Siheyuan: I am Banggeng's uncle

Chapter 968 Li Xianjin was tricked!
Li Xianjin immediately went to the matchmaker's house. When he returned to the branch office, it was already past noon. Li Xianjin, who was already a little hungry, learned that Zhou Tao had been brought back to the branch office. He didn't even bother to eat and quickly walked towards the interrogation room.

Soon Li Xianjin arrived at the interrogation room door. He pushed open the door, strode into the room, glanced at Zhou Tao sitting at the interrogation table, patted Jiang Guomin on the shoulder, and walked out of the interrogation room.

After Li Xianjin walked out of the interrogation room, he asked Jiang Guomin with a very serious expression, "Guomin! Did this guy confess?"

When Jiang Guomin heard Li Xianjin's question, he thought of Zhou Tao's nonchalant attitude during their interrogation and replied angrily, "Team leader! This guy is like a rock in a latrine, stinking and hard. No matter how we question him, he won't admit that he has seen Wen Wanhong, let alone that he is the murderer who raped and killed Wen Wanhong."

After listening to Gao Jiangguo's account, Li Xianjin, knowing that Zhou Tao was a recently released prisoner, wasn't surprised at all. He asked Jiangguo, "Guomin! Did you have someone thoroughly search this guy's house? Did you find any valuable clues?"

When Jiang Guomin heard Li Xianjin's question, and thinking about the results of their search of Zhou Tao's house, he replied with a frustrated look: "Team leader! This guy seemed to have anticipated that we would find out his identity sooner or later, and he thoroughly cleaned his house inside and out. When we searched his house, we didn't find any valuable clues at all."

Jiang Guomin's report made Li Xianjin even more certain that Zhou Tao was definitely the murderer who raped and killed Wen Wanhong. Otherwise, Zhou Tao wouldn't have cleaned his house for no reason. Faced with Jiang Guomin's report, Li Xianjin couldn't help but let out a cold laugh and said, "It's not the New Year or any festival now. Why would he suddenly clean his house? Isn't this just like trying to hide something? He's obviously trying to eliminate any clues Wen Wanhong left in his house."

"It seems this guy, in the seven years he served in prison, didn't learn any other skills, but he did learn how to deal with our criminal investigation methods," Li Xianjin said, pausing slightly before Jiang Guomin asked, "Guomin! Have you investigated Zhou Tao's family situation thoroughly?"

Upon hearing Li Xianjin's question, Jiang Guomin nodded subconsciously and reported respectfully, "Team Leader! We have retrieved the information about Zhou Tao's family from the police station where Zhou Tao's household registration is located. According to the information provided by the police station, Zhou Tao's parents passed away a long time ago, and he was raised by his eldest sister. However, his eldest sister passed away from illness the year after Zhou Tao was sentenced."

Upon hearing Jiang Guomin's report, Li Xianjin frowned. After pondering for a moment, he instructed Jiang Guomin, "Guomin! Have someone go to Wen Wanhong's house and get some of her usual clothes. I'll borrow a police dog from the Municipal Bureau. This afternoon, we'll take the dog to Zhou Tao's house again to see if we can find any valuable clues."

Upon learning of Li Xianjin's arrangement, Jiang Guomin's eyes lit up. He gave Li Xianjin a thumbs up and said with a smile, "Team Leader! Although Zhou Tao cleaned his house inside and out to clear up the evidence, the lingering smell of human bodies cannot be completely removed by cleaning alone. I will arrange for someone to go to Wen Wanhong's house now and get the clothes she is wearing."

Around 2 PM, Jiang Guomin and others, carrying Wen Wanhong's clothes and leading police dogs, arrived at Zhou Tao's house. Li Xianjin looked at the clean and tidy courtyard in front of him and smiled at the policeman leading the police dog beside him, saying, "Old Zhong! I'm leaving the rest to you and Hu Zi."

Police dog handler Lao Zhong, upon hearing Li Xianjin's words, replied with a smile: "Captain Li! As long as this is a crime scene, no matter how clean the murderer cleans it, he won't escape Tiger's nose."

In Li Xianjin's subconscious, since Zhou Tao had cut off Wen Wanhong's head, blood would have splattered everywhere in the process. Even if Zhou Tao used water to clean up the crime scene, the smell of blood would still be impossible to hide from the police dogs' noses.

Police dog handler Lao Zhong first let the police dog sniff Wen Wanhong's clothes, then led the dog towards the small courtyard. Once inside, the police dog immediately began sniffing around. Li Xianjin followed behind Lao Zhong, watching everything unfold before him, silently praying that they could find some valuable clues.

The police dog circled Zhou Tao's house but found no valuable clues. When Lao Zhong saw this, he frowned and led the police dog to the backyard.

The police dog entered the backyard and immediately reacted, barking at Old Zhong a few times before digging in the soil in front of a jujube tree.

Upon seeing the police dog's movements, Lao Zhong immediately shouted to Li Xianjin, "Captain Li! We've found something!"

Upon hearing Lao Zhong's shout, Li Xianjin immediately looked towards the location of the police dog. When he saw the police dog digging in the dirt, his face lit up with ecstatic joy. He quickly shouted to his subordinates, "Xiao Guo! Xiao Wang! Go get the tools and dig this place up for me!"

Upon hearing Li Xianjin's instructions, the two police officers immediately grabbed tools and began digging at the spot where the police dog had just been digging. Soon, a smell of soil mixed with the stench of blood wafted from the pit.

Upon smelling the blood mixed in with the soil, Li Xianjin said excitedly, "With such a strong smell of blood, Wen Wanhong's head must have been buried under here by Zhou Tao."

However, the greater the hope, the greater the disappointment! As the thing buried in the ground gradually revealed its true form, everyone realized that what was buried underground was not Wen Wanhong's head, but several dead rats.

Li Xianjin, who had been full of anticipation, was furious upon seeing this scene and recalling Zhou Tao's behavior in the interrogation room. He cursed, "That damned Zhou Tao, how dare he play us for fools?"

Trainer Lao Zhong was also surprised to find that what was buried under the tree were several dead rats. This undoubtedly made him very frustrated. He said apologetically to the exasperated Li Xianjin, "Captain Li! I thought Hu Zi had found a clue for you, but I didn't expect that what was buried underground was dead rats."

Upon hearing Lao Zhong's words, the furious Li Xianjin realized that he had just lost his temper. Looking at the dead rats in front of him and thinking about Zhou Tao's performance in the interrogation room, he had a feeling that it would not be easy for them to pry Zhou Tao's mouth and successfully solve the case.

(End of this chapter)