Animal Detective
Chapter 368 - 304: A Ruined Family
Guo Jin had already notified Li Xiaowen.
But it took nearly two hours to get from the county seat to Ma Chang Town, and another half hour-plus from there.
A little after six. Duan Dongqiang couldn’t remember the exact time.
Let’s just say six o’clock.
At 6:42, Guo Jin received the call.
Forty minutes had passed in between.
At that same time, Guo Jin notified Li Xiaowen.
It was not yet seven, so the Public Security Bureau probably wasn’t open for business yet.
The criminal investigation division would have someone on duty, but what about forensics? They’d have to be called in.
Leaving by seven would be considered fast.
It would take them two and a half hours to get to Baijia Post no matter what, meaning they’d arrive at nine-thirty.
And right now, it was 7:41 AM.
It would still be a while before Li Xiaowen’s team got here.
Shen Xin seized the opportunity to interview the people at the scene.
For instance, about the argument between Li Xingping and Zhang Kaiyong last night.
A dark-skinned, middle-aged man in a short-sleeved shirt was there. He pointed up the hill and said, "They were playing mahjong at Haomin’s place yesterday. I was there too. Around ten o’clock last night, Xingping showed up with his daughter."
"At first, he was trying to be nice to Kai Yong, you know, trying to reason with him. He even made his daughter get on her knees and kowtow to Kai Yong, begging him to figure something out. He said that without medical insurance, their family couldn’t survive."
"Kai Yong was having a bad run last night, losing a lot of money, so he wasn’t in a good mood. He didn’t have anything nice to say, and the two of them just started arguing."
"In the end, Xingping got so mad he was about to hit Kai Yong. He was yelling that Kai Yong was trying to drive his family to their deaths and that he’d come hang himself on Kai Yong’s doorstep, just to die at his house."
"Kai Yong was furious and wanted to hit him back, but we held him back. Then Xingping left."
"I watched until eleven and then went home. I don’t know what time they finished playing."
Shen Xin questioned a few more people, making sure to get the names of everyone who had been at the card game.
If that was the case, then Li Xingping was indeed a major suspect.
He had just had an argument, was emotionally volatile, and could have done something drastic.
The murder weapon was a red brick, which had been dropped at the scene.
A weapon like that usually indicated a crime of passion, something grabbed on the spot.
Shen Xin spotted the young man who had flagged down their car when they first arrived at the village entrance.
’He seems to be from the village committee,’ Shen Xin thought.
He went over to ask, and sure enough, the man was the village accountant, named Wu Qingquan.
Shen Xin asked him about the medical insurance issue—what exactly had happened and who was at fault.
Had Zhang Kaiyong really forgotten to submit the payment, or was there some other reason?
Wu Qingquan pursed his lips and shook his head. "It’s hard to say. Anyway, Director Zhang was the one who compiled the final list of names. Maybe he just missed one when he was counting."
Just as he was asking, Guo Jin returned with Tian Kui.
He finally let out a sigh of relief when he saw the police tape cordoning off the scene.
But he still had an unmistakably frustrated look on his face.
Shen Xin asked and found out that Zhang Kaiyong’s father had demanded to take the body back.
Then his wife, Tan Gui Zhi, had gotten some people to move the body back to their house.
Sun Yongjie was over there now, keeping an eye on things and preventing anyone from moving the body again.
Shen Xin said, "Chief Guo, it’s still going to be a while before Captain Li and his team get here. I don’t think we should just sit around."
"We still don’t have the full picture on Li Xingping, but he’s a major suspect."
The reasoning was simple: if he had nothing to do with it, why would he have run off?
Shen Xin continued, "My idea is, let’s use this time to have Tian Kui track Li Xingping. He’s crucial to this case. Even if we’re just investigating, we need to find him."
’Can’t just wait around. We need to do what we can, now.’
"Okay."
Guo Jin nodded. He knew Shen Xin was a real-deal criminal detective who had even cracked major cases.
He left Dong Bo to watch the scene and headed back up the mountain with Shen Xin.
Seeing Guo Jin panting from exhaustion, Shen Xin just told him to wait at the foot of the mountain and contact Xiaochen to check on the situation with Li Yao.
The main thing was to ask when Li Xingping had left and if he had said anything.
Guo Jin called Xiaochen. They were still on the road. Li Yao had been crying nonstop and was completely terrified, unable to speak coherently, so she didn’t know what time Li Xingping had left.
All she knew was that when she woke up this morning, Li Xingping was gone.
The old woman probably knew, but she was still unconscious and couldn’t be questioned.
Shen Xin took Tian Kui up the mountain.
The air was oppressively hot and humid, feeling like it was about to rain. You’d break a sweat just standing still.
When he ran up the mountain, there was still a crowd gathered at the entrance to Li Xingping’s house.
Shen Xin took the opportunity to ask if any of them had seen when Li Xingping left.
No one had noticed.
Shen Xin entered. The yard was a mess, and so was the inside of the house.
Zhang Kaisheng must have brought people to search the place before everyone else arrived.
The bed in the inner room must have been Li Xingping’s; adult male clothing was scattered on it.
Shen Xin had Tian Kui sniff it to confirm the scent source.
"The scent is strongest here. He probably hasn’t been gone long," Shen Xin murmured to Tian Kui.
Understood.
Tian Kui barked once and immediately shot out of the house.
It sniffed all around, then went out the door.
When Shen Xin had come by earlier, he hadn’t seen an electric scooter, motorcycle, or any other vehicle. He figured their income was too low to afford one.
Otherwise, Li Shi wouldn’t have treasured a beat-up old bicycle so much.
Therefore, Shen Xin deduced that Li Xingping had probably left on foot.
Before coming up the mountain, Shen Xin had already asked around and learned that there was a minibus that went from the village to the town.
There was no official bus stop; it stopped whenever hailed. The villagers usually waited for it on the main road outside the village.
However, the earliest bus was at 6:30 AM. Li Xingping had left early, so he likely would have missed it.
Another point: he suffered from osteonecrosis of the femoral head, which made walking difficult. If he was on foot, his speed would be limited.
Tian Kui locked onto the scent source and had already bolted away.
Shen Xin looked around, asking if anyone had an electric scooter he could borrow.
’Just running after him is too exhausting.’