Animal Detective-Chapter 50: Brought to Light

At this point, Chen Chao understood everything.

Gao Jinrui had secretly returned the eye drops. Later, when the community came to clean out Wu Jiawang’s house, they packed them up. By a twist of fate, the drops had been preserved until now.

And had now become a key piece of evidence.

Of course, with Gao Jinrui’s complete confession, the evidence was no longer important.

After a moment’s thought, Chen Chao asked, "So Wu Jiawang’s body is still buried in your family’s ancestral grave?"

Gao Jinrui nodded.

He straightened up, staring blankly at the lightbulb on the ceiling.

"This whole thing... it’s been like a thorn stuck in my heart."

"At first, I was scared. Scared the police would find me. But sometimes, I hoped you would."

"But you never came, so I thought it was over, that I had to move on with my life. I even became a Buddhist and burned incense often, trying to forget about it."

"But I couldn’t get over it."

Gao Jinrui looked dejected. "I still had nightmares all the time, seeing that boy’s face. My mental state was terrible back then. I had a short fuse and would often fight with my wife for no reason."

"I knew why, and I wanted to change, but I just couldn’t."

"And my son... Sometimes I felt his expressions looked just like that boy’s. Sometimes he’d turn his head to look at me suddenly, and it was as if that boy was staring right at me. I couldn’t stand it. I didn’t even dare to hold my own son."

"Because of this, after two years, my wife couldn’t take it anymore and divorced me."

"My son would call me often, crying and wanting to see me, but I didn’t dare go. The moment I saw him, something felt wrong inside me. I read Buddhist scriptures and suspected that boy’s spirit had possessed my son to get revenge on me."

"It’s only in the last few years that I’ve started to feel a little better."

"People say time heals all wounds. I guess there’s some truth to that. After so many years, I thought it was finally over. I had paid the price, too—I’d lost my wife and son."

"Until you showed up."

He looked up at Chen Chao and said, "Really, the moment I saw you, that feeling came rushing back. It felt like the boy was grabbing my pant leg again."

"I really didn’t want to hide it anymore, so I told you. But..."

He paused and gave a bitter smile. "I thought I’d feel better after confessing, but I don’t. I still feel terrible."

Silence filled the interrogation room, broken only by Gao Jinrui’s vacant expression.

Just then, Chen Chao, who had been silent and calm, erupted like a volcano.

He slammed his hand on the table and roared, "Terrible?"

He shot to his feet and pointed angrily at Gao Jinrui. "You have the nerve to say you feel terrible?"

"Saying you ’paid the price’ because you lost your wife and son? Turning to Buddhism to try and forget? Let me tell you, Buddha can’t save you! You’ll never forget this for the rest of your life!"

"You feel terrible? What about his grandfather?"

"His grandfather waited for seven whole years, hoping his grandson would one day come back. He’s blind, he can’t see anything! He waited for so long! You tell me, what do you think he was going through?"

"And you thought returning the eye drops would earn Wu Jiawang’s forgiveness? Ha."

Chen Chao laughed, furious.

"Do you know how we found you?"

Chen Chao demanded loudly.

Gao Jinrui stared blankly at Chen Chao, speechless.

"There were no leads. Everyone thought Wu Jiawang had been abducted by human traffickers."

"Seven years! This case has been cold for seven years! Thinking about it now, I’m so ashamed I want to slap myself."

As he said this, he actually did slap himself, startling Zhao Tianxing beside him.

「In the monitoring room.」

Sun Zhao instinctively moved to go outside, feeling Chen Chao’s emotions were getting out of control.

But Lv Youwei grabbed him and shook his head slightly.

The more Chen Chao thought about it, the worse he felt.

Yes, on the surface, there was no witness testimony or physical evidence to suggest Wu Jiawang had been killed rather than abducted.

Only Wu Zhicun had steadfastly believed his grandson wouldn’t just disappear for no reason.

’But looking back now,’ he thought, ’if I had just thought a little harder back then, if I’d noticed the dog Wu Jiawang was raising, maybe I could have discovered the truth.’

"It was the dog." 𝑓𝘳𝑒𝑒𝓌𝘦𝘣𝘯ℴ𝑣𝘦𝑙.𝘤𝑜𝑚

Chen Chao rebuked him loudly, "The dog you saw at the scene. The dog Wu Jiawang raised."

"What a good dog. He watched you hit his master, kill him, and then bury him in a grave."

