Animal Detective

Chapter 287 - 243: That Despicable Dog

The cats and dogs inside were all scared, huddled in the corners.

Tiger Stripes, on the other hand, was as proud as a king inspecting his territory, strolling around everywhere.

Liu Baoqing took a quick look around but didn’t even go into the inner rooms.

It was true that he was decisive and swift, but he knew exactly what he could and couldn’t do.

They were taking Chen Fang in for questioning about the air rifle, to assist with the investigation.

At this point, the pair were not yet considered suspects.

There was no direct evidence linking Chen Fang to the fraud case yet.

So they could issue a summons, but they didn’t have the grounds for a search warrant.

Li Jiahui decided to stay behind to watch Tiger Stripes and Tian Kui, and while she was at it, tend to the stray dog with the neck wound.

She would contact people from the base to come and help.

Shen Xin, meanwhile, drove to the New District Branch.

The car was now evidence.

The Municipal Bureau was in the New District, but the branch had its own dedicated office building.

Just like the Municipal Bureau, it had moved to a new location two years ago into a brand-spanking-new office building.

Inside the interrogation room, Ma Chunxin was questioning the suspect who had fired the gun.

The man’s name was Wang Huiquan. He was 28, a native of Yanling, with monolids and a messy mop of chemically straightened hair.

"He’s got quite a rap sheet."

In the observation room next door, Liu Baoqing scoffed.

The records on the computer showed this kid had a full eight entries on his criminal record.

They involved brawls and petty theft. He was, without a doubt, a habitual offender.

The other man, the driver, was named Xu Zhicai. He had a record as well, though it was shorter—one assault and one theft.

Wang Huiquan had been detained multiple times and had even served half a year in prison. A classic hardened crook.

He had been panicked while fleeing and terrified when he was caught.

But now that he had calmed down, he was completely ignoring Ma Chunxin’s questions. He just kept yelling that he’d been injured when Shen Xin tackled him and demanded the police get him medical attention.

Ma Chunxin was slowly trying to wear him down.

Even though the evidence was irrefutable, he didn’t seem to care.

He shot back at Ma Chunxin, "You saw me fire the gun, so what the hell are you asking questions for? Just sentence me. Big deal, I’ll do a year in jail."

Ma Chunxin didn’t get angry and continued to wear him down.

They needed to know where he’d bought the gun; there were no legal channels for that in the country.

And whether he had any other firearms.

They also needed to know if he’d used the air rifle for anything else.

Liu Baoqing shook his head slightly and went to the interrogation room next door.

This was where the driver, Xu Zhicai, was being questioned.

Compared to Wang Huiquan, who was in and out of jail, Xu Zhicai was much more timid.

He was currently trying his best to distance himself from the incident, pinning all the blame for the gun on Wang Huiquan.

He claimed Wang Huiquan fired the gun and that Wang Huiquan had bought it. As for where, he didn’t know.

He insisted he was just there to deliver dogs.

He explained why Wang Huiquan had opened fire.

"Officer, I swear, that dog was a total menace."

As it turned out, the two of them had just arrived at the shelter and were unloading cages when two dogs darted out.

They started barking at them.

Chen Fang immediately flew into a rage, dragging Yang Yaotao with her to chase the dogs away.

But they were dogs; of course they couldn’t be caught.

They’d chase them off, but the dogs would just come back a moment later. This happened several times.

One of them was a real piece of work.

"You take a step, it takes a step. You stop, it stops. It even turns its head to look at you. The look in its eyes... it was like a person’s, like it was taunting you, ’Come and get me if you think you can!’"

"Wang Huiquan went to chase it and ended up tripping and falling."

"And then, you know what? The dog started taking a crap! Right in front of us!"

Xu Zhicai described the scene vividly, getting worked up himself as he spoke.

"It wouldn’t even finish all at once. It would point its butt at you, squeeze a bit out, then hold the rest in. You’d chase it, it’d run, and then it would stop to take another crap."

"Seriously, I’ve never seen such an asshole of a dog. Wang Huiquan completely lost it. That’s why he grabbed the air rifle to shoot at them."

In the observation room.

Liu Baoqing and the others all turned to look at Shen Xin.

The corner of Shen Xin’s eye twitched with embarrassment.

’It had to be Tiger Stripes,’ he thought.

Based on Xu Zhicai’s description, Shen Xin pictured the scene: a dog dancing around provocatively in front of you, pooping and peeing, trampling all over your dignity as a bipedal creature. Most people wouldn’t be able to take it.

The interrogating officer stopped Xu Zhicai and told him to stick to the useful details.

For example, who had arranged the delivery, why they were delivering to this specific shelter, and where the gun came from.

As soon as the questions turned to these topics, Xu Zhicai started playing dumb. It was all "I don’t know" and "I’m not sure." He just kept repeating that he was only the delivery guy.

Liu Baoqing looked away, pondering for a moment before turning to Shen Xin. "Xiaoshen, what’s your take on this case? Any thoughts?"

Shen Xin didn’t bother with false modesty in front of Liu Baoqing.

He carefully considered the information he had gathered over the past few days.

This included the descriptions from people like Li Dian, as well as the details about Zhang Fan and Wang Huiquan.

Shen Xin zeroed in on a key issue.

"Captain Liu, based on the information we have so far, Chen Fang organizes fundraisers to rescue cats and dogs, then collaborates with pet hospitals to get kickbacks."

"She even uses things like pet blood-typing for transfusions and live streaming to garner sympathy, all as ways to make money."

Li Dian turned the rescue shelter into a business, and Chen Fang has done the same.

The only difference is that her methods are far more vicious; she’s on a whole other level of corruption.

Shen Xin continued, "That raises a very important question: where is she getting all these stray cats and dogs?"

"And how does she find out that people are transporting stray cats and dogs in the first place?"

"Then there’s the video Yu Dalin provided. People like Zhang Fan, and now Wang Huiquan, are all transporting cats and dogs to her shelter."

"Where are all these animals coming from? I believe there must be a group that specializes in catching these strays, and even outright stealing pets."

Zhang Fan was clearly a dog thief.

And Wang Huiquan... who’s to say he didn’t get that air rifle for the purpose of stealing dogs?

"So I think instead of trying to get a breakthrough from Chen Fang, we should focus on investigating the people behind her who are supplying these animals."

She needs a steady supply of animals to milk for sympathy, and there’s no way she and her husband are finding them all on their own.

The number of animals dropped off by good Samaritans clearly wouldn’t be enough, which means someone must be supplying them to her professionally.

And that’s very likely a ring that specializes in catching strays and stealing pets.

"And odds are, this ring is based out of Yanling."

Zhang Fan is from Yanling.

It’s the same for Wang Huiquan and Xu Zhicai—both are from Yanling. The Datong van they drove today also had Yanling plates.

All this information clearly points to a specialized ring operating out of Yanling that supplies stray cats and dogs.