Animal Detective

Chapter 379: Chapter 312: The Mountains of Despair (2)

"Of course. And if he didn’t kill him, why would he run?"

"I don’t know what he was thinking. He just ran off, leaving his two kids and abandoning his own mother."

"He’s already a murderer, you think he cares about that?"

"But it’s Zhang Kaiyong’s fault, too. Li Xingping was such an honest guy. If he hadn’t been pushed to the brink, would he have done something like this?"

The crowd chattered amongst themselves.

It was clear that news of Li Xingping’s death in a car accident had already reached the village.

Zhu Qiuwei immediately joined in, blending into the group.

He even mentioned that it was just like the TV shows they watched, like those about Bao Zheng—they had to investigate the case thoroughly to avoid a miscarriage of justice, which was why they were still working so late at night.

Li Xiaowen had no time for that. He gave Shen Xin a meaningful look and led the forensics team toward Duan Dongqiang’s house.

The man wasn’t even home; he had run off to Zhang Kaiyong’s house to watch the commotion.

Li Xiaowen sent someone to get him, then sized up Duan Dongqiang’s house from over the wall.

The courtyard gate wasn’t large, just a common type made of square iron tubing.

The wall wasn’t high either, about four feet, and built from red bricks.

Peering over the wall, one could see the entire courtyard at a glance.

The main house faced south, with the kitchen on the east side.

Up on the mountain, the traditional houses had been wooden with black-tiled roofs, but after the relocation down to the foot of the mountain, they were all replaced with single-story brick houses.

They had been moved down in ’07, so the house was already ten years old.

The courtyard was paved with concrete and cluttered with all sorts of things.

There was a donkey cart, and in the southeast corner stood a donkey shed.

The donkey was lying in its shed, but it had been startled and was now staring at the group with wide eyes.

Li Xiaowen leaned over, scooped up a clump of donkey droppings directly from the shed, and handed it to a forensics technician.

Then he shot Shen Xin a look, gesturing for him to see.

Shen Xin saw it.

The donkey shed had an asbestos tile roof and was supported by wooden posts. Each post was set in a concrete-and-red-brick pier at its base.

A stone trough was placed along the north-south axis.

To the left and right of the shed, a few bricks were scattered about.

So, Duan Dongqiang might have just used what was at hand and grabbed a brick stained with donkey droppings.

Without hesitation, Li Xiaowen reached out, picked up another brick, and handed it to the forensics tech.

Later, they could perhaps compare the impurities in the brick with the residue found in the victim’s wounds.

But Shen Xin felt this still wasn’t conclusive evidence.

The bricks might not have been from the same batch, and even if they were, their material composition would likely differ.

’Most importantly, this wall is so low. If you can just reach over and pick one up, Duan Dongqiang could argue that anyone else could have done the same, right?’

Just then, Duan Dongqiang returned and asked what they wanted.

Li Xiaowen said, "You probably know we searched the village with a police dog this afternoon. You were out working at the time, so we’re just catching up now."

They had already come up with an excuse on the way over.

Shen Xin silently observed Duan Dongqiang, trying to find any sign of panic on his face.

Unfortunately, he found none.

’He’s either good at hiding it, or I just don’t have the skill to read micro-expressions.’

Hearing what Li Xiaowen said, Duan Dongqiang briskly opened the gate—it wasn’t locked, just bolted from the inside—and asked what they wanted to search.

Li Xiaowen was also observing him quietly. "Just a quick look around," he said. "It’ll be fast. We still have other places to search."

Duan Dongqiang grunted in acknowledgment and led the group inside.

Shen Xin led Tian Kui in a circle around Duan Dongqiang.

"Is he sniffing me?" Duan Dongqiang asked, a hint of nervousness in his voice.

Li Xiaowen nodded, explaining that it was mainly to confirm who had been to the crime scene.

Duan Dongqiang immediately said, "Well, I was there. I’m the one who called the police."

Shen Xin heard Tian Kui’s thoughts.

[Yes.]

’Meaning he has Zhang Kaiyong’s scent on him.’

’That’s normal. He was at the scene.’

