Animal Detective

Chapter 307 - 254: Pre-existing Motive, Crime of Passion (Part 2)

It hadn’t rained for the past two days, so the ground on the mountain was relatively hard.

But it was early spring and the weeds were growing wildly, so it was hard to say if they’d be able to collect any useful footprints.

Shen Xin surveyed the scene. The fishing spot was right on the bank.

His equipment was all there.

The tackle box was there, the bait tray still on top. A lump of bait about half the size of a fist remained.

The fish basket was stuck into the bank, and the landing net was next to the tackle box.

The rod pod was also there, but there was no fishing rod on it.

It was possible a fish had pulled it into the water.

Shen Xin saw his colleagues searching around the reservoir in the distance.

About three or four meters from the shore, there was a broken fishing rod.

It probably hadn’t broken from the tension of a catch.

A rod that breaks under strain usually shatters into pieces. This one, however, was just bent, not completely snapped. It had likely been bent by brute force.

Next to the tackle box was a folding chair.

The folding chair was now knocked over to its left.

This was consistent with Wang Xiao Jin’s theory: an attack from behind with the right hand, striking down on Huang Weili’s head.

The victim would have fallen directly to his left.

Not far away, a folding table had also been knocked over.

It looked as if Huang Weili’s feet had kicked over the table as he fell.

A rechargeable night light lay nearby, still on.

Some drinks and snacks were also scattered on the ground.

Nearby was a coil of mosquito incense, already burned to ash.

Then, the killer must have thrown the unconscious Huang Weili directly into the water.

In his unconscious state, Huang Weili ultimately drowned.

Liu Baoqing asked the forensics team at the scene if they had found the rock used in the attack.

They hadn’t.

He scanned the area, then asked Shen Xin, "Xiaoshen, do you think it was thrown into the water, or into the mountains?"

He pointed at the reservoir, then back toward the mountain behind them.

Shen Xin thought for a moment and said, "Into the water, I think. It would have been the easiest thing to do."

Tossing it into the woods behind them... no matter how hard you threw it, it wouldn’t go very far.

Throwing it into the water was much more convenient.

Liu Baoqing nodded slightly, a pained look on his face.

’This reservoir is huge, and there’s no telling which direction the killer threw it. Finding it is going to be a real pain.’

But they had to look.

It was a key piece of evidence. Even if the current washed away any blood or DNA, the shape of the rock could still be matched to the wound, making it crucial.

Liu Baoqing couldn’t help but sigh. "Sometimes, I really hate it when they just grab a random rock or brick as a weapon. What I hate even more is when they throw it in the water."

Shen Xin thought to himself, ’Throwing it in the water isn’t so bad.’

’In Han Xiaolong’s case, the rock was thrown into a manure pit, and we still had to find it.’

Liu Baoqing stood with his hands clasped behind his back, staring at the scene for a moment before turning to pat Shen Xin’s shoulder.

"Xiaoshen, any thoughts?"

’He’s testing me again.’

Although they had just arrived and the forensic investigation wasn’t finished, it didn’t prevent them from making reasonable deductions to determine the direction of the investigation.

After a moment of thought, Shen Xin said, "Since his wallet and phone are still here, robbery-homicide is unlikely."

"If the motive was money, the assailant could have just knocked him out from behind and taken his phone, wallet, and other valuables."

"Out here in the wilderness, with a surprise attack, Huang Weili might not have even seen his attacker."

"There would have been no need for the next step: throwing Huang Weili into the water."

"That was a clear signal of intent to kill."

"Of course, that’s not a certainty."

"It’s possible Huang Weili saw his attacker."

"You’re focused when you’re fishing, but on a quiet night like this, it’s impossible for someone to get close without you noticing at all."

"However, with society being so safe these days, people’s guards are generally down."

"If you run into someone in the middle of nowhere at night, you’d probably just assume they’re watching you fish and might even strike up a conversation."

"And Huang Weili was the type of person who could chat with anyone."

"Then the killer waited for an opportunity and launched a surprise attack."

"Afterward, perhaps because Huang Weili saw their face, the killer threw him into the water to silence him and eliminate any future trouble."

"It might not seem very logical, but after being a cop for so long, Shen Xin knew that anything, no matter how impossible, was possible."

"Reality is far more absurd than people imagine."

Shen Xin continued, "As for premeditated murder, I think that’s less likely."

"Because the choice of weapon was random, and the scene wasn’t cleaned up."

Shen Xin gestured at the scene before them.

"And the body... just tossing it in the water is too sloppy. If there was any premeditation at all, they could have dragged the body into the mountains and found a place to bury it."

Liu Baoqing nodded in agreement.

A premeditated murder involves planning how to kill the person and how to handle the body and the scene.

Even if the plan wasn’t perfect, there would still be a plan.

Shen Xin continued his analysis. "So that leaves a crime of passion."

"And there are generally two types of crimes of passion. The first is completely random."

"For example, he runs into someone, they rub each other the wrong way, get into an argument over who knows what, and the other person gets furious, picks up a rock, and clocks Huang Weili with it."

"Like in the Xiao Hong case."

"You run into a ruthless guy like Sun Yongxi. One wrong word, and while you’re just thinking of arguing, he’s already thinking about killing you."

"But I think that’s less likely. I met Huang Weili a few times, and he could get along with anyone."

"He was also level-headed and treated people kindly. He got along well with the other fishermen around here; I heard they’d even get together for drinks sometimes."

"With a guy like him, setting aside whether he’d even get into an argument, if one did happen, I think he would’ve definitely backed down before things got out of control."

Some people are hot-headed, letting their emotions get the best of them, acting without thinking of the consequences.

But someone like Huang Weili was successful in life and had a stable personality.

To put it bluntly, he was rational. When faced with a problem, he wouldn’t fly off the handle and let things escalate to the point of no return.

The idea that he’d just run into some random person and get into an argument that escalated to the point where they wanted to kill him... Shen Xin felt that was highly unlikely.

"So, it’s most likely the second type: a crime of passion committed by someone he knew."

Shen Xin didn’t even think it was a revenge killing.

If there was a grudge, a hatred so deep it led to murder, it would have been premeditated.

It wouldn’t have been done this carelessly.

"There’s another thing: the killer definitely knew Huang Weili’s routine, that he had a habit of night fishing."

"They already had a motive, and then something triggered them, leading to an impulsive decision to act—a crime of passion."

And in this kind of situation, the perpetrator is most likely someone close to the victim.

A smile appeared on Liu Baoqing’s face; his expression was one of satisfaction.

In murder cases, at least eighty or ninety percent fall into the category Shen Xin just described.

Pre-existing motive, crime of passion.

So, it might seem like Shen Xin had gone through a long-winded analysis only to arrive at the most common conclusion, as if he’d said a lot of nothing.

But Liu Baoqing knew that the preceding analysis was anything but pointless.

Shen Xin had systematically and logically laid out all the possibilities, then made reasonable deductions and eliminations based on the known clues.

Only then did he arrive at the most probable conclusion.

’Not bad at all.’