Animal Detective-Chapter 79: Shi Yanhua

The discussion went nowhere.

Ding Yuwei still wanted to start by visiting the victim’s family member, Shi Yanhua.

Shen Xin thought so too.

But when Ding Yuwei proposed they go right away, Shen Xin stopped her.

"We won’t find her now. We’ll have to go tonight."

Ding Yuwei paused, confused.

Shen Xin said, "When have you ever seen a girl from a bathhouse start her shift in the afternoon?"

They only started working when night fell.

Ding Yuwei gave him a suggestive look. "You seem to know a lot about this."

After working together for over ten days, Ding Yuwei would occasionally joke around with Shen Xin.

"Don’t be ridiculous. I don’t know anything about it," Shen Xin said, quickly shaking his head.

’She made it sound like I’m a regular there.’

But they still had the whole afternoon, and they couldn’t just slack off, so they started sorting through the people involved in the case file.

They wrote everything out on a whiteboard.

Liu Laibin’s company wasn’t large, and after business soured, only a few people remained.

The company accountant, Fan Hui Zhen.

There weren’t many salespeople, and after layoffs, only one was left: Li Weiqin.

He was originally the sales manager but was later demoted to a general without an army.

The technician, Cao Shaopeng.

His main job was to maintain the company’s official website and gold trading platform.

Then there was the receptionist, Liang Ying.

And finally, the company’s cleaner, Sun Min.

A total of five employees—a skeleton crew.

"Li Weiqin was the one who brought in the business," Ding Yuwei said, flipping through the case file. "According to the file, he said they first left a message on the official website and then contacted him by phone."

Sun Kai had visited the company several times.

"The receptionist, Liang Ying, described him as ’an ordinary man, almost forty years old.’"

Ding Yuwei took out a composite sketch and posted it on the whiteboard.

It was a composite sketch based on the employees’ descriptions.

He had a side part, small, drooping eyes—all in all, a rather plain-looking man.

All the company employees had seen Sun Kai, and their descriptions were largely consistent.

Unfortunately, the suspect had intentionally destroyed the surveillance footage. He’d smashed the computer tower that stored the recordings to pieces. Qin Chuanwang had the sub-bureau’s technicians attempt to recover the hard drive’s data, but they came up with nothing.

And as luck would have it, Jinhui Mansion’s surveillance system had experienced a circuit failure due to old wiring just before the crime. The building’s management used it as an opportunity to upgrade all the electrical systems.

The surveillance system was upgraded as well, with a new main computer.

The old computer was disposed of.

As a result, all surveillance footage from the week leading up to the crime was gone.

And that happened to be the exact period when Sun Kai had visited the company several times to negotiate the bridge loan.

Therefore, the building’s cameras hadn’t captured any footage of Sun Kai visiting the company to discuss business.

Thus, the only useful leads on Sun Kai were the composite sketch and the fake identity he had registered with the company.

At the time, Qin Chuanwang had speculated that even if the building’s surveillance system hadn’t been down for an upgrade, Sun Kai’s counter-surveillance skills were so good he would have intentionally avoided the cameras anyway.

He had still focused the investigation on Sun Kai.

For instance, the company information he’d faked.

Sun Kai had faked a company called Meix Network Technology Co., Ltd., which supposedly specialized in all-in-one website development.

Liu Laibin and Li Weiqin had gone together to inspect Sun Kai’s company.

According to them, the company was quite large, with around twenty employees, and seemed to be doing substantial business.

But clearly, it was all a fabrication.

Using a fake identity, Sun Kai had rented an entire office floor in the Ma Shan Bridge Venture Park. He’d purchased computers and other office equipment and even hired over twenty ordinary people to pose as employees, putting on an elaborate show for Liu Laibin.

All of this had been investigated and confirmed, but it yielded no useful information.

Qin Chuanwang’s conclusion was that it had been premeditated. They were dealing with a professional fraud ring.

The only question was why a ring focused on financial fraud would resort to murder in the end.

Murder is a much more serious crime.

It didn’t quite add up.

