Animal Detective-Chapter 74: Case Files

The next day, Shen Xin got dressed neatly and drove to the branch office early to report for duty.

He ran into Zhao Tianxing on his way upstairs.

"What’s with the ’Brother’? It makes us sound like strangers."

Zhao Tianxing casually reached for the storage box in Shen Xin’s hands.

Shen Xin quickly refused the help, saying he still had to call him ’brother’—after all, Zhao Tianxing was his senior.

Zhao Tianxing led Shen Xin to the Political Department to get his paperwork sorted. "I’m guessing we’ll be put on the same team," he said as they walked. "I’ve been with Captain Chen for over two years. We’re both sick of each other. Especially on stakeouts. The music he listens to... good grief. Deng Li Jun. I’m at a loss for words."

Criminal investigators always worked in pairs.

"Then I’ll have to learn a lot from you, Brother Xing."

’It’d be nice to be partnered with Zhao Tianxing. He’s a familiar face.’

On the way up, Shen Xin also asked about Zhang Qin’s case.

"It’s just going through the process. I figure in another two days, once we’ve gathered all the evidence, it’ll be ready for transfer."

Zhao Tianxing pursed his lips, then slung an arm around Shen Xin’s shoulder. "For real, though. After finishing this case, I finally have a deep appreciation for the saying ’marriage is a man’s tomb.’ So listen to me, buddy: never get married. Don’t give up the entire forest for one tree."

Shen Xin nodded in deep agreement.

The case involving Zhang Qin and Li Shanjie had shaken him, too.

Someone was already on duty at the Political Department.

As it happened, Wang Xihai was also there. He handed the file to a subordinate to process, then pulled Shen Xin into his office for a chat.

He asked Shen Xin if he had been back to see Wu Zhicun.

’He actually hadn’t.’

’He’d been busy these last few days.’

"You should go see him when you have time," Wang Xihai said with a smile. "I took some men to visit him last week, and the old gentleman even brought you up."

The paperwork was processed quickly.

Next was collecting his credentials and personal equipment, such as restraints.

And, of course, a gun.

But as usual, it would be kept in the gun locker.

In Zhao Tianxing’s words, its most useful function was letting you know ahead of time if the day’s assignment was going to be dangerous.

He also told Shen Xin not to dress so formally.

Plainclothes were fine, something a little loose. And he definitely needed to wear sneakers. It was worth buying a more expensive pair so his feet wouldn’t get too tired after walking a lot.

He should also get a bag, but not one of those old-fashioned briefcases you tuck under your arm. Even Chen Chao and the guys had stopped using them. They were too dated.

A backpack was the way to go—a sturdy one. In a critical moment, you could swing it around as a weapon, or even use it to block a knife.

Shen Xin nodded, taking note of every point.

When they got to the main office, Sun Zhao, his eyes bloodshot, was talking with Chen Chao.

Chen Chao had probably gone home to catch up on sleep, but his eyes were red-rimmed as well.

"Xiaoshen, do a good job."

Sun Zhao offered this piece of advice before heading to his office to catch up on sleep.

There was no welcome ceremony—they didn’t go in for that sort of thing. He was simply introduced to the colleagues who were present.

They were all quite welcoming.

Apparently, they had all heard about how Shen Xin solved a case with the help of small animals. A few curious colleagues asked him about it.

Then Chen Chao assigned Shen Xin an empty desk, clapped him on the shoulder, and with a broad smile, asked how he was with computers.

Shen Xin said he was quite good.

Chen Chao’s smile grew even wider, and he gestured with his hand.

Zhao Tianxing was already approaching with a stack of files.

The other colleagues present, who had clearly been prepared, also brought over a few files each.

In an instant, a small mountain of files had piled up on Shen Xin’s desk.

"We’re counting on you. Since you’re new, start by getting familiar with our workflow. Help us out with some of these reports. If you don’t know how to do something, ask Xiaozhao," Chen Chao said, then left with another colleague.

"Thanks, Xiaoshen!"

"Just do what you can. If you run into any problems, set that file aside and ask me later. Thanks, man."

The remaining colleagues all thanked him profusely before leaving one after another, as if they’d only shown up to clock in and dump their work.

Leaving Shen Xin to stare blankly at the pile of folders on his desk.

Zhao Tianxing, standing nearby, sighed. "Hey buddy, it’s alright. Just hang in there. When I started, I did nothing but write reports for a solid six months. Then I finally got to go out on cases with Captain Chen and thought I was a free man."

"Turns out, it was even worse."

