Reborn in 97, I solved a cold case at the Municipal Bureau

Chapter 300 Pickpocket
When Zhou Yi arrived at Hongcheng Railway Station, Zhang Xianglan had already been waiting for a long time.

She sat there with her head down, holding a schoolbag in her arms.

The backpack was clearly not suitable for her age; it had faded cartoon patterns and the corners were worn out quite badly. It was most likely an old backpack that her son, Li Changwei, had replaced.

"Ms. Zhang, have you bought a ticket?" Zhou Yi spotted her in the crowd, walked up to her, and asked.

Zhang Xianglan looked up and saw Zhou Yi. She quickly stood up. "Officer Zhou, you've arrived. I... I haven't bought a ticket yet."

Her eyes were bloodshot; she probably didn't sleep well again last night.

"Okay, I'll go buy the tickets then."

"Officer Zhou, here's the money for you..."

"No rush, let's talk about it later. You can sit down and rest for a while."

As Zhou Yi spoke, he walked towards the ticket window.

Hongcheng has only one train station and one long-distance bus station, and Hongcheng itself does not serve as a transportation hub connecting the north and south. Therefore, as long as it is not during the Spring Festival travel rush, train tickets will not be in short supply, although the number of trains is relatively limited.

Before he called Zhang Xianglan yesterday, he had checked the train schedules that could reach Anyuan.

After buying two tickets for a train departing in half an hour, Zhou Yi handed one of the tickets to Zhang Xianglan.

Zhang Xianglan took out a wallet from her coat pocket according to the face value of the ticket and gave the money to Zhou Yi.

Zhou Yi did not refuse, because the municipal bureau would reimburse his expenses, but Zhang Xianglan would have to pay for them herself.

"Officer Zhou, have you eaten? I brought some food, including eggs..." Zhang Xianglan said, opening her backpack to take things out.

"No, no, I've eaten."

"Oh, okay." So she zipped the backpack up again. Because it had been around for a long time, the zipper pull was loose, and the zipper would open after she zipped it up. She had to zip it up and down several times before she could fix it.

Neither of them spoke. Zhou Yi didn't want to offer her too much comfort; she had to process her identity as a victim's family member on her own.

His duty is to find out the truth and catch the murderer.

Soon, a staff member at the ticket gate opened the gate and announced loudly that boarding for train number X was now open and that those who had bought tickets should hurry up and get their tickets checked so they wouldn't miss their train.

As soon as he finished speaking, a huge crowd rushed toward the ticket gate, carrying large and small bags and making a chaotic mess.

Zhou Yi watched this scene with a feeling that was both familiar and strange. It seemed like it used to be like this, with everyone rushing to get ahead. But at some point, everyone's manners improved, and they started to queue up in an orderly fashion.

Zhang Xianglan wanted to stand up, but seeing that Zhou Yi didn't move, she didn't dare to move either.

After a while, Zhou Yi suddenly stood up, and she quickly stood up as well.

"Ms. Zhang, please get in the car first. We'll meet in the car in a bit. Please be careful with your belongings."

"Okay." Zhang Xianglan found it strange that Zhou Yi picked up his bag and walked in the opposite direction of the crowd after he finished speaking, but she didn't dare to ask any more questions.

Zhou Yi, carrying a bag, walked forward, bypassing the noisy crowd.

Just a minute ago, as he looked at the chaotic crowd, he suddenly noticed something unusual.

There was a person in the crowd who had already pushed his way to the front, but suddenly pushed against the flow of the crowd to push outwards.

After squeezing through the crowd, Zhou Yi saw that the person had no luggage, just a small shoulder bag, and walked briskly towards the station entrance.

Zhou Yi was certain that this person was most likely a pickpocket.

They would blend into the crowd and steal things when the opportunity arose; walking away meant they had succeeded.

Zhou Yi quickly followed. The other person was a young man in his early twenties, whose steps were light, clearly indicating that he was in a great mood after succeeding.

Suddenly, Zhou Yi noticed that the other person's pace had quickened and become noticeably heavier.

He knew that the other party had noticed his presence.

Without the slightest hesitation, Zhou Yi rushed over.

The other person also took off running, but it was too late. Just as they were about to rush out of the train station gate, Zhou Yi tackled them from behind.