"He didn’t leave. He just kept watch over his master. He stood guard for seven whole years!"

"If it weren’t for that dog, we never would have suspected you."

"Even a dog has that much loyalty. And you... you’re not even as good as a fucking dog!"

"So spare us your sob story and stop making excuses for yourself. You’re a murderer, a cold-blooded, ruthless murderer!"

Chen Chao pointed at Gao Jinrui, roaring each word with emphasis.

Gao Jinrui stared blankly for a moment, then broke down completely, letting out a sharp cry and bursting into tears.

Chen Chao said no more, turned, and walked out of the interrogation room.

A moment later, he pushed open the door to the monitoring room.

His face was taut as he walked in. He ignored Lv Youwei and Sun Zhao, heading straight for Shen Xin.

Then he pulled Shen Xin into a hug.

"Captain Chen..."

Shen Xin was taken aback.

Chen Chao hugged Shen Xin tightly, murmuring, "Shen Xin, thank you. Thank you!"

Shen Xin, who had been about to push him away, lowered his hands.

"Captain Chen, you don’t have to do this."

Shen Xin’s own heart felt heavy.

Chen Chao released Shen Xin and clapped him heavily on the shoulder, saying nothing more.

"Alright."

Lv Youwei spoke up, his expression also grave. "The case is solved. We need to handle the follow-up properly. A person doesn’t get many seven-year spans in their life. This is a justice we owe Uncle Wu."

After speaking, he turned and left.

Sun Zhao also walked over. For the first time, he gave Shen Xin a serious, appraising look. Just as Shen Xin was starting to feel self-conscious, Sun Zhao suddenly said, "Good work."

He clapped Shen Xin on the shoulder and turned to make arrangements.

The case was finally brought to light.

But it wasn’t over.

Wu Jiawang’s body was still buried in the grave. It needed to be exhumed and properly reburied.

There was no time to waste.

That very afternoon, the precinct took Gao Jinrui to identify the scene.

After some thought, Shen Xin made a special trip back to the station.

Wu Zhicun had waited seven years for justice, and Lele had guarded his master for seven years.

On this day when the truth was finally revealed, Lele should be there too.

Back at the station, he found Lele lying obediently at the entrance to the cafeteria.

"Come on, I’m taking you to see your master."

Shen Xin patted his head.

He seemed to understand, and his eyes lit up with a hint of joy.

As he was driving away, he ran into Song Liang, who was just driving in. Song Liang rolled down his window and shouted, "Xiaoshen, where are you off to? How’s the case going?"

Shen Xin took a deep breath, leaned out, and gave him a thumbs-up.

"Solved!"

The seven-year-old cold case was closed.

Song Liang froze for a second. When he looked again, Shen Xin had already driven off.

By the time they reached the unnamed path, the scene had already been cordoned off with police tape.

"So that’s the dog?"

A colleague manning the police line asked in surprise.

Shen Xin nodded.

"Good dog."

The colleague didn’t say much more, just smiled.

Shen Xin led Lele to the Gao family’s ancestral grave.

The location had been identified. Gao Jinrui stood nearby like a walking corpse.

Chen Chao was personally leading the team digging up the grave, while the medical examiner and the forensics team waited to the side.

Lele suddenly became agitated and started barking furiously at Gao Jinrui.

Shen Xin had to pull the leash tight to keep him from lunging.

Even after seven years, Lele still hadn’t forgotten Gao Jinrui, the murderer!

Hearing Lele’s barks, Gao Jinrui shuddered as if he’d seen a ghost, then collapsed to the ground in a heap.

"Get him out of here!"

Sun Zhao ordered in a low voice.

Only after Gao Jinrui was led away did Lele calm down, staring toward the grave like a statue.

His reaction moved everyone present.

"Damn it, why are my eyes getting a little misty," Zhao Tianxing muttered, looking up at the sky.

Just then, Chen Chao, seeing they had dug deep enough, put down his shovel and began to use his hands.

Gao Jinrui had confessed that the body was buried just under the mound, not too deep.

Sure enough, after just a few scoops, he uncovered a piece of white bone.

He let out a long sigh and stood up. Looking at Lele, who was still staring in the same direction without a sound, he felt a complex mix of emotions.

’Perhaps in Lele’s heart, he’s still hoping his master will reappear, whole and unharmed, to run freely with him once more.’