Everyone quickly gathered around.
The photo looked quite old.
So did the book it was in. It was on the second-to-last shelf, covered in a layer of dust, looking like it hadn’t been touched in a long ti.
About a third of the photo had been torn off.
In the remaining part of the picture, the background appeared to be a rockery in a park. Guo Chunping was in the middle, with a woman to his left.
Shen Xin recognized her imdiately. It had to be Guo Chunping’s first wife.
And on Guo Chunping’s right, there should have been another person.
An arm was slung around Guo Chunping’s shoulder.
But the part of the photo showing that person had been torn away.
"Keep looking!"
Sun Zhao said at once.
The team quickly resud searching through the books.
Sun Zhao held the photo, examining it carefully. He exchanged a look with Chen Chao and said, "I think we’re thinking the sa thing."
Chen Chao didn’t say anything. He kicked Zhao Tianxing in the butt and asked, "Xiaozhao, what do you think?"
Zhao Tianxing pursed his lips. "You’re thinking the torn-off person is Sun Kai, right? And that he and Guo Chunping knew each other from way back."
Shen Xin was thinking the sa thing.
If this could be confird, it would explain a few things.
For example, why Guo Chunping would have been bribed by Sun Kai.
’He wasn’t bribed. He was doing an old friend a favor.’
Sun Kai might have even targeted Liu Laibin through Guo Chunping.
But so questions remained.
For instance, after Sun Kai fled as a fugitive from the fraud case, why did Guo Chunping continue to work at Jinhui Mansion? Did he not know his friend had committed murder and caused a huge disaster?
Or was he really not worried at all that the police would trace it back to him?
Secondly, the photo might explain why Guo Chunping was tailing him. After the case was reopened, he was probably afraid the investigation would lead to him.
But just how close was his relationship with Sun Kai? Assuming he felt the police were already on to him and would uncover the truth sooner or later, he chose to end his own life by jumping off a building to keep Sun Kai’s secret.
Even biological brothers wouldn’t go that far, would they?
And if you were to argue that his wife and children had left him, his parents were dead, he had no other relatives, and he’d wanted to die for a long ti... then why wait until now?
Shen Xin scratched his head fiercely. ’Sothing about this case feels very strange.’
But he couldn’t put his finger on what exactly was so strange.
It just felt like the clues never quite lined up. Or if one piece fit, another would beco inexplicable.
The investigation continued into the afternoon.
They turned the entire apartnt upside down, so ticulous that every single strand of hair was collected for analysis.
Canvassing the entire apartnt building yielded no results.
The neighbors hadn’t noticed anything unusual about Guo Chunping after he returned yesterday. They said he was just a normal man living alone. Almost no one ever ca to visit him, and his life was very routine: go to work, co ho, eat, sleep.
The investigation of his phone didn’t turn up any useful information either.
All the calls in his log were basically work-related; the rest were from telemarketers or scamrs.
By the ti they finished the case analysis eting, it was already seven in the evening.
Shen Xin, Zhao Tianxing, and Ding Yuwei went to the cafeteria for dinner.
But the three of them had no appetite at all, even though braised pork belly—a favorite—was on the nu.
"Everything was fine... why did he have to jump? And he was so decisive about it, not a mont’s hesitation," Ding Yuwei murmured.
Shen Xin thought so too. Every ti he closed his eyes, the image of Guo Chunping jumping flashed through his mind.
Just standing there on the balcony, gazing into the distance as if taking one last look at the world, and then he just jumped, without the slightest hesitation.
Zhao Tianxing switched which hand was propping up his head and sighed. "I really thought we had a break in the case. Turns out it’s just another dead end."
The preliminary conclusion from the case analysis eting was suicide.
As for the reason, they could only lean toward suicide out of fear of punishnt, or to protect Sun Kai’s secret.
More investigation was needed to be certain.
Chen Chao was preparing to take a team to Changxi South Bridge to thoroughly investigate the connection between Guo Chunping and Sun Kai.
But the photo was taken when Guo Chunping’s first wife was still alive, so it had to be between 1991 and 1994. That was over twenty years ago. Digging up information from that far back would be extrely difficult.
