Animal Detective-Chapter 64: Deny to the Death

Sun Zhao interjected.

"I remember that case. The main issue was that Li Shanjie refused to admit he was the one who blinded Zhang Qin."

Zhang Jian nodded. This was why he’d said the case was awkward to handle.

"After the local station responded, the case was transferred to the sub-bureau. I went to the scene to check it out."

"The place was a complete mess."

"According to Zhang Qin, Li Shanjie came home from work that evening. Someone must have told him they saw her having a rendezvous with Chen Zhongyuan at the nearby riverside park."

"So Li Shanjie beat her again. During the assault, he grabbed her head and slammed it against the ground."

He gestured to demonstrate.

"At the time, they were having a meal. Li Shanjie had been drinking, and the more he drank, the angrier he got. He smashed a liquor bottle on the floor and started beating Zhang Qin."

"And then, by a terrible coincidence, a shard of glass from the bottle pierced Zhang Qin’s left eye."

"Afterward, Zhang Qin was taken to the hospital. Her left eye was blind, and her injuries were classified as severe. Li Shanjie was quickly brought in and sentenced to five years."

"Then, just as Captain Sun said, Li Shanjie only admitted to beating Zhang Qin after coming home from work. He denied grabbing her head and slamming it on the ground. He even claimed that Zhang Qin fought back and that during the struggle, she pushed him down, causing him to hit his head on the corner of a table and pass out."

"By the time he came to, Zhang Qin’s eye was already blind, and the police had arrived."

Hearing this, Shen Xin’s first thought was, ’What a flimsy excuse.’

Domestic violence doesn’t usually result in a prison sentence. The man is only detained if the woman requests it.

But blinding Zhang Qin was intentional injury. That meant jail time.

To avoid prison, Li Shanjie had every reason to make excuses and refuse to confess.

Zhang Jian continued, "We conducted a detailed investigation of the scene. The injuries on Zhang Qin’s body, the impact wound on Li Shanjie’s head—all the evidence lined up with Zhang Qin’s statement."

"The key issue was that Li Shanjie kept proclaiming his innocence, vehemently denying that he blinded Zhang Qin."

"Personally, I’m inclined to believe he was just making excuses."

"Seriously, you guys have no idea how brutally Zhang Qin was beaten. That bastard might look clean-cut, but he’s a monster."

"Once, he even bought an iron chain and locked Zhang Qin in the bathroom for days, like a dog, claiming it was to stop her from going out to cheat on him."

"And don’t even get me started on the injuries on her body. It was just new wounds layered over old scars. It was painful just to look at."

No one spoke.

Shen Xin was also listening, furious.

’A true devil walking the earth!’

Zhang Jian sighed and said, "Back then, I couldn’t figure it out either. ’What is wrong with Zhang Qin?’ I wondered. ’Just get a divorce! She’s so beautiful, she could easily start over.’"

Sun Zhao raised a hand, cutting Zhang Jian off.

"Get to the point."

The case was in the past. There was no use talking about this stuff now.

Zhang Jian said, "Anyway, the chain of evidence was complete. Even though Li Shanjie never admitted to it, he was ultimately prosecuted and sentenced to five years."

"I remember he didn’t have a good relationship with his father, either. His dad also had a terrible temper. According to the neighbors, he used to drink and beat his wife when he was younger."

"He did have an aunt, though, who seemed to be good to him. While we were handling the case, his aunt came to the sub-bureau several times. She said she knew her nephew had a bad temper and had hit Zhang Qin. She’d tried to talk to him, but he wouldn’t listen."

"But she believed Li Shanjie wouldn’t do something so serious."

Shen Xin almost scoffed.

’Easy for her to say.’

’Could a "bad temper" really explain six years of domestic abuse?’

’And what’s this about "not doing something so serious"?’

The more someone is unable to control their emotions, the more likely they are to commit a crime.

At least seventy percent of crimes are committed in moments of extreme emotional breakdown.

And when they act, they don’t know how to hold back.

