Animal Detective-Chapter 45: Gao Jinrui Must Dig This Grave

It was a good idea, but completely unrealistic.

If they dug up a grave without a legitimate reason, they’d have people protesting with banners outside the police station by tomorrow.

As for the consequences, forget a rookie like Shen Xin who’d just made full officer—not even Chen Chao could handle the fallout.

Just as the two were agonizing over it, Zhao Tianxing suddenly raised his hand.

He pulled the two of them aside and shot Zhang Xuwei a glare, gesturing for him to stay put at a distance.

Then he started passing out cigarettes.

"Captain Chen, we can’t be the ones to dig up this grave," Zhao Tianxing said, his tone dead serious.

He began his analysis.

"Putting aside whether our reason for digging up the grave would even hold up, just consider this: what if we dig it up, find Wu Jiawang’s body, and then what?"

He looked at the two of them and countered with a question.

"If I were Gao Jinrui, I’d just say, ’Who the hell is this? Are they nuts? Someone buried a body in my family’s ancestral grave!’"

"You say having a body makes it easy, but it’s been seven years. The body’s probably just a skeleton by now. Okay, so let’s say there are impact injuries like fractures on the bones. How do we confirm *this* car was the one that hit him?"

He pointed to the Teana beside them.

"The car’s been repaired. Seven years have passed. There’s no way to prove a connection between the two."

Chen Chao held up a hand, cutting him off.

He’d just said as much himself.

"Just get to your idea."

He glanced at Zhao Tianxing. The kid looked flashy, but he was actually full of clever tricks.

Zhao Tianxing chuckled. "Captain Chen, like I said, *we* can’t dig up the grave. But someone can dig it up for us. And I don’t mean Wu Zhicun. I mean Gao Jinrui."

He winked at them.

"Of course!"

It hit Shen Xin like a jolt, and he understood.

"Officer Zhao, you’re a genius!" Shen Xin gave him a thumbs-up.

Zhao Tianxing’s words were a reminder for Shen Xin.

It was useless whether they dug it up themselves or had Wu Zhicun do it. Too many years had passed; the conditions for a proper investigation were gone.

They had to make Gao Jinrui dig it up. If *he* did it, they’d catch him red-handed.

"Takes one to know one," Zhao Tianxing said, waving his hand with a hint of smugness. Shen Xin had caught on immediately; his mind was just as sharp as his own.

"Wait, no."

Shen Xin suddenly shook his head again.

"What’s not right?" Zhao Tianxing, who was on a roll, was taken aback.

Shen Xin said, "Think about it. Let’s say we go with Officer Zhao’s..."

"What’s with ’Officer Zhao’? So formal. Just call me Brother," Zhao Tianxing cut in.

Shen Xin nodded. "Okay, let’s say we go with Brother Xing’s idea. We bluff Gao Jinrui, make him think the body is about to be exposed, so he decides to dig it up and move it."

Zhao Tianxing nodded repeatedly. That was exactly his plan.

"But first, there’s a problem. What if Gao Jinrui doesn’t panic? What if he thinks, ’The body is buried in the grave anyway. The police have no legal reason to dig it up, so it’s safe’? You have to admit, that’s a possibility, right?"

Zhao Tianxing took a sharp breath and folded his arms.

Chen Chao tossed his cigarette butt and gestured for Shen Xin to continue.

"Second, even if he does panic as we hope and runs over to dig up the grave, and we manage to catch him red-handed... what’s to stop him from claiming, ’I was just here to relocate the grave. Who knew that when I opened it up, there’d be an unidentified body inside? I have no idea who it belongs to.’"

"The key right now is that we have no direct evidence proving he was the one who hit and killed Wu Jiawang. Without direct evidence, he can come up with countless excuses to get himself off the hook."

"Moreover, if we approach him directly—say, on the pretext of investigating whether this car was in an accident—won’t that seem too obvious? It would make him suspicious. He could even turn the tables on us, get his family, and ’relocate the grave’ as an excuse to proactively expose Wu Jiawang’s remains himself."

"Then he could still say he has no idea who buried a body in his family’s ancestral grave, and our situation would be even worse."

"Besides, we’re only guessing that Wu Jiawang’s body is in the ancestral grave. What if it isn’t?"

There were too many uncertainties.