But they had to find Sun Kai before they could figure any of it out.

After reviewing the case information, Shen Xin felt that everything he could think of had already been considered and thoroughly investigated by Qin Chuanwang’s team.

So, it was highly likely that, just as Zhao Tianxing had said, they were just going through the motions, and the case would ultimately go nowhere.

Seeing Ding Yuwei lost in thought, Shen Xin said, "Don’t overthink it. Let’s just go through the file one more time."

Ding Yuwei nodded. She didn’t have many ideas at the moment either.

They were supposed to go with Zhao Tianxing.

But the sub-bureau was suddenly tasked with an arrest, and Zhao Tianxing had to join the operation.

Chen Chao figured it was just a routine canvass with no danger involved, so he let Shen Xin and Ding Yuwei go on their own.

Dressed in plainclothes, the two took Shen Xin’s car and headed for their destination.

According to Zhao Tianxing, Shi Yanhua was now working at a bathhouse called Lidu.

It happened to be located on Yunlin Street.

As they arrived, Shen Xin suddenly recalled that he’d been part of a public security raid on this very place before.

It was seven in the evening, and the colorful lights on the bathhouse’s sign were flashing.

It was located near a shopping mall called Dream City.

They took the stairs to the second floor.

Unexpectedly, the front desk manager recognized Shen Xin.

"Officer, we’ve cleaned up our act! We’re totally legit now," the manager said. He was a somewhat effeminate man in his thirties, and upon recognizing Shen Xin, he immediately raised a hand as if taking an oath.

His eyes, however, were a little shifty.

’So his version of "legit" probably deserved to be in quotation marks.’

But Shen Xin wasn’t there for a vice raid today. "I’m looking for someone," he said. "Is there a girl here named Shi Yanhua?"

The front desk manager chuckled awkwardly. "Oh, you shouldn’t say things like that, sir. We don’t have any ’girls’ here, only professional massage therapists."

Shen Xin’s brow furrowed, his voice growing serious. "You’d better think carefully before you speak. I’m just here looking for someone right now, but I don’t have to be."

’One call to Dong Yueming was all it would take to get this place hit with a surprise raid.’

His expression changed instantly. He no longer dared to play dumb. "Sister Hua, you mean? Yes, of course! I just saw her. Wait right here, Officer, I’ll go get her for you."

He scurried into the back.

A short time later, he emerged with a woman.

The woman reeked of the trade, dressed in a low-cut top and a miniskirt.

Dressed like that, there was no way she was a legitimate massage therapist.

Her brown hair was done in big, rolling waves, and her face was caked in heavy, gaudy makeup.

Judging by her features, she must have been quite a looker in her youth.

Now that she was older, the roll of fat around her waist was obvious.

But her cleavage was impressive; she probably still had a market.

She looked annoyed, grumbling that she’d been in the middle of a session with a regular. If the client complained later, she said, the front desk manager would have to answer for it.

The front desk manager looked embarrassed and kept shooting her desperate looks.

Shen Xin stepped forward and flashed his badge.

"Shi Yanhua, right?" Shen Xin said, stating his purpose. "If it’s convenient, could we talk for a minute about Liu Laibin’s case?"

Shi Yanhua’s expression changed. She suddenly became agitated and yelled, "What’s there to talk about? You people have come to ask me questions countless times. So? The killer? Have you caught him? No? Then what the hell is there to talk about?! Instead of wasting time talking to me, you should be out catching him!"

Her tone was aggressive. She reached over to the front desk, grabbed a pack of cigarettes, and expertly tapped one out. After lighting the slim cigarette, she crossed her arms, exhaled a cloud of smoke, and said, "Look, Officer, I know you’re frustrated. I’m frustrated, too. If you don’t want me to come down and cause a scene again, fine. Just pay me."

"As for how much... we can negotiate if you can’t manage it. You don’t have two million? Fine, I’ll give you a discount. One million should do it, right?"

Shen Xin sighed inwardly.

’Now Shen Xin believed what Zhao Tianxing had told him.’