"Captain Sun, I think we should try talking to his aunt. She’s the mother of the van’s owner, Li Jiuliang. Her name is... Li Fenglan."

Sun Zhao nodded and waved a hand at Shen Xin, gesturing for him to go find her immediately.

Shen Xin hurried out the door.

’This kind of grunt work is definitely a job for a rookie like me.’

Shen Xin used the handheld PDA in his police car to look up Li Fenglan’s household registration information. Her most recent address was in Guojing Garden, right within the Yunlin Police Station’s jurisdiction.

’That makes things easier.’

Household registrations don’t normally list phone numbers. To get a phone number, they’d have to go through official channels and request it from the telecom company.

At a time like this, it was much faster to just go to her door.

Shen Xin sent a message directly to the station’s work group chat, asking who was patrolling near Guojing Garden.

There were teams on patrol duty at night.

And there was someone: Lao Lin from the public security team.

As Shen Xin got in his car and started driving toward International Garden, he called Lao Lin and told him to hurry over to Li Fenglan’s place.

Then they would drive toward each other and meet up, saving a lot of time.

Li Shanjie had already been holding the hostages for two hours. God only knew when he might lose control.

Lao Lin knew what kind of case Shen Xin was working on, so he didn’t ask any questions and went immediately.

A little over ten minutes later, Shen Xin picked up Li Fenglan near Xinyuan Road.

She wasn’t young—already 63—with short hair. She was only wearing pajamas and had clearly been asleep.

With her was a young man, nervously supporting Li Fenglan.

It was Li Jiuliang, the one who had lent the van to Li Shanjie.

When they had previously identified him as the van’s owner, they hadn’t gone to his house to investigate, wanting to avoid tipping off Li Shanjie and spooking him. Plus, time was tight.

So he still didn’t know what was happening. The moment he got into Shen Xin’s police car, he started asking questions nonstop.

Shen Xin turned on the siren and sped down the road in the early morning hours.

This scene clearly frightened the mother and son.

"Li Shanjie has taken Zhang Qin and another person hostage. Our investigation shows that you have a good relationship with him. We’re hoping you can come to the scene and talk him down," Shen Xin said, getting straight to the point.

The moment she heard "hostage," Li Fenglan’s vision went dark, and she looked like she was about to faint.

"That boy, how could he be so foolish? He just got out!" Li Fenglan slapped her thigh in distress.

Li Jiuliang tried to comfort his mother while cursing, "I knew something was up when he suddenly wanted to drink with me and borrow the van. What was that guy thinking? It’s all in the past, he even did his time. Why go looking for Zhang Qin again?"

Shen Xin wanted to use the opportunity to ask about the specific details of the case.

But he thought better of it.

The incident had already happened. The hostages had already been taken. What was the use of discussing all that now?

The key now was to find a way to rescue the hostages and prevent a tragedy.

So Shen Xin used the time to quickly brief the mother and son, explaining the gravity of the situation and expressing his hope that they would do their best to talk Li Shanjie down.

The two of them nodded repeatedly.

It was clear that Li Fenglan cared a great deal about her nephew.

Soon, Shen Xin returned to the No. 1 Cotton Mill with the two of them.

The sub-bureau’s political commissar, Yang Fuming, had already arrived.

Shen Xin was surprised to see that SWAT had been deployed. Sun Zhao and the others had also moved from the guard post to a position outside the dyeing workshop deeper inside, where they were discussing something tensely.

Shen Xin quickly introduced Li Fenglan. Yang Fuming immediately stepped forward to shake her hand, thanking her for arriving so promptly.

Shen Xin then went over to Chen Chao’s side and asked what was going on.

Before, they had only set up a perimeter and hadn’t alerted Li Shanjie.

But now, they had clearly been discovered.

"Don’t even ask," Chen Chao said, completely exasperated. "Li Shanjie called the police. He said he wants to see us."

Shen Xin was instantly stunned as well.

’He called the police? Seriously?’