Animal Detective

Chapter 377: Chapter 311: That Is a Donkey

As everyone was murmuring about Luo Xiaolong’s speculation that the victim’s wound contained donkey dung, Li Xiaowen suddenly slammed his hand on the table.

"That guy..."

He kept pointing his finger. The name was on the tip of his tongue, but he just couldn’t recall it.

"Duan Dongqiang."

A voice from the side supplied the name.

Li Xiaowen shouted, "Right, Duan Dongqiang! That’s it, that’s the name! The family at the crime scene—he’s the one who raises a donkey."

He whipped his head around, looking for who had reminded him.

His gaze focused, and he saw Shen Xin looking at him.

’Such a quick reaction.’

Li Xiaowen was startled. He gave a slight nod, then turned back and continued, "I’ve actually been thinking about a logical problem. If there really was a second killer at the scene, how did he so coincidentally discover that Li Xingping was planning a murder?"

"Either he knew in advance, staked out the place, and followed him, only making a move after seeing that Zhang Kaiyong wasn’t dead."

"A very crucial point here is the bloodstains. Judging from the blood at the scene, it’s consistent with an attack starting at Point A, a pursuit to Point B, and the victim collapsing at Point B, leaving a large amount of blood there."

"However, there are no further bloodstains beyond Point B, which means the person died at Point B."

"So, it’s unlikely that after Li Xingping left, Zhang Kaiyong, who was at Point B, got back up, staggered forward, and then ran into a second killer."

"If there really was a second killer, it could only be that after Li Xingping left, he saw Zhang Kaiyong wasn’t dead and was still at Point B, then went forward and killed him. That’s why the blood is still concentrated at Point B."

He stood up and began drawing on the whiteboard to explain his logic.

Everyone looked thoughtful.

’Looks like Li Xiaowen is a real pro,’ Shen Xin thought, nodding to himself. ’He not only thought of the logical issues but also paid attention to the bloodstains, getting ahead of my own thinking.’

Li Xiaowen paused for a moment, giving everyone a few seconds to think, then pointed between points A and B. "Actually, there’s another possibility. There could be another point in between, say, C."

He drew a Point C between A and B.

"This Point C is where Li Yao turned and saw Zhang Kaiyong get back up. At that time, Li Xingping had hit Zhang Kaiyong—we don’t know how many times—and he fell, but he didn’t stay down. He left a pool of blood."

"Zhang Kaiyong got up again and walked forward to Point B, where the second killer then struck, killing Zhang Kaiyong at Point B."

"There’s a crucial point here: the brick. When we arrived at the scene, the brick had left an impression in the ground, suggesting no one had moved it."

"But it wasn’t near Point B. It was over two meters away, in the dirt beside the concrete path, which would be near the potential Point C."

"If there wasn’t a second killer, you could explain it as Li Xingping simply tossing it from Point B and throwing it a bit far. But since there’s evidence suggesting a second killer might exist, this point becomes highly suspicious."

Everyone nodded again. Li Xiaowen’s analysis was sound.

Hou Yaxin gestured for him to continue.

Li Xiaowen said, "So, back to the initial question: did this second killer know in advance that Li Xingping was going to commit murder, and therefore decided to lie in wait?"

"I think it’s possible, but unlikely. First of all, during the argument at Zhang Haomin’s house, Li Xingping didn’t say anything threatening like, ’You better watch your back, I’m gonna kill you.’"

"So his decision to attack Zhang Kaiyong after returning home was a random event."

"Of course, it’s also possible someone saw Li Xingping lying in wait. After all, he had the argument a little after ten at night, and then just after midnight, he went down the mountain to ambush Zhang Kaiyong."

"There was nearly an hour between then and when the crime occurred at one o’clock. Li Yao followed him and even saw him pick up the brick. With him holding a brick, maybe someone saw him and thought he was going to attack someone."

"But aside from the few people playing mahjong at Zhang Haomin’s house, no one else should have known they’d argued that night. Would someone really have been secretly watching for that long?"

"So the greater possibility is the second scenario: he witnessed Li Xingping’s attack on Zhang Kaiyong and then seized the opportunity to commit the crime himself."

"Considering the bloodstains, it could only be someone from the vicinity of the crime scene."

He turned and quickly drew a few diagrams of houses around points A and B on the whiteboard.

Then he turned to grab Zhu Qiuwei’s transcripts, flipping through to confirm before saying, "In total, the statements from four households, both up and down the road, mention hearing people arguing but not going out to look."

"They could be lying, and other neighbors could be lying in their statements as well. But when you factor in the donkey dung evidence, his suspicion is undoubtedly the highest."

He took a pen and jabbed it at the house representing Duan Dongqiang’s.

Everyone looked at the whiteboard, thought for a moment, and nodded in agreement.

Shen Xin felt like giving Li Xiaowen a round of applause.

’He might not talk much, keeping quiet and even mocking his own poor social skills and low EQ, but his professional competence was undeniable.’

’It made sense. For someone like him who wasn’t a smooth talker and didn’t suck up to superiors at work to become the captain of the Criminal Investigation Division and the top man for criminal investigations in the county, his skills had to be rock-solid.’

On the other side of the screen, Zhao Helin turned to ask Luo Xiaolong if a donkey’s DNA was like a human’s, with each donkey being unique.

Luo Xiaolong nodded and said yes.

