Animal Detective

Chapter 41 Why don't we dig it up and take a look?
Chen Chao remembered his master telling him this during a casual chat.

Ordinary criminal police officers need to have the drive of a slow bird that flies first.

Take this murder case for example. We should investigate it according to the most basic procedure: first, find out the source of the body and confirm the identity of the deceased. Then, we should investigate the social relationships of the deceased, including love, money, and revenge. Ninety-nine percent of murder cases fall within these three categories.

Then don't think of yourself as Sherlock Holmes or a detective from movies and TV shows. Just run around, don't be afraid of hardship or fatigue, and diligently investigate every clue thoroughly.

Ninety-nine percent of cases can be solved using this method.

Chen Chao was bound to ask, "What makes a good criminal investigator?"

At that time, my mentor laughed and said, "Is that even a question? A good detective is just like the detective in movies and TV shows."

Just like you have to work hard to do practice problems, get up at five o'clock and go to bed at ten o'clock to get a high score.

But geniuses are different. They can tell the answer at a glance and easily get scores you wouldn't even dare to dream of.

Humans are just smart and have ideas.

My master has encountered such people before, and he said they possess a way of thinking that goes against the norm.

Their thinking is very agile; they can instinctively make bold speculations and predictions based on existing clues.

Often, they rely on intuition to solve cases.

Now, after hearing Shen Xin's bold speculation, Chen Chao inexplicably recalled his master's argument.

He looked at Shen Xin with surprise, feeling that Shen Xin had such an instinctive intuition.

If you see a dog guarding a grave, it seems reasonable to assume that it is protecting its owner and keeping watch over them.

But even with a hundred years, one might not necessarily come to this seemingly reasonable and logical conclusion.

But Shen Xin has this innate intuition, and can naturally make this connection.

Chen Chao felt that this was probably the kind of talent his master had been talking about.

And this ability isn't limited to this one instance.

There have been similar cases before.

During the case handover meeting, Zhang Jian said that Shen Xin had found a new clue: Li Jin had fed a stray cat.

Like everyone else, I thought I was joking when I said what I said.

But Shen Xin has a natural intuition that allows him to make a realistic deduction that he suspects Li Jin is still feeding the stray cat.

As it turned out, he was right; it was this stray cat that led him to Li Jin.

So let's return to the current deduction.

Chen Chao hesitated for a moment and then asked, "Shen Xin, how confident are you?"

Without any concrete clues, only guesses and inferences, it's inappropriate to dig up someone's ancestral grave!

"Captain Chen, what you're saying is true. I just have this suspicion, but I'm not sure at all," Shen Xin said with a wry smile.

In the past few days, I have had many speculations about Wu Jiawang's disappearance.

Then, seeing Lele's unusual behavior, a thought struck him, and he made this bold guess.

How could I dare to talk about being certain?

"How about we dig it open and take a look?" Shen Xin asked tentatively.

Whether it exists or not, we'll find out once we dig it up.

"Stop messing around." Chen Chao glared at him.

Police officers, are you kidding me for digging up people's ancestral graves?
"I'm asking you, what is Article 302 of the Criminal Law?" Chen Chao pressed.

Shen Xin shrank back and said with an awkward laugh, "Captain Chen, I was just saying that."

Article 302 of the Criminal Law stipulates that theft, insult, or intentional destruction of corpses, remains, or ashes are punishable by imprisonment for up to three years, detention, or public surveillance.

If you think I only dug and looked at the body without insulting it, that's fine. There's still Article 293 of the Criminal Law, the crime of provoking trouble, waiting for you.

Not to mention that he is a public official and a police officer.

"Then pretend I didn't say anything, Captain Chen, let's go." It's all just my speculation; without digging it up, I definitely can't confirm it.

Let's just consider this my wild guess.

There is another way. Shen Xin's gaze fell on Lele.

I could easily take the dog back and try to raise the icon's favorability level to the second stage, at which point I could listen to his inner thoughts.

For example, if he runs to the grave and lies down, thinking, "Master, I'm here again," then it's almost certain.

Not at all.

How am I supposed to tell Chen Chao later? If I say that I heard the dog's inner voice, and he says that Wu Jiawang is lying in the grave, Chen Chao will definitely think I'm crazy.

Unexpectedly, when Shen Xin said to leave, Chen Chao didn't move.

He crossed his arms and carefully examined the tomb. Shen Xin's conjecture seemed to have planted some evil thought in his mind, and it began to grow uncontrollably.

The more he thought about it, the more reasonable his speculation seemed.

"Xiao Shen."

He waved to Shen Xin, signaling him not to rush off, and then said, "Think about it, Wu Jiawang was already 8 years old when he went missing. At that age, what wouldn't he know? Normally, human traffickers wouldn't abduct a child that old."

"Of course, as Zhao Shouchuan said, there are cases where people are abducted, have their legs broken, and are forced to beg. But those traffickers usually look for targets in remote rural areas and rarely commit crimes in cities."

“When our branch received this case, we initially considered the possibility of homicide, but given the Wu family’s situation, there were no complicated social relationships, so we gradually ruled out that possibility.”

Who would have such a deep grudge against a lonely old man, or even a blind man, that they would kill his only grandson to vent their anger?

The Wu family has a good reputation in Xianghong Village.

"But looking back now, I think your theory that Wu Jiawang was accidentally hit and killed is a fairly reasonable speculation."

“If someone is hit and killed, dealing with the body is very troublesome. Burying it is a big problem. Zhang Jian said that this area is quite developed. Seven years have passed, and the probability of the body not being found is really small.”

"But, as you said, if the suspect really did have a sudden inspiration to bury the body in his own ancestral grave, then let alone seven years, it wouldn't be discovered even in ten years if the grave remained untouched."

Who would bother digging up graves? It's bad luck.

But precisely because of this, graves are the best place to bury corpses.

As he spoke, he came to the graves and carefully observed the two graves.

They probably wanted to check for any signs of disturbing the grave.

But seven years have passed, and it's no longer recognizable.

He took a few steps back, looked at the tombstone, and remained silent.

Shen Xin understood as well. Chen Chao seemed to agree with his guess, but had some concerns.

Because there is no concrete evidence.

Shen Xin couldn't help but wonder, if it's inconvenient for him to dig, what if someone else did?

And I do have someone in mind.

Shen Xin couldn't help but look at Chen Chao.

He happened to look over as well, and their eyes met, a silent understanding blossoming between them.

Chen Chao shuddered and immediately shook his head, saying, "Don't be silly. Some things are not something you can do just because you think you can. Wu Zhicun is blind. He inexplicably came over and dug up a grave. There's no way to explain it."

Shen Xin said "Oh," and sure enough, Chen Chao had the same idea as him.

Shen Xin was thinking, "Wu Zhicun, you've been shouting that you're not afraid of death, so you dig it up and take full responsibility."

"Captain Chen, what should we do?" Shen Xin was at his wit's end.

"Fool."

Chen Chao placed his hand on Shen Xin's shoulder and said, "I told you before, don't always think about the crime-solving mindset in movies and TV dramas and ignore the most basic crime-solving methods."

He pointed to the tombstone.

“You suspect this ancestral grave, so let’s investigate it. Investigate the Gao family. If we find any connection between them and Wu Jiawang, then we’ll have a clue.”

Shen Xin's eyes lit up as he looked at the names of the people who co-signed the tombstone.

Yup!

This is the most normal approach to investigating a case.

(End of this chapter)