Animal Detective

Chapter 20: Case Halted
Zhang Jian's worst fears came true.

The three-day investigation ultimately yielded nothing.

Xianghong Village has 282 households, with a total population of over 8,400, including both locals and migrants. A thorough investigation was conducted, but no results were found.

This is a very large workload.

Xianghong Village has few local residents, but a large number of migrant workers.

Moreover, many residents have built private buildings to rent out, with more than a dozen households on each floor, which means there must be a lot of people.

Including the numerous shops of all sizes, Xianghong Village, with fewer than 300 households, has a population of over 8,000.

"Chief Song, I'm not afraid of being tired, I just feel this case was handled terribly!"

The main conference room of Yunlin Police Station.

Zhang Jian, who already had dark circles under his eyes and greasy hair, slammed his hand on the table and stood up abruptly.

After discussing the matter, Song Liang and Chen Chao decided to put the case on hold for the time being.

That led us to Fan Jie.

Let's pause for now.

The case will not be closed. The follow-up investigation will be transferred to the Criminal Investigation Brigade of the branch bureau, where Chen Chao and his team will continue to follow up.

With Zhang Jian's unwilling shout, the atmosphere in the conference room instantly became tense.

Sitting in the corner, Shen Xin felt a chill and dared not let his mind wander any further.

Zhang Jian felt humiliated, and so did Shen Xin.

The suspect he personally discovered also went to arrest the ringleader.

This was, in a sense, the first criminal case I had ever handled.

Shen Xin, who aspires to become a criminal investigator, also hopes to handle this case perfectly.

In a situation like this, where the real mastermind isn't caught but they're let go, who can feel good about it?

From Song Liang's perspective, his choice was not wrong.

Shen Xin could understand.

This is a police station, and criminal cases are handled as side jobs. If a major case like this, involving hundreds of thousands of yuan, hadn't initially fallen into the hands of the Yunlin Police Station and Fan Jie hadn't been arrested immediately, it would have been transferred long ago.

The real responsibility of the police station lies in dealing with the trivial matters in society.

Right now, Zhang Jian is taking several people out every day to investigate and visit, which means the police station has lost several key and elite personnel.

The workload was already heavy, and everyone had to work overtime, but now it's even worse.

Like Li Dongsheng, who was similar to Zhang Jian, he stayed up all night and got mouth ulcers and severe internal heat.

If all that effort is put in, and there's even a result, then so be it.

But there are no clues at all, and there is no hope of solving the case in the short term. What should we do? Should we just keep dragging this on?
The criminal investigation team is in charge of criminal cases and can spend a lot of time on one case, but the local police station can't.

Song Liang didn't want to share the credit, but given the current situation, he really had no choice.

Zhang Jian slammed his fist on the table, and Song Liang did the same.

“Zhang Jian, this is not the time for you to act like a hero. Nobody is happy with how the case turned out, but our police station can’t just focus on one case.”

“You want to continue, right? Fine, I don’t need you to give me any new clues. Just think of a new approach to the case. Captain Chen is here, so as long as he approves and thinks your approach is good, then you can continue.”

When handling a case, you need a clear strategy; without one, you're just wasting your time like a headless fly.

Zhang Jian stiffened his neck and remained silent.

During these past few days of investigation, his mind has been racing, but he still can't come up with any good solutions.

But just as Chen Chao was about to speak up and smooth things over, Zhang Jian suddenly shouted, "Yes, I have a clue! A cat! The suspect has a cat!"

"WTF?"

Song Liang was a little confused.

Zhang Jian was standing next to Wu Kaishan, who hurriedly reached under the table to pull him up.

He felt that Zhang Jian was really desperate and had no other choice, otherwise he wouldn't have brought up such a vague clue as stray cats.

Shen Xin was also startled.

In such a formal case analysis meeting, wouldn't mentioning this kind of clue make one seem unreliable?

I had just thought that when I was called out.

“It was Xiao Shen who discovered it. He found that when the suspect was living in Wu Zhicun’s house, he had fed a stray cat. I think this is a clue that we can investigate.” Zhang Jian suddenly turned his head and pointed to Shen Xin in the corner.

Instantly, everyone turned to look at Shen Xin. Shen Xin, embarrassed, covered his face.

