Animal Detective-Chapter 44: Still, Digging is Best

"Section Chief?"

Zhang Xuwei’s expression changed. The flash of bewilderment proved he was completely unaware of the situation.

"The truth!" Chen Chao barked.

Chen Chao had been a criminal investigator for nearly twenty years and had interrogated more criminals than he could count. His sharp reprimand, combined with his cold, severe gaze, carried an imposing authority—it was like a clap of thunder on a clear day.

Zhang Xuwei was just an ordinary person, and he panicked instantly. With a look of frustration, he said, "I knew something was off about that car. Dammit, I knew it was trouble."

’Did we just hit the jackpot?’ Shen Xin’s heart leaped.

"Tell me everything," Chen Chao said, his voice finally softening.

Zhang Xuwei was the first to speak. "Officer, I swear I didn’t think much of it at the time. I just thought it was a good deal, so I bought it. I have no idea what’s going on with this car. I’m not going to get in trouble for this, am I?"

Chen Chao replied, "You might not be in trouble if you tell the truth. But if you hide anything, you definitely will be."

If this was connected to a murder, it would be anything but a small matter.

Zhang Xuwei looked completely exasperated. He muttered a curse under his breath before saying, "It was a few years ago, so I don’t remember it that clearly. But one day, this guy brought in a Nissan Teana for repairs. Said he’d hit a concrete pillar."

"The damage wasn’t too bad, all things considered. I remember asking him why he didn’t take it to the dealership for repairs, since the car was pretty new."

"Then he said something about the dealership being too expensive. I thought that was strange at the time. You have insurance, so who cares if it’s expensive? But I didn’t give it much thought and just gave him a quote."

"I forget how much it was, but he agreed and left the car at my shop."

"But the next day, he called me again and asked if I’d buy the car off him. He said he didn’t want it anymore since it had been in a wreck, and he’d sell it to me cheap."

"Back then, a new Teana went for about 200,000 yuan. This one was only two years old, with just over 10,000 kilometers on it. He offered it to me for 100,000. I was instantly tempted, so I bought it."

"And that’s the whole story."

When he finished, he looked at Chen Chao with a somewhat stiff expression.

"That’s it?"

Chen Chao’s tone hardened. "Somehow, I don’t think it was that simple. A 200,000-yuan car sold to you for such a huge discount, and you didn’t suspect something was wrong with it?"

The color drained from Zhang Xuwei’s face.

Chen Chao said, "Fine. If you won’t talk here, we can talk back at the station."

He gave a wave of his hand. Zhao Tianxing grinned and said, "Sounds good," stepping forward as if to take him into custody.

The move nearly made Zhang Xuwei piss his pants. He waved his hands frantically. "No, no, wait! I really told you everything!"

But under Chen Chao’s frigid stare, he guiltily corrected himself, "Well, maybe I stretched the truth a little."

He gestured with his thumb and forefinger, showing a tiny amount.

"Speak," Chen Chao commanded in a low, harsh voice.

Zhang Xuwei said dejectedly, "To be honest, I could tell something was wrong with the car back then."

"I mean, think about it. If it were just a normal wreck, would he have sold it to me that cheap?"

"Besides, I work on wrecked cars all the time. I could tell it had been in a previous accident. I suspected he might have been in a hit-and-run and crashed it again himself to cover it up."

"Of course, I couldn’t just ask him about it; he wouldn’t have told me anyway. I did think about it—if there was a real problem with the car, it would be a hot potato. But the price was just too low."

"So I gave the car a good look-over. I was worried he might have hit and killed someone, because that would be a huge mess."

"But there was no blood or anything like that. I figured he was probably drunk driving or something, so it shouldn’t be too big a deal."

"I lowballed him at eighty thousand, and he actually agreed."

"I knew I could make tens of thousands just by flipping it, so I fixed up the car and went with him to transfer the title."

"At first, I was on pins and needles, worried the traffic police would show up. But a long time passed and no one ever came, so I eventually stopped thinking about it."

After he finished, he asked guiltily if the guy who sold him the car had committed a crime.

Chen Chao ignored him, his eyes gleaming with excitement.

Shen Xin was excited, too.

’We really found the right guy!’

’It has to be him. It has to be Gao Jinrui.’

’Otherwise, there would be no reason for him to fake a second accident and sell the car so cheap.’

Shen Xin looked at Chen Chao, his eyes asking, ’What’s our next move?’

It was clear that Chen Chao was excited too.

This was, after all, a seven-year-old cold case.

But he kept his composure and asked where the car was.

"At my house."

"Take us there."

Zhao Tianxing stepped forward again with a smile and gestured for him to lead the way. "Let’s go."

With his head hung low, Zhang Xuwei led the two officers toward his nearby house.

He was a local with a detached house and its own yard.

Outside the house, they saw the black Nissan Teana.

"Captain Chen," Shen Xin asked in a low voice, "it’s been seven years. Any bloodstains or DNA would be long gone, right? We won’t be able to find anything."

Shen Xin had studied this at the police academy.

If he recalled correctly, bloodstains exposed to the elements would typically decompose within a few weeks, or two to three months at most.

DNA degradation took longer, but under normal conditions, it would last a year or two at the absolute most.

But seven years had already passed.

Since Zhang Xuwei had been using the car normally, the chances of finding any relevant traces were practically—no, absolutely—zero.

Chen Chao had clearly thought of this as well. "Don’t rush," he said. "One step at a time."

He walked to the car, popped the hood, and asked Zhang Xuwei if he’d had any repairs or accidents with it since he bought it.

Zhang Xuwei shook his head, saying he was a very skilled driver.

Besides, the Teana rarely had problems. Other than replacing the battery, everything was in good shape.

Shen Xin leaned in for a closer look.

The engine bay was thick with dust, making it hard to even see the original repair marks, let alone any traces from the accident.

Chen Chao moved on to the trunk.

A thought struck Shen Xin as well.

’If Wu Jiawang died at the scene, Gao Jinrui would have had to move the body. He most likely would have put it in the trunk, since the back seat is too visible.’

The trunk was filled with clutter—repair tools and the like. The trunk liner was covered in oil stains.

Chen Chao lifted the trunk liner to check the spare tire compartment below.

The spare tire was gone, and the space had been filled with several toolboxes.

In that case, even if Wu Jiawang’s body had once been hidden here, it would be impossible to find any traces now.

Chen Chao, of course, also gave the cabin a once-over.

It was obvious Zhang Xuwei wasn’t a neat car owner. He probably used it often for house calls or hauling parts. Everything was a messy, grimy disaster.

As things stood, the car was practically worthless to the investigation.

Its only purpose was to suggest that Gao Jinrui might have been in an accident back then.

"Captain Chen, can’t we use Zhang Xuwei’s statement to interrogate Gao Jinrui directly?" Shen Xin asked after a moment’s thought.

’We could start with this concealed accident.’

Chen Chao shook his head. "No. Without any hard evidence, he can deny everything."

With that, he crossed his arms and fell into deep thought.

After thinking for a long time, he finally said, sounding vexed, "I’m starting to think exhumation is still our most reliable option."

Shen Xin nodded. He also felt that exhumation was the most direct path forward.

As long as they found Wu Jiawang’s remains in one of those two graves, everything would fall into place.