Just then, Shen Xin shot to his feet.
’Who says it’s a dead end? Who says there are no clues?!’
Shen Xin actually had one more hope: Broo.
"What are you doing?" Zhao Tianxing jumped, startled.
Shen Xin had no intention of telling them his plan. He just mumbled, "I’m clocking out."
Zhao Tianxing rolled his eyes dramatically.
He clocked out and left.
On the way, Shen Xin made a special stop to buy so nuts.
’To raise its affection level, you can’t skimp on the treats.’
By the ti he got to the zoo, Li Xiaobing had already gone ho for the day.
But there was still a zookeeper on the night shift.
He was Li Xiaobing’s colleague, a young man with a round face nad Zhang Mingpeng.
He had seen Shen Xin the day before yesterday when Shen Xin brought Tingting over, so they weren’t strangers.
He also knew that it was with Shen Xin’s unexpected help that Broo and Huahua had been successfully paired.
"By the way, what’s going on in your exhibition area?" Shen Xin asked after they exchanged greetings.
He had just passed the exhibition area and seen people coming and going, unloading so cargo.
"Oh, that. It’s being renovated."
Zhang Mingpeng explained why.
Apparently, the zoo planned to temporarily close the parrot exhibition area and use it as a breeding site for Broo and Huahua.
At the sa ti, they were going to upgrade the environnt inside, specifically sectioning off an area for Huahua to use as a nest.
This was because after mating, the female parrot would start building a nest and laying eggs in about a week.
Of course, the mating itself couldn’t stop.
They had to ensure Huahua would get pregnant.
So, when Shen Xin arrived, Zhang Mingpeng was just about to move Broo and Huahua to a private room next door to let the two parrots... get busy.
"If it’s alright with you, could I do it?"
Shen Xin volunteered.
’If I move him myself, it’ll feel like I’m taking him to see his ’wife.’ That’ll definitely increase his affection level.’
Zhang Mingpeng hesitated for a mont, then nodded.
"Officer Shen, you’re not actually thinking of getting a part-ti job at our zoo, are you?" he asked, curious.
He couldn’t figure it out. How could a police officer like Shen Xin have so much free ti? And why was he so interested in this particular parrot?
Shen Xin, of course, didn’t explain. He carried a cage over to Broo’s glass enclosure.
The mont he stepped inside, Broo was alerted.
He flew out from his perch up above and, without Shen Xin even having to call him, circled once before landing gracefully on Shen Xin’s shoulder.
"Tingting!"
He still called out Tingting’s na.
An affection level of 7 was already quite high. Besides, Shen Xin had discovered long ago that once the affection level was high enough, trying to communicate directly was actually an easier way to increase it further.
"It’s so late. Even if you don’t sleep, Tingting has to sleep."
As he spoke, Shen Xin took the nuts from his pocket and offered them to the parrot.
"More."
Broo finished them neatly and squawked for more.
’A talking one is so much more convenient than one like Da i.’
After feeding him a few more, Shen Xin asked, "Do you miss your wife?"
Behind them, Zhang Mingpeng listened with growing bewildernt. ’It’s a parrot,’ he thought. ’Sure, it can talk, but that’s just mimicry. There’s no way it can understand what ’wife’ ans, can it?’
But to his surprise, Broo let out a squawk and shrieked, "Want!"
Zhang Mingpeng shot a sideways glance, stunned. It actually understood.
He looked at Shen Xin with astonishnt, feeling that this police officer was even more professional than he, the zookeeper, was.
"Repeat after . Say ’miss.’"
Shen Xin was even trying to teach it new words.
Once wasn’t enough, so Shen Xin said it again.
Unexpectedly, Broo tilted its head and listened, and the next mont, it mumbled an indistinct "miss."
"So smart."
Shen Xin gave him a thumbs-up and scratched his head.
’With a little brain like that, he could easily get into preschool.’
Broo seed to get addicted to the word. It wiggled its body, constantly squawking, "Miss... miss..."
He was going crazy missing his ’wife’.
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