Shen Xin then led Tian Kui on a brief sweep through the courtyard and the house. As they passed the donkey shed, he even had Tian Kui sniff around the donkey.

"That’s good enough," Shen Xin said, nodding at Li Xiaowen.

Li Xiaowen nodded and prepared to leave.

Duan Dongqiang saw them to the gate and even asked if that was all.

Seeing Li Xiaowen nod, Duan Dongqiang hesitated for a moment, latched the gate, and then, surprisingly, headed back toward Zhang Kaiyong’s house.

He was going back to watch the commotion.

Li Xiaowen stopped in his tracks and asked Shen Xin what he thought.

Shen Xin shook his head.

It was really hard to say.

Shen Xin had dealt with many criminals and found that they were nothing like the ones on TV.

You think criminals would be as panicked and repentant as they are in the shows?

Not necessarily.

People are different. Some are afraid, while others don’t give a second thought to something like murder. Why would they be scared?

So, the best course of action was to continue tracking.

They reached a fork in the road.

Shen Xin had instructed Tian Kui to follow the scent of Duan Dongqiang leaving, along with the scent of the donkey.

Duan Dongqiang had left with the donkey, and a donkey’s scent is quite strong.

Tian Kui hesitated for only a moment before heading in the direction leading out of the village.

Duan Dongqiang had gone out to work with his cart hitched up. Heading up the mountain was obviously not a realistic option.

The group immediately followed.

Once on the main road, Tian Kui turned right, in the direction of the town.

Along the way, Shen Xin periodically checked with Tian Kui to see if the scent of blood was still present.

But this wasn’t a reliable indicator, because Duan Dongqiang had entered the crime scene and helped carry the body, so he already had the scent of blood on him.

In the darkness, Tian Kui took off at a full sprint. After nearly three kilometers, he turned right onto a side road.

It was another mountain road. It wound around a mountain ahead, and in the distance, they could see lights that likely belonged to a village.

The terrain gradually began to rise.

The scent trail never broke. After another kilometer or so, they arrived at the entrance to this village.

The map showed its name was Wild Sheep Well Village.

But Tian Kui didn’t stop. He passed through the village and continued along the concrete road.

Shen Xin looked at the map and noticed there was another village ahead. A road on the map ran between two mountains and extended to the other side.

In fact, that village wasn’t far from Baijia Post as the crow flies; they were basically on opposite sides of the mountain range.

’If they just drilled a tunnel through, you could probably get there in no time.’

In the night, the great mountains on either side loomed like celestial gates, exuding a dark, oppressive feeling that was hard to put into words.

A single road twisted its way up through the mountains.

A donkey’s carrying capacity is decent, and it was pulling an empty cart. The slope here wasn’t as steep as the one near Baijia Post, so it should have been fine.

After cresting the mountain, the view opened up a bit, and they could see a faint glow at the foot of the mountain to their right front.

The mountain road underfoot snaked downward, hugging the large mountain to their right.

A car was following behind them, but Li Xiaowen hadn’t gotten in. He ran alongside Tian Kui, and by now, he was panting just as heavily as Shen Xin.

Staring at the distant mountains, Li Xiaowen suddenly said, "We’ve covered a good distance. If he was going to dispose of the murder weapon, wouldn’t he have thrown it away by now?"

Shen Xin didn’t say anything.

He just stared at the vast, sprawling mountains in the dark, feeling a sense of helplessness.

’If the murder weapon was a brick, he could have tossed it into any old nook or cranny along the way, and not even a god could find it.’

Shen Xin was also imagining a scenario.

For instance, what if Duan Dongqiang hid the weapon in his cart, brought it out here, and partway through his journey—in a deserted place like this ravine—he just casually tossed it into the mountains like a piece of trash, without even needing to stop the cart.

In that process, even though the weapon would have the scent of blood, Tian Kui wouldn’t be able to distinguish a scent trail left by something thrown through the air.

’So how would they find it?’

’Assume a middle-aged man nearing fifty could throw it thirty meters. Would they have to mark out a thirty-meter-wide search area on both sides of the road and then start looking?’

’Even with a thousand people searching, they’d never find it.’