Animal Detective

Chapter 282 - 240: Catching the Thief Red-Handed (Part 3)

The owner was named Niu Haipeng, and he’d taken the same path as Li Dian.

He used to run a pet hospital, but it went out of business. Then he noticed how popular short-video platforms were and got the idea to start a rescue station.

But his operation wasn’t as large as Li Dian’s.

And he mostly rescued stray cats. As for dogs, the entire station had fewer than thirty.

He was a big, burly guy and didn’t look like a veterinarian.

But after chatting for a bit, it turned out he was just like Li Jiahui—both had graduated from Ningshan Agricultural University.

They were even alumni.

He had already been welcoming to Shen Xin and his companion, but with this connection, he became even more enthusiastic.

The dogs he kept were also in good shape; their coats were glossy and bright.

He’d probably sunk a lot of money into them.

In his own words, he was just a kind-hearted person who couldn’t bear to see cats and dogs suffer.

He also claimed that his pet hospital going out of business was related to him frequently providing free treatment to injured stray animals.

Shen Xin used his skills and selected four suitable dogs.

He also took the opportunity to ask about Chen Fang.

"Chen Fang?"

At the mention of her name, Niu Haipeng frowned slightly and asked Shen Xin why he was bringing her up.

Shen Xin didn’t reveal the specific details, giving the same story he’d given Li Dian.

Niu Haipeng hesitated for a moment, then said, "I’ve heard some things. How should I put it... Don’t let the fact that she’s a woman fool you. Her heart is a bit dark."

"Take pet blood donations, for example. It used to be that a pet hospital would post on their social media, calling for kind-hearted people to come in for blood-typing and donations."

"Then the pet owner would give a little money for nutritional supplements as compensation. But Chen Fang has twisted this whole thing, and it’s lost its original charitable spirit."

"It used to be maybe ten or twenty yuan per milliliter, but she drove the prices up. Now it’s easily forty or fifty per milliliter. A single transfusion can cost several thousand. It’s just disgusting."

"I remember someone was complaining in a group chat last time, saying the price she demanded was too high. In the end, the owner couldn’t bring themselves to pay it and just watched their dog die right there."

As he spoke, he took out his phone to find the chat history for Shen Xin.

He used to run a pet hospital, so he was in a group chat for local Nanjiang pet hospitals.

He searched the chat history and found it.

It was a record from over two months ago.

"Look."

He handed it to Shen Xin.

Shen Xin looked at the chat history. The complaint was from someone with the ID "Dr. He - Pu’ai Pet Xinbei Branch."

The gist was that a Labrador had been hit by a car and needed a blood transfusion for surgery, requiring an estimated 200 milliliters of blood.

The doctor was complaining that "a certain person" was charging too much—fifty yuan per milliliter, which included blood-typing.

That meant 200 milliliters would cost a full 10,000 yuan.

Add the surgery fee on top of that, and the dog’s owner ultimately hesitated and chose to give up.

And so, the dog died right there in the clinic.

There were quite a few comments below. Judging by the tone, everyone seemed to know about Chen Fang but referred to her as "a certain person."

They were all complaining that the prices weren’t high before, but now they were getting more and more inflated, calling it "a bit shady" and so on.

But they were all quite restrained.

’Chen Fang must be giving them a commission; otherwise, she wouldn’t be able to maintain her monopoly.’

’That’s why they aren’t biting the hand that feeds them.’

Shen Xin then asked him if he knew anything about the organized rescue activities.

This was the part that involved fraud, which was the key to their entry point.

Niu Haipeng shook his head. "I don’t know anything about that. In any case, I would never do something like that."

He chuckled, and Shen Xin wasn’t sure if he was hiding something.

But Shen Xin felt that he could definitely ask around more as they continued visiting other rescue stations.

’They all run rescue stations, so they’re in contact with one another. They’re bound to know some things.’

’But the most crucial thing right now is to get official justification to launch a formal investigation.’

Shen Xin was driving the four dogs back to the K-9 base when he finally got a call from Chen Chao.

He asked where Shen Xin was now, saying he would come find him.

He said he had contacted Liu Baoqing, the captain of the New District Branch’s Criminal Investigation Division, and was preparing to file a case to investigate Chen Fang.

That meant the Tingyang side could also get involved and conduct a joint investigation.

This was a good thing.

Chen Chao was slow to arrive; the people from the New District got there first.

Of course, it wasn’t Liu Baoqing himself.

Detectives, after all, worked on a case-responsibility system.

There were two of them, an older and a younger man paired together. The older one, who looked to be in his forties, was named Ma Chunxin.

He had an unremarkable appearance and was all smiles when they met.

But when they shook hands, Shen Xin felt the strength in his grip.

His fingers were thick, rough, and strong.

His build was quite solid, but he had a certain... air about him.

Shen Xin couldn’t find the right word for a moment. The closest description was ’a dog that bites doesn’t bark.’

He was like one of those veteran detectives who’d been on the force for years—amiable and all smiles on the surface, but a real terror when things got physical.

Qian Zhihai from his own team was just like that. He once accidentally stumbled into a den of thieves and managed to capture their leader alive, holding out until backup arrived.

The other, younger man was named Zhao Tong. Shen Xin guessed he’d only been on the job for a couple of years. He was excessively polite, even calling Shen Xin "Brother Shen" when they shook hands.

’I don’t deserve that kind of respect.’

Just as Shen Xin was explaining the details of the situation to them, he unexpectedly received a call from Hu Guangyu.

He said the station had found something out.

Last November, someone had actually gone to the local police station to report that Chen Fang had scammed her out of two thousand yuan.

But later, just as the police here had started their investigation and contacted Chen Fang, the woman who filed the report withdrew her case.

She explained that they had already settled it privately and it was all a misunderstanding.

Misunderstanding or not, Shen Xin could guess what had really happened.

And now, this piece of news had come at the perfect time. It was exactly what they needed to officially open an investigation.