Li Dongsheng, standing to the side, looked at Shen Xin with a mixture of amusement and exasperation.

Shen Xin is now inseparable from cats and dogs.

When Zhang Jian mentioned that the suspect kept a cat, Chen Chao instinctively wanted to ask what was going on. But when Zhang Jian explained that the suspect had fed a stray cat while renting the apartment, his eyes instantly filled with disappointment.

Disappointed with the clues, and also somewhat disappointed with Zhang Jian as a person.

“Zhang Jian, I understand how you feel. Some cases are like a thorn stuck in your throat. If you can’t figure it out, it’s so uncomfortable that it’s like your heart is being torn apart. But you still need to be rational when solving cases.”

"Okay, you said the suspect owns a stray cat. So how are you going to follow this lead? Are you going to find the stray cat and ask it where the suspect is?"

Chen Chao countered with a question.

Someone in the meeting room couldn't help but laugh.

Zhang Jian stood ramrod straight, his expression a mixture of embarrassment and anger.

Song Liang glared at him and scolded, "Zhang Jian, instead of wasting time looking for stray cats, you should work on Wu Zhicun. By the way..."

He suddenly looked up at Shen Xin in the corner and asked Wu Zhicun how things were going.

He knew that Zhang Jian required Shen Xin to clock in at work every day, essentially wasting time with the old man.

Everyone turned to look at Shen Xin again.

Many people looked at him with a hint of mockery.

After all, it was Shen Xin who discovered the clue about the stray cat.

The reason Tian Yongjun was discovered earlier was also because he was looking for stray cats.

These police officers, who should be working properly, are now dealing with stray cats and dogs every day.

Shen Xin quickly shook his head: "No, as soon as we mention the suspect, he just says one thing and tells us to put him in jail."

After three days of effort, I have gained absolutely nothing.

Song Liang had guessed this would be the outcome. He sighed, too lazy to argue with Zhang Jian any longer, and said directly, "Stop discussing it. I'll make a decision this time. Do as I say. Zhang Jian, organize the case files and records. Captain Chen will send someone to pick them up tomorrow. This case is over."

After saying that, he got up and left.

Chen Chao got up as well, and before leaving, he stopped next to Zhang Jian and patted him on the shoulder.

Zhang Jian shook off his hand, his face dark with anger.

Everyone left one after another.

Li Dongsheng's eyes were red; he had stayed up all night again, but he still grabbed Shen Xin and whispered his instructions.

"Shen Xin, don't focus on cats and dogs. You've already submitted your application for early promotion, right? It should be approved soon. Then you'll be a full-fledged police officer. The important thing is to learn more, observe more, and improve your professional skills."

Shen Xin nodded in agreement.

Li Dongsheng then turned and left.

Shen Xin didn't dare to stay any longer. Although he felt regretful, he could understand Song Liang's actions.

He even breathed a sigh of relief.

For the past three days, he's been arguing with Wu Zhicun every day, and the old man seems to be getting annoyed too. He's been giving Shen Xin the cold shoulder every day and saying particularly harsh things.

They said Shen Xin wasn't doing anything productive, that he wasn't looking for the murderer who killed his grandson, and that he was just wasting his time with him. They called him a good-for-nothing and useless.

Just as I was about to go downstairs, my shoulder suddenly felt heavy as someone grabbed me.

Turning my head, I saw Zhang Jian!
With red eyes, he pulled Shen Xin into a corner and said in a deep voice, "Shen Xin, don't you still want to give up?"

Sensing that Zhang Jian's tone was off, Shen Xin had no choice but to nod in agreement.

“But Captain Zhang, this case is about to be transferred out. Even if we don’t want to give up, there’s nothing we can do,” Shen Xin said.

"Who says there's no way?"

Zhang Jian snorted coldly: "The case won't be transferred until tomorrow, so it's still under our jurisdiction for now. We still have time!"

"Go get the car, we're going to Wu Zhicun's place. I'm determined to get some clues out of him today!"

He said this through gritted teeth.

Shen Xin's heart pounded wildly; his first thought was that Zhang Jian was going to do something reckless.

Before she could persuade him, Zhang Jian dragged her downstairs.

(End of this chapter)