. We need to find evidence."

"We still need to solve one fundamental problem: where did the rat poison come from?"

"The method of poisoning isn’t important either. If Guo Jinhua is the culprit, he would have had plenty of ways to administer it."

For two people living together day in and day out, there are plenty of opportunities, and it would be very difficult for the other person to notice.

So the key is still the poison. Where exactly did it come from?

For the past two days, our colleagues from the three cities have been working hard, investigating the period from August 2014, after Guo Meijing’s death, to July 2015.

They’ve been checking all the shops and individual sellers of rat poison within this jurisdiction.

They confirmed a list of sellers, then mobilized the local police stations to carry Guo Jinhua’s photo and conduct interviews.

They’re trying to see if anyone recognizes Guo Jinhua.

It’s quite difficult.

After all, it’s been so long. Someone running a stall at a market entrance sees people coming and going all day. Unless something happened to leave a deep impression, it’s very hard to remember a specific person who bought rat poison.

They don’t even know the specific brand of rat poison.

So you can imagine how difficult the investigation is.

And this is with a possible suspect and a photo to show around.

Without that, it would be a true search for a needle in a haystack.

The result was that two days passed with no leads.

At the same time, with so much time having passed, it’s also very difficult to trace Guo Jinhua’s movements during that period to find out which cities he might have visited.

Yang Zeran nodded in agreement. "We have a motive, and we can consider the poisoning method solved. That only leaves the poison."

"But isn’t it strange? Commercially available rat poisons usually contain grains as bait, flavor enhancers like artificial scents, and are dyed a warning color."

"The poisoning went on for so long. Did Fu Lanting really not suspect a thing?"

If Guo Jinhua was the one who did the poisoning, there were many ways he could have done it.

For example, he could have added some while cooking.

The core component of bromadiolone only becomes ineffective at 200 degrees Celsius, so it wouldn’t lose its toxicity from the heat of the food.

But if you mix rat poison into soup or rice, there should be a strange smell, and there would be visible residue.

Fu Lanting wasn’t a fool. Guo Jinhua might have been able to explain it away once.

But over a period of more than two months, how could he ensure she wouldn’t become suspicious?

Yang Zeran had been thinking about this question for a long time.

Shen Xin cut Yang Zeran off. "Let’s not worry about that for now. Let’s focus on the source of the poison."

After thinking for a long while with his arms crossed, Shen Xin had an idea. He looked up and asked Ding Yuwei if they had tracked Guo Jinhua’s itinerary for the trip to Qiong Province.

Ding Yuwei nodded.

Guo Meijing’s birthday was July 11th.

On July 5th, Guo Meijing was discharged from the hospital.

They didn’t use a travel agency. On the 7th, the three of them took a direct flight to Yaxian County in Qiong Province.

They arrived the same day.

They checked into a local luxury star-rated hotel.

Luxury hotels keep their check-in information, especially the paper documents, for at least three years.

They went in 2014, so it’s been almost four years, but luckily, those paper documents hadn’t been destroyed. We were able to find the check-in information for all three of them.

They checked in on the 7th and didn’t check out until the 16th.

As for their specific itinerary there, we’d have to go there to investigate that.

"After they returned on the 16th, Guo Meijing’s condition worsened. She was readmitted to the hospital on the 24th, and on August 3rd, she passed away after attempts to resuscitate her failed."

Ding Yuwei’s tone was somber.

Before she died, her wish was fulfilled—she got to visit Tianya Haijiao. But that trip was her last farewell.

Shen Xin found a milk tea shop.

They each ordered a drink. When they arrived, Shen Xin held his and slurped on it for a long time.

Finally, he said, "If the motive is what we suspect, then Guo Meijing’s death must have been what triggered Guo Jinhua’s murderous intent."

"I have a bold theory, and there are several reasons to support it."

"First, Captain Sun and his team investigated Guo Jinhua’s movements before June 2015. If he had driven his family’s van to another city to buy rat poison, it would have been relatively easy to trace."

"But they found nothing. Of course, he could have taken a taxi or used other methods to hide his tracks."

"Let’s assume he didn’t necessarily go to another city."

"Second, He Liyuan’s statement mentioned that Guo Jinhua had exclaimed that if Guo Meijing died, he wouldn’t want to live anymore."

"And from our interviews, we know that Guo Jinhua doted on his daughter, treating her like the apple of his eye."

"Didn’t Fu Lanting’s mother say she tried to persuade the couple to have another child, but Fu Lanting said Guo Jinhua was reluctant because he was afraid it would take away from his love for Guo Meijing?"

"This proves how much he loved his daughter."

"So, what if Guo Jinhua actually meant what he said?"

Shen Xin looked at the other three.

Yang Zeran’s brows were tightly furrowed, and he motioned for Shen Xin to continue.

Shen Xin continued, "They must have known how serious Guo Meijing’s condition was, which is why they finally agreed to take her to Qiong Province."

"So that got me thinking. What if, during their time in Qiong Province, Guo Jinhua had already formed the idea of joining his daughter in death?"

"What if he bought the rat poison there in Qiong Province?"

If we can’t find any record of it locally, maybe he bought it out of town.

Ding Yuwei nodded thoughtfully.

Yang Zeran paused to think for a moment, then opened his mouth to object.

Shen Xin immediately stopped him. "You’re about to say you can’t take rat poison on a plane, right? What about mailing it?"

"I just looked it up."

Shen Xin showed him his phone. "The ’Regulations on the Management of Prohibited and Restricted Mailing Items’ only came out in 2017, just last year. Back in 2014, courier regulations weren’t as strict, and it wasn’t uncommon for people to mail prohibited items."

Yang Zeran thought about it for a moment, then shook his head. "I’m not sure about your theory, but I agree we need to look into their itinerary in Qiong Province."

It seemed clear now that the motive was related to Guo Meijing.

That trip to Qiong Province might be the key—the moment that truly made Guo Jinhua decide to kill.

After saying that, he looked up at Shen Xin and asked, "You don’t have connections in Qiong Province too, do you?"

He was deeply impressed by Shen Xin’s ability to call in favors.

But Qiong Province?

That’s two thousand kilometers away from Nanjiang.