Zhao Helin said, "Then it’s simple. Just take samples from all the donkeys in the village and compare the DNA. Won’t that tell us which family’s donkey it is?"

He also asked how many households in the village raised donkeys.

No one had actually paid attention to this, but it was likely more than just Duan Dongqiang.

Donkey farming was common in Ma Chang Town, and being in a mountainous area, donkeys were important livestock.

Just then, Hou Yaxin waved his hand and said, "I don’t think it’s that simple. The key is evidence, especially the murder weapon."

Seeing everyone look at him, Hou Yaxin continued, "It’s a donkey. It shits wherever it goes. How are you going to prove with physical evidence that the weapon used to kill Zhang Kaiyong is connected to Duan Dongqiang?"

As soon as he posed this question, Li Xiaowen’s brow furrowed.

Shen Xin also crossed his arms and fell into deep thought.

It was true; Duan Dongqiang did seem to take his donkey out to work.

Just as Hou Yaxin said, a donkey shits wherever it goes. It’s completely random. It could have defecated on a brick by the roadside, which was then picked up and used as a weapon.

Or perhaps there was a brick like that near his house. The donkey goes in and out, getting dung on it. Then the killer looks around, spots the brick, picks it up to attack Zhang Kaiyong, and leaves the trace of donkey dung.

That was entirely possible.

So, just as Hou Yaxin had said, they needed solid physical evidence to connect the donkey dung to Duan Dongqiang.

At this, Li Xiaowen immediately said, "Director Hou, I request a search of Duan Dongqiang’s house. If he’s the killer, there will definitely be bloodstains in his home."

But after saying it, Li Xiaowen immediately shook his head and dismissed the idea. "No, that won’t work. He was the first to arrive at the scene, he touched the body, and I think he even helped the Zhang Family carry the body. If we find blood in his house, he has a perfect excuse."

Beside him, Zhu Qiuwei nodded in agreement. "That’s right. Didn’t we deploy the police dogs this afternoon? We found that many people had the scent of blood in their homes because they’d been to the crime scene."

After saying this, he couldn’t help but curse under his breath.

The crime scene being contaminated, with so many people entering, had instead become an opportunity for the killer to hide.

The mention of police dogs made Li Xiaowen quickly turn his head and ask, "Shen Xin, I remember when you were searching with Tian Kui this afternoon, his door was closed. He had gone out to work, right?"

Shen Xin nodded.

The police cordon had been set up, enclosing Duan Dongqiang’s house within it.

But Duan Dongqiang had to go out to work today.

He himself had said that he only discovered Zhang Kaiyong in the morning when he had hitched his donkey and was about to leave.

So he had to wait until Li Xiaowen and his team arrived and finished taking his statement before he could leave with his donkey.

At the time, he wasn’t a suspect. You can’t just block someone’s front door and prevent them from going about their business.

At this thought, Shen Xin’s heart skipped a beat. He said urgently, "Captain Li, are you suggesting that Duan Dongqiang might have used the opportunity of going out to work to dispose of relevant evidence, like the murder weapon or blood-stained clothing?"

A second brick wasn’t found at the scene, and the police were conducting a wide search right outside his door. If Shen Xin were Duan Dongqiang, he would definitely be thinking of a way to get rid of the murder weapon too.

It was even possible that after killing Zhang Kaiyong in the middle of the night, he might have snuck out to throw the weapon away.

The village only had one security camera, so there were many ways to avoid being seen.

Li Xiaowen nodded eagerly. ’Shen Xin’s mind works fast,’ he thought, then said aloud, "Exactly, that’s what I mean. I suspect he might have taken the opportunity to dispose of the weapon. Can Tian Kui track the scent on the weapon and find it?"

"Of course."

Shen Xin nodded without hesitation.

Although more than a dozen hours had passed since the crime, tracking it shouldn’t be a problem.

Li Xiaowen now had a plan. He immediately said, "Director Hou, I request to search Duan Dongqiang’s house for evidence. And Old Zhu, take some men and quickly investigate Duan Dongqiang’s motive. Shen Xin and I will go track the weapon."

"Lao Luo, I’ll have someone get you the samples right away. You need to compare the DNA as soon as possible and see if the donkey dung from the wound is from Duan Dongqiang’s donkey."

After giving out the assignments, he asked Hou Yaxin if he had anything to add.

Hou Yaxin crossed his arms and thought for a moment. "Xiaowen," he said, "I don’t think we should rush to search Duan Dongqiang’s house just yet."

"Think about it. He’s been to the crime scene, and he even helped carry the body. Any bloodstains you find in his house, he can explain away completely."

"And if you search now, you’ll only tip him off and let him know we’re on to him."

"So, we definitely need to search, but not now. Wait for Xiaoshen to finish the tracking, and then we’ll decide what to do based on what he finds."

"Same for the motive investigation and the donkey dung sampling. You have to be smart about it and try not to alert our suspect."

"You need to investigate this man thoroughly for me. If he really is the killer, then he saw an opportunity, made a decisive choice to kill, and was still calm enough to call the police afterward."

"He even stayed at the scene, let us question him, and gave a statement. His psychological fortitude is strong. He’s not an ordinary person."

"So we have to handle him carefully. The crime scene was compromised, putting us a step behind the killer. If you don’t prepare adequately, you could find yourselves in a very passive position."

It was highly possible we’d end up in a situation where we know who the killer is but don’t have the evidence to pin it on him, turning a straightforward case into a complete mess.