Animal Detective

Chapter 25 Absurd Reality

After praising Shen Xin, Chen Chao's attitude became much more amiable.

A smile appeared on his usually tense face.

He led Shen Xin into the police station, asking as they walked, "Little Shen, let me test you. What crime should Li Jin be charged with in this situation?"

Shen Xin recalled the thick criminal law textbook he had taken at the police academy.

"Captain Chen, shouldn't we classify him as an accomplice to theft?"

Since Li Jin provided the tools for the crime, he can definitely be considered an accomplice in the theft.

Chen Chao nodded and then asked if any other crimes could be charged.

This stumped Shen Xin.

After racking my brains for a while, I actually came up with an idea.

"Article 285 of the Criminal Law, the crime of providing programs or tools for intruding into or illegally controlling computer information systems, Captain Chen, can we also charge you with this crime?"

Modern smart electric vehicles also have dedicated systems, which are essentially computer information system programs.

Since Li Jin developed the cracking program, it can definitely be categorized under this category.

"Not bad, looks like you studied really hard at the police academy," Chen Chao praised again.

I'm finding Shen Xin more and more pleasing to the eye.

The fact that Shen Xin was able to speak at least proves that he didn't just coast through his time at the police academy; he genuinely studied hard.

He stopped again, took out a cigarette, and handed one to Shen Xin.

"I won't."

Shen Xin quickly shook his head.

"Great." Chen Chao praised again, lit a cigarette for himself, and then asked, "Xiao Shen, now that we've found Li Jin and brought him back, what's your plan for the next step—how ​​should we proceed and secure the evidence?"

This time, Shen Xin truly felt that Chen Chao was testing him.

After carefully going through the whole case in his mind, Shen Xin suddenly frowned.

"Captain Chen, is this case going to be difficult to handle?"

“Look, Li Jin has such a high level of counter-surveillance awareness. He registered a QQ account using Wu Zhicun’s identity information. All his communications are online, and he handles cash transactions. He’s such a cautious person, I don’t think he would deposit large sums of cash directly into a bank.”

Although 20 yuan is not a lot, and you don't necessarily need to provide proof of income to deposit money in a bank, Li Jin probably wouldn't want to put it in the bank and cause himself trouble, just to be on the safe side.

"Then he never met Fan Jie. If I were him, I would probably destroy the cracking system he developed. In that case, there would be no direct evidence to prove that he was related to the cracking software."

"Most importantly, I think he could completely pin all the crimes on Wu Zhicun, and even..."

At this point, Shen Xin, as if it were a natural progression, thought of a possibility: "Captain Chen, do you think Wu Zhicun might take the blame for Li Jin?"

His reaction when he left Wu Zhicun's house earlier clearly showed that he cared a lot about Li Jin.

He's the kind of person who's always talking about retiring in prison and doesn't care about dying, but he might actually step forward and take all the blame for Li Jin's crimes.

Even more so, thinking about it more deeply.

Li Jin took the initiative to curry favor with Wu Zhicun, buying him expensive mobile phones and headphones, and using his personal information. It is possible that from the beginning, he planned to make Wu Zhicun a scapegoat.

He even took advantage of Wu Zhicun's love for his grandson, making him conceal his information and forcing the police to help him find his grandson, thereby achieving his goal of completely hiding himself.

Because he knew that Wu Jiawang had been missing for seven years and it was impossible for him to find him again.

He may have been using Wu Zhicun from beginning to end.

Poor Wu Zhicun still thought Li Jin was a good person.

If he ultimately steps forward to take the blame for Li Jin and exonerate him, then Li Jin would be incredibly capable; he'd be a criminal genius.

As Shen Xin was thinking, he looked up and found Chen Chao staring at him with a surprised look.

"Captain Chen, did I say something wrong?" Shen Xin felt uneasy and nervous under that gaze.

That seems reasonable.

Chen Chao snapped out of his daze, threw away his cigarette butt, and said, "Xiao Shen, it's good that you have ideas, but I feel like you're overthinking things."

He paused for a moment, then asked Shen Xin if he particularly liked watching crime-solving or detective-themed TV dramas.

"Yes, I really enjoy watching them, both domestic and international ones."

Shen Xin nodded.

How could someone who dreams of becoming a criminal investigator not like this type of TV drama?

"No wonder." Chen Chao looked enlightened and then said, "Xiao Shen, you can't take movies and TV shows seriously. They're all made up, especially those criminals. They look so smart and their methods are so sophisticated that it's impossible to find any evidence."

"That's not actually the case at all."

Chen Chao, a heavy smoker, lit another cigarette and said, "Over the years, I've handled hundreds of cases, big and small. To be honest, the criminal suspects are just ordinary people, and ordinary people aren't as smart as they are in movies and TV shows."

"Something like what you did, premeditated, using Wu Zhicun to take the blame for you, that's just a plot in movies and TV dramas, it's almost impossible in real life."

"And Li Jin, don't think he's too smart either."

At this point, Chen Chao raised an eyebrow slightly and said, "I think he's quite similar to you. He probably also likes watching all kinds of crime-solving TV dramas. After watching so many, he feels that he can imitate the methods of committing crimes in them."

"He has a certain level of counter-surveillance awareness, which has caused us a lot of trouble in solving the case, but reality is reality, and some things are not as simple as they are in movies and TV dramas."

"Just like you said, Wu Zhicun took the blame for Li Jin."

"He's an old man in his sixties, and he's blind. Let alone developing high-tech hacking tools, he probably can't even turn on a computer. If he takes the blame, does he think we're fools, or the judge is fools?"

Shen Xin suddenly realized.

Her face instantly turned red.

Indeed, I had been making some assumptions. Just like Chen Chao said, I subconsciously thought about problems based on the plots in movies and TV dramas, but reality is not that complicated at all.

"Xiao Shen, if you really want to be a criminal police officer in the future, that's fine, keep that idea, but honestly, you can't think too much about it."

"The vast majority of criminals, and even victims, are not as smart as you think. Let me tell you about a case I personally experienced."

Chen Chao simply pulled Shen Xin down to sit, and then continued, "Back in 07, our bureau handled a case involving a rape. The perpetrator followed the victim and broke in when she opened the door."

"The woman reacted quickly, rushed into the bedroom and locked the door. The criminal tried kicking the door and prying the lock from the outside, but couldn't open it. And then, guess what?"

Shen Xin thought for a moment. Since Chen Chao brought up this case, there must be a twist.

"Did he pretend to leave, and then the woman thought he was gone and opened the door herself?"

Chen Chao shook his head and said, "No, you're still thinking too much about how clever the criminals are. But you're half right."

As he spoke, he himself wore an absurd expression: "The criminal was so anxious that he cried. A grown man, crying? Can you believe it?"

Shen Xin's eyes widened.

Is it true that a vicious criminal cried because he couldn't break down a door?

"What's even more outrageous is that this criminal not only cried, but also told the victim through the door how miserable he was, how his wife had run away, how his job was not going well, and in short, how miserable he was."

"And guess what? The victim actually felt sorry for the perpetrator and opened the door himself."

"Then you think the criminal had a change of heart, no, he raped the victim."

"Isn't that incredible?"

Chen Chao countered with a question, then said, "But that's reality. It's far more absurd than you imagine. Believe it or not, this case will be closed very soon."

Shen Xin agreed with Chen Chao's opinion, but after thinking about Li Jin's calm reaction at the tech company, he shook his head.

I have a feeling that Li Jin is not simple.

(End of this chapter)