Animal Detective

Ding Yuwei rapidly tapped her keyboard, recording every word Li Fusen said.

Shen Xin stared directly at Li Fusen. "So you admit you wanted to kill me."

Li Fusen was panting slightly, his emotions stirred. His gaze didn’t waver as he nodded. "That’s right. I admit it."

"Good. At least you’re man enough to own up to what you did. I respect that!"

Shen Xin slammed a hand on the table and gave Li Fusen a thumbs-up. "You said it yourself. You felt I was looking at you like you were a monster, so you couldn’t take it anymore and had to kill me."

"So what about Lin Zenghui? You said I looked at you the same way he did—like you were a monster. How did you put up with him?"

Li Fusen’s neck stiffened, but he said nothing.

’The heat wasn’t high enough yet.’

Shen Xin raised his voice. "He discovered your secret. Did he laugh at you?"

"You begged him not to tell anyone, and he agreed. But you couldn’t risk it. You were terrified your secret would get out, and everyone would see you as a monster."

"You didn’t dare look Lin Zenghui in the eye anymore. You were scared. You’d see him talking to someone and you’d immediately think, ’Is he talking about me?’"

"You’d see them laughing, and you’d be sure they were laughing at you."

"You’d be walking down the street, and if someone even glanced at you, you couldn’t help but wonder if they already knew."

Across from him, Li Fusen’s body began to tremble uncontrollably. He clenched his fists, trying to keep himself in check.

「In the observation room.」

Zhao Tianxing shuddered and muttered, "I wonder if this kid ever had a secret of his own exposed."

Just imagining himself in the scenario Shen Xin was painting made Zhao Tianxing feel like he would go insane.

Zhang Hancheng and the others watched with grim expressions. Gao Kun muttered to himself, "Keep going. He’s about to break."

「In the interrogation room.」

Shen Xin stared at Li Fusen and continued, "You were going crazy. You couldn’t take it anymore. You wanted to leave."

"But you couldn’t bring yourself to go. You couldn’t leave Hua Zi. She was so good to you; you had to stay with her."

"That left only one option: make the person who knew your secret disappear forever. So you started planning, trying to figure out a way to shut Lin Zenghui’s mouth for good."

Li Fusen finally broke, shouting, "No! I didn’t!"

"No?" Shen Xin slammed the table again, his voice booming over Li Fusen’s. "You’ve read your copy of *The Complete Sherlock Holmes* to tatters, and you’re telling me ’no’?"

"Li Fusen, you’re a clever one, aren’t you? Smart enough to think of using an animal to do your killing for you."

"See, everyone thinks of dolphins as rescuers. Who would ever imagine they could be killers?"

"A genius idea. No one would ever know it was you."

Li Fusen’s expression grew more panicked. He shook his head frantically. "No, you’re making things up! I didn’t!"

Shen Xin went in for the kill, his voice heavy. "Li Fusen, I just said you were a man who owned up to his actions. So what about how you treated Hua Zi?"

"She helped you kill Lin Zenghui, helped you eliminate the threat. And nobody knew."

"But what did you do? You got scared. You were afraid the same thing would happen again. So what did you do? You started ignoring Hua Zi?"

"Hua Zi was so smart. She could feel you pulling away. She didn’t understand why. So she chose to die."

Dolphins are mammals and need to breathe with their lungs. Every so often, they must surface for air.

But they can also hold their breath and choose to sink to the bottom forever.

"So, Li Fusen... you’re the one who killed Hua Zi."

Shen Xin pointed at Li Fusen, his voice a harsh accusation.

"No, I didn’t," Li Fusen said, his eyes wide and fixed, on the verge of collapse.

Shen Xin slammed the table and roared, "Don’t you ’no’ me! Li Fusen, Hua Zi gave you companionship! She gave you comfort!"

"But you used her, then you killed her! And what then? You go to the Natural History Museum every week to see her? Does that make you feel less guilty?"

After Hua Zi’s death, in accordance with regulations, her body was donated to the Nanjiang City Natural History Museum.

There, she was turned into a taxidermy specimen for exhibition.

A search of Li Fusen’s phone revealed that he booked tickets to the Natural History Museum almost every week.

Clearly, he was going to see Hua Zi.

Those words clearly pierced something deep within Li Fusen. He started ramming himself against the restraint chair like a madman, the frame CLANGING AND RATTLING as he roared, "Stop talking! I said no, and I mean no!"

His eyes were bloodshot, his face contorted in a savage expression. He screamed "No!" over and over, unable to break free. Then he suddenly lowered his head and began to bash it against the chair.

He had fractured ribs, but at that moment he didn’t seem to care, roaring and struggling without pause.

Officers waiting outside immediately burst in and rushed forward to restrain him.

It took two of them to hold him down.

Li Fusen glared at Shen Xin, his teeth clenched. "No! I said no! I wanted to kill you, so sentence me for that! Stop talking about this other stuff I know nothing about! No! Do you understand me?"

Zhang Hancheng’s voice came through Shen Xin’s earpiece, telling him to end the interrogation.

Shen Xin rose to leave.

But at the doorway, Shen Xin paused. He turned to look at Li Fusen, who was still pinned down, and said in a low voice, "Li Fusen, animals may be just animals, but when you’re good to them, they can sense your kindness."

"I once rescued a stray dog. I was good to her, and she knew it. So when I looked at her, she only had eyes for me."

"She would have done anything for me. Some animals’ emotions are just that pure."

"So what about you? When you looked into Hua Zi’s eyes, what did you feel?"