He clicked his tongue, lamenting, and began counting on his fingers. "Investigating, questioning, driving, getting chewed out, typing, meetings... In the end, you’re either writing a report, or on your way to write a report."

"Seriously, I could cry just thinking about it."

Shen Xin was dumbfounded.

’But on second thought,’ he mused, ’wasn’t it the same back at the local station?’

With a long sigh, Shen Xin stretched and got to work.

People came and went, but Shen Xin paid them no mind, focusing solely on his paperwork.

At least he could leave on time.

No one was rushing him.

It was just that the pile of files on his desk wasn’t shrinking; on the contrary, it seemed to be growing.

On the bright side, Zhang Qian had been contacting him a little more often lately.

Zhang Jian had also insisted on treating him to a meal.

Apparently, the news that he’d been kidnapped by Li Shanjie had gotten out. According to Zhang Qian, her parents had a massive fight. Shen Yue Mei was now demanding that even if Zhang Jian wasn’t forced to leave the police force, he had to resign.

Because of all this, Zhang Qian had come to the branch office twice to bring Shen Xin some tasty food.

It was Shen Yue Mei who had sent her.

Half a month flew by like this.

One day, Shen Xin had just sat down at his desk and barely started writing when Chen Chao suddenly came over, saying he needed him for something.

"A case?"

Shen Xin’s eyes lit up as he asked eagerly.

For the past half a month, Shen Xin had been writing so many reports he felt like he was going to throw up.

"A case? ...Not exactly."

Chen Chao grinned and led Shen Xin to the precinct’s records room.

"Lao Lin."

The records room administrator was a middle-aged police officer with salt-and-pepper hair. He had a square face, wore reading glasses, and looked like he rarely smiled.

Chen Chao introduced Shen Xin and asked for a room for him.

Lao Lin, whose full name was Lin Hua Jun, thought for a moment before leading the two of them deeper into the archives. He finally stopped and opened a door.

It looked like a storage closet. The room was small, filled with piles of old desks and chairs, office supplies, and other miscellaneous junk.

Everything was covered in a thick layer of dust. There were no windows, and the dust kicked up by the opening door was enough to make them cough.

"How’s this?" Lao Lin asked.

Chen Chao poked his head in, glanced around, and nodded. "Not bad."

Then he turned to Shen Xin. "Shen Xin, for the time being, you’ll be working here every day. Your job is to find all of our precinct’s accumulated cold cases. Lao Lin can show you where to find them."

"First, read through them. Once you’re done, sort and categorize them."

"And finally, based on your own judgment, see which cases might still be solvable and prioritize those."

"Just get them all organized. We’ll have a use for them later."

"There’s no rush. Take your time. We have plenty of it."

Shen Xin’s jaw dropped. He stared at Chen Chao with a look of utter betrayal.

’This wasn’t the deal when you two put on that show to trick me into transferring over here!’

’Wasn’t half a month of paperwork enough? And now this! I get to start organizing cold case files.’

’So I’m just destined to be locked in a battle with paperwork, is that it?’

Chen Chao, not the least bit embarrassed, just laughed. "Don’t be in such a hurry. There’s plenty of time. In the future, you’ll have more cases than you can handle, so many you won’t want any more. When that time comes, you might even find yourself missing these days."

"You get to leave on time. It’s even more relaxed than the local station."

Without giving Shen Xin a chance to argue, he clapped him on the shoulder and walked off briskly.

Shen Xin let out a long sigh at the heavens. He had no choice but to find Lao Lin and ask where the precinct’s cold case files were stored.

"Follow me."

Lao Lin, a man of few words, led Shen Xin deeper into the records room.

He didn’t stop until they reached a shelf in the very back. Pointing to the bookcase on the left, he said, "Here we are."

"This entire bookcase?"

Shen Xin’s eyes went wide.

The bookcase was six shelves high and four or five meters long. It probably held hundreds, if not thousands, of case files.

"What are you thinking? They’re cold cases. Do you really think we police are that incompetent?"

As he spoke, Lao Lin walked over, pulled a stack of files from the third shelf, and handed them to Shen Xin. 𝒇𝒓𝙚𝒆𝔀𝓮𝓫𝒏𝓸𝙫𝓮𝓵.𝓬𝙤𝙢

One stack wasn’t enough; he brought down several more.

"It may not seem like much, but over so many years, quite a few have piled up."

"A lot of people still remember these cases. They come by every now and then to look through them again..."

He sighed.

Cold cases... they’re a thorn in every investigating officer’s heart.

A thorn that, sometimes, can’t be removed even by retirement.

Shen Xin fell silent, suddenly feeling the true weight of the files in his hands.