Animal Detective

Assaulting a police officer, premeditated murder. He was in deep trouble.

Shen Xin quickly changed his clothes, then rose to his feet. "Let’s go."

More than anything, Shen Xin wanted to know why Li Fusen had tried to kill him.

Li Fusen was taken to the hospital for an examination.

Yuexiao’s impact had left him with cracked ribs.

While they were waiting, Zhang Hancheng arrived as well.

Shen Xin had reported his plan to him. It carried a certain degree of risk, but Zhang Hancheng had approved it after some consideration.

He’d approved it because he never thought it would actually happen. He didn’t think Li Fusen was crazy enough to murder a police officer.

But now, it had actually happened.

Zhang Hancheng watched through a window as a doctor fitted Li Fusen with a chest brace. In a grave voice, he said, "Gao Kun, I want you to get to the very bottom of this case."

Lin Zenghui; Hou Shishi, who was run down and killed; Ye Xinyi, who was on death row; and now Li Fusen, who had tried to murder a cop.

One case. Four lives.

Gao Kun nodded, his expression just as grave.

Once his injuries were treated, Li Fusen was taken back to the Lishan Branch.

He was to be interrogated overnight.

His home had already been searched, but nothing was found.

As Shen Xin prepared to interrogate Li Fusen himself, he only grew more confused.

There was no evidence, so what was he so afraid of? What could make him afraid enough to plot the murder of a cop that very same day?

But regardless, he had put himself in harm’s way and gotten iron-clad proof.

Shen Xin and Ding Yuwei pushed open the door to the interrogation room.

Li Fusen appeared relatively calm.

He turned on the video recorder and asked the standard opening question—his name.

No response.

Shen Xin simply turned the laptop screen toward him and began playing the footage from the action camera.

After one playthrough, Li Fusen still showed no reaction.

Without a word, Shen Xin played it a second time.

This time, Li Fusen immediately looked away, unable to watch.

"Why?" Shen Xin asked.

Li Fusen subconsciously started to speak, but Shen Xin cut him off sharply. "Don’t tell me it was an accident, or that you were trying to save me."

Shen Xin tapped the laptop screen, his voice grave. "This isn’t a rescue. This is murder."

"You tampered with my oxygen tank, then sent me to the deep end to clean the pool. You calculated the time so that just as I was running out of air and trying to surface, you could rush over, block my ascent, and try to drown me."

"It’s all on video. You tried to kill a police officer. That’s a heinous crime, and I can tell you right now what the consequences will be."

Shen Xin stared directly at Li Fusen and asked again, "So, why?"

The air in the interrogation room grew heavy.

In the observation room next door, Zhang Hancheng and the others stared at Li Fusen, their eyes glued to the monitor.

For a long time, Li Fusen didn’t respond. After what felt like an eternity, his gaze finally focused, and he lifted his head to stare straight at Shen Xin.

They locked eyes for nearly ten full seconds before Li Fusen spoke. "The look in your eyes."

Shen Xin was taken aback. ’What the hell?’

Li Fusen continued to stare intently at Shen Xin. "Because the way you look at me... it’s exactly the same as Lin Zenghui. As if you’re looking at a monster."

"I!"

Li Fusen pointed at himself, his eyes wide. "I am a monster."

"And I couldn’t stand it."

Li Fusen’s fists clenched, his gaze turning vicious. "I had to kill you. I can’t let anyone else know that I’m a monster."

"You have to die!"

Li Fusen stared intently at Shen Xin.

That morning, when Shen Xin had turned his head and looked at him in surprise...

Something, like a shadow that could never be shaken off, had once again surfaced in Li Fusen’s mind.

At that moment, he hadn’t been entirely sure.

But afterward, as Shen Xin looked at him with that same gaze, again and again...

Li Fusen was certain. Shen Xin knew.

How he knew wasn’t important.

What mattered was that Shen Xin knew. Otherwise, he wouldn’t have looked at him that way.

And so, Li Fusen couldn’t take it anymore. He had to kill Shen Xin.