"Captain Chen, what do you think?" Shen Xin asked, looking at Chen Chao.

Chen Chao’s brow was furrowed in thought, and he said nothing.

Beside them, Zhao Tianxing shot Shen Xin a thumbs-up. "Kid, how does your brain work? To think of all that..."

Shen Xin just smiled and said he watched too many crime dramas.

Chen Chao let out a long sigh.

This was the nature of cold cases—few leads, difficult to investigate.

"I need to think this over."

Chen Chao felt Shen Xin’s concerns were valid. They couldn’t just try to bluff Gao Jinrui; they needed a foolproof plan.

After all, they would only get one shot at this.

"But I do think we can officially start investigating this case."

The Teana and the information from Zhang Xuwei were enough to officially reopen the missing person case.

"Xiaoshen, you’ve played a crucial role in this case. Go back and get ready. I’m going to temporarily second you to the sub-bureau to help with the investigation. How about it? No problem, right?"

This was a common practice: pulling key personnel to concentrate on cracking a case. There was precedent for it.

And as the deputy captain of the sub-bureau’s criminal investigation division, Chen Chao had the authority to make that call.

"Of course, no problem." Shen Xin quickly shook his head.

’I don’t have to worry about the station. If Captain Chen is personally requesting me, Song Liang won’t object.’

’It’s not like I’m leaving for good.’ 𝓯𝙧𝓮𝓮𝒘𝓮𝙗𝙣𝒐𝒗𝒆𝓵.𝓬𝓸𝒎

Chen Chao nodded, then turned to Zhao Tianxing. "And this car—drive it back to the station. Get the forensics team on it. I want them to take it apart piece by piece and check it thoroughly."

The chances were minuscule, but if—just if—they found Wu Jiawang’s DNA in the car, the case would be wide open.

As for Zhang Xuwei, he would naturally be taken in for further questioning.

Leaving Zhao Tianxing to handle things there, Chen Chao beckoned to Shen Xin, indicating for him to come along to Xianghong Village.

"We can’t get tunnel vision on a single lead. Since there’s a possibility Wu Jiawang was murdered, we need to go back and re-examine the original clues from all those years ago."

The original investigation was conducted under the premise that it was a missing person case. Looking back now, they might find something new.

After all, they were now operating under the new assumption that Gao Jinrui had killed him in a hit-and-run.

Chen Chao’s words sounded like a lesson. Shen Xin took note, quickly getting in the car to head to Xianghong Village with him.

As he got into the car, a thought flickered vaguely in Shen Xin’s mind.

’It felt like I’ve overlooked something.’

But when he tried to grasp it, it slipped away.

Soon, the two of them arrived at Xianghong Village.

Chen Chao had also called Zhao Shouchuan over.

He had personally participated in the search for Wu Jiawang back then and was familiar with the case.

As they entered, Shen Xin asked Chen Chao if they should mention the ancestral grave and Gao Jinrui.

They had previously considered telling Wu Zhicun the situation and having him dig up the grave.

Chen Chao shook his head.

Shen Xin had thought the same.

In the current situation, it wouldn’t work even if Wu Zhicun did the digging. It had to be Gao Jinrui himself, as that was the only way to connect him to Wu Jiawang’s disappearance.

Since the last time they’d seen him, Wu Zhicun’s condition seemed to have worsened.

An unwashed bowl sat on the table, noodles still inside. It was impossible to tell when they’d been made, but in the middle of summer, they stank.

Shen Xin felt the old man had lost his will to live. At this rate, it wouldn’t be long before he’d end up killing himself through sheer neglect.

The man also seemed confused. It was hard to tell if he was doing it on purpose, not wanting to deal with Shen Xin and Chen Chao, or if he was genuinely unwell. In any case, he was rambling nonsense, mumbling incoherently and making normal conversation impossible.

Just as they were trying to get through to him, Zhao Shouchuan arrived.

Chen Chao pulled him aside to exchange information.

Shen Xin stayed by the main room’s entrance, keeping an eye on Wu Zhicun.

Just then, Wu Zhicun suddenly screamed.

"Who! Who’s there!"

"Who are you? I know you’re there! I can hear you breathing!"

"Stay away!"

He let out a series of shrieks, as if he’d received a terrible fright.