Animal Detective

"Second, there were no obvious signs of impact on the body, and the autopsy also proved that the deceased drowned while conscious."

Zhao Tianxing’s eyes widened. "So you think it was just an accident?"

Ding Yuwei’s confidence faltered. "I didn’t say that."

As she spoke, she subconsciously turned to look at Shen Xin.

Their eyes met, and Shen Xin felt she probably already had an answer.

But she couldn’t be sure.

Zhao Tianxing also turned to look at Shen Xin. "Shen Xin, you’re the team leader. What do you think?"

"What do I think?"

Shen Xin leaned back in his chair, looked up at the ceiling for a moment, and then said suddenly, "Brother Xing, do you have Yang Zeran’s number?"

"Who?"

The sudden jump in topic caught Zhao Tianxing off guard.

Shen Xin sat up straight. "Yang Zeran."

Zhao Tianxing paused for a moment, then nodded.

The officers’ numbers were public, so of course he had it.

"Give it to me. I’m going to give him a call."

Shen Xin asked for the number.

Zhao Tianxing wondered why he was calling Yang Zeran.

He wasn’t one of them yet.

Shen Xin said, "What kind of question is that? He’s a top criminal investigation student from the Public Security University. The case details are unclear. Is it a problem if I consult him?"

Zhao Tianxing was speechless and pulled out his phone to find the number.

Once he got the number, Shen Xin immediately dialed.

The call connected quickly. Yang Zeran’s cold voice came from the other end, asking who it was.

"It’s me, Shen Xin, from the Cold Case Office. We’ve met."

Shen Xin introduced himself, then asked if Yang Zeran was busy.

The guy was incredibly cold, simply telling him to get to the point.

Shen Xin said, "Here’s the deal. I have a case, and I’d like your guidance, your opinion."

At the mention of a case, the person on the other end hesitated for a moment, then asked, "A cold case?"

Shen Xin said, "That’s right. If you’re free, come over to the Lishan Branch. I’ll be waiting for you here. Oh, and I’ll treat you to lunch."

Yang Zeran was silent for a moment, then said, "Wait, it’s your case. Why are you looking for me?"

Shen Xin immediately retorted, "Come on, you’re with the main detachment. You have a duty to provide guidance on cases. So if there’s a case, there’s no problem with asking you to take a look, right?"

This left Yang Zeran speechless.

Over the phone, he seemed to mull it over, wanting to argue but unable to find a good reason. Finally, he said, "Fine. I’ll be there in half an hour."

"Great. I’ll be waiting."

Shen Xin hung up the phone.

Zhao Tianxing asked, puzzled, "Shen Xin, why did you call him? He’s not even one of us yet."

Shen Xin said, "He isn’t now, but if he passes the evaluation, then he will be."

Shen Xin felt this case was absolutely perfect.

It was a perfect opportunity to test Yang Zeran’s professional skills.

If he read the case file and didn’t reach a conclusion right away, Shen Xin would really have to question his abilities as a top criminal investigation student from the Public Security University.

Yang Zeran was a cold person by nature.

But he wasn’t one to procrastinate. He said he’d arrive in half an hour, and half an hour later, he really showed up.

After seeing Shen Xin, he wore an all-business expression and asked directly about the case’s situation.

Shen Xin had him sign the case file checkout log first, then handed him the file.

He then pushed the evidence box over. "The physical evidence is all here, too. Take a look."

Yang Zeran glanced at Shen Xin, not knowing what he was up to, but since it was a case, he sat down and began to read the file seriously.

He read very quickly.

He would occasionally get up to examine the physical evidence and cross-reference it.

All in all, it only took him a little over ten minutes to finish the file.

Then he picked up the physical evidence and examined it carefully.

After looking through everything, he thought for a moment, then gave Shen Xin a strange look and asked in return, "What did you guys think?"

Before Shen Xin could speak, Zhao Tianxing cut in, "Never mind what we think. This is a test for you."

A test?

Yang Zeran was taken aback. He glanced at the file again and said in a low voice, "Actually, the conclusion Lishan reached isn’t wrong. Hou Shishi is not a suspect."

"And there’s no second murderer. But I don’t think Lin Zenghui’s drowning was an accident. I think he was..."

At this point, Yang Zeran paused, biting his lip, his gaze hesitant.

"By what?" Shen Xin prompted.

Yang Zeran gritted his teeth and said, "He was... dragged into the water by a dolphin and drowned."

After saying this, his expression became a little unnatural, as if he was very embarrassed.

Ding Yuwei looked at Shen Xin.

But Zhao Tianxing immediately said, "Hold on, you can’t just say a dolphin killed him because he was bitten on the arm by one."

"Why would it? Did he not feed the dolphin properly, or did he abuse it?"

Zhao Tianxing’s retort made Yang Zeran even more uncomfortable.

He also seemed to feel that his conclusion was out of place, but he gritted his teeth and said, "I know this conclusion is outrageous and sounds impossible."

"But the evidence is right here. There were no traces of a second person at the scene, and the autopsy proved Hou Shishi couldn’t have committed the crime."

"And a check of the deceased’s social circle didn’t turn up any suspects with a motive."

"Therefore, once you eliminate the impossible, whatever remains, no matter how improbable, must be the truth."

"The deceased was drowned by a dolphin."

Yang Zeran looked up, his gaze firm.

Zhao Tianxing rolled his eyes at him and said speechlessly, "The truth? And who are you, Sherlock Holmes?"

Yang Zeran shot Zhao Tianxing a glare but ignored him, looking instead to Shen Xin to ask what he had to say.

"I think you’re right."

Shen Xin immediately began to applaud.

’As expected of a top student. He reached a conclusion immediately after reading the file.’

Actually, Shen Xin had the same idea when he saw the autopsy report.

And after reading the entire case file, Shen Xin became even more certain that a dolphin had dragged Lin Zenghui into the water and drowned him.

Just as Yang Zeran said, when you eliminate all the impossible scenarios, whatever is left, no matter how incredible, must be the truth.

Also, Shen Xin was sure that Gao Kun and his team must have also considered this possibility.

The man had been on the force for over a decade, with so much experience. What kind of strange case hadn’t he encountered? It was impossible for him not to have thought of it.

But they didn’t dare to reach that conclusion.

They hadn’t even finished the investigation when Ye Xinyi ran over and killed Hou Shishi.

If they then came out and said a dolphin was the killer, what would both families think?

And Ding Yuwei, she must have thought of this possibility too.

She’d been through several animal-related cases with him; it was impossible that she hadn’t developed this kind of intuition.

"No way."

Zhao Tianxing yelped, his eyes wide. "Shen Xin, you also think a dolphin did it? Why? How are you going to prove it?"

Shen Xin looked at Yang Zeran and said, "Exactly. The question is how to prove it. Yang Zeran, help me think. How do we prove that a dolphin killed Lin Zenghui?"

’My evaluation actually has two steps.’

’Step one: verify Yang Zeran’s logical analysis skills, as well as his decisiveness in daring to speak the truth.’

’And step two is how to prove it.’

’This step will definitely stump him.’

’But it happens to be my specialty, a perfect opportunity to show off my own abilities in front of Yang Zeran.’

’That way, he won’t be so arrogant about his talents and refuse to accept me as his team leader.’

That was why Shen Xin felt this case was so perfect. It was baffling but not mind-breaking—the perfect sweet spot.

Sure enough, as soon as the question was thrown out, Yang Zeran was completely stumped.