He tried to resist, but Zhou Yi grabbed him and pinned him to the ground, unable to move. Zhou Yi yelled, "Let me go! Are you fucking crazy?!"

Zhou Yi held the other man down with one hand, his knee pressing firmly against his back, while his other hand searched his body.

They quickly found two wallets and a stack of money wrapped in a handkerchief in the other person's pockets and bag.

Inside the bag was a folding knife and several blades, which were so sharp they almost cut Zhou Yi's hand.

"Who the hell are you? Believe me or not, I'll kill you!" the pickpocket yelled.

Zhou Yi looked up at the people around him. Most of them were staring at the two of them in surprise and dared not approach.

But there were two people, standing in different places, staring intently at him, one of whom had his hand inside his clothes.

At that moment, a policeman ran over, pointing his baton at the two men and shouting, "What are you doing? Let them go right now!"

Upon seeing the police arrive, the two people in the crowd who had intended to step forward immediately stopped in their tracks.

The pickpocket who had been cursing on the ground suddenly stopped yelling.

Zhou Yi tossed the three stolen items aside, freeing one hand to pull out his identification: "We're on the same side. I'm from the Municipal Criminal Investigation Division. This guy's a thief."

The police officers on duty at the train station belong to the railway police, commonly known as railway police. They are not in the same system as Zhou Yi and his colleagues; they are under the jurisdiction of the railway bureau's public security department.

However, since they all belong to the large public security system, they naturally recognized Zhou Yi's identification at a glance.

The railway police quickly stepped forward, pulled out handcuffs, and subdued the man. Zhou Yi clapped his hands, stood up, pointed to the ground, and said, "These are the stolen goods. You can keep them. I have to catch my train. Sorry."

After saying that, Zhou Yi whispered in the railway police officer's ear, "The two men in the dark blue shirt at three o'clock and the two men in the brown corduroy pants at ten o'clock are this kid's accomplices. Keep an eye on them."

The railway police officer nodded repeatedly: "Okay, thank you for your hard work."

Then they called for reinforcements via radio.

Zhou Yi quickly ran to the ticket gate, which was just moments before crowded but was now empty. The ticket inspector was about to close the gate and turn to leave.

Zhou Yi shouted, "Wait a minute, there's one more."

The ticket inspector glared at him with displeasure: "I've been calling you for ages, why are you taking so long? You're so slow."

Zhou Yi, too lazy to waste words, handed the ticket to her.

The ticket inspector looked at the ticket, punched a hole in it, and returned it to Zhou Yi.

Zhou Yi rushed inside. A green train was parked on the platform, and two staff members were doing the final pre-departure checks and were about to close the doors.

"Wait a minute, sorry, wait a minute." Zhou Yi quickly ran over.

"Hurry up, we need to close the car doors," the staff member called out, waving.

"Officer Zhou?" Zhou Yi ran to the door, and the man called out in surprise.

Zhou Yi looked closely and realized that it was indeed a chance encounter—it was Han Jiajia.

Before Zhou Yi could even say hello, Han Jiajia urged him, "Hurry up and get on the train, we need to close the doors, otherwise it will affect the train's punctuality."

Zhou Yi quickly said thank you and got into the car.

Han Jiajia closed the car door and waved to Zhou Yi through the glass.

Zhou Yi responded briefly, then carefully examined his ticket and the carriage and seat.

I was in such a rush that I saw a door and just rushed through it. Now, looking at my ticket, I realize I have to walk through half the train.

Zhou Yi could only walk through carriage after carriage, carefully passing through the crowded people and bags, and had to keep saying sorry to let him pass.

In the 1990s, population mobility across the country was not high. People generally moved from one city to another, mainly for two reasons: visiting relatives and working.

In addition, there were business opportunities and medical care. For most ordinary people in the 1990s, travel was still a luxury.

So when people went to work or visit relatives, they would bring large bags and small packages. Back then, there were no security checks, so you could basically bring anything on the train.

In addition, there are pickpockets on almost every train.

What Zhou Yi just caught was nothing more than a small fry.

Train stations and long-distance bus stations are where pickpockets and thieves are most rampant.

The difference is that pickpockets at long-distance bus stations mainly concentrate inside the station because there are many people and it's easy for them to act.

Once on the bus, the limited space makes it less convenient for theft.

But trains are different. Trains have more space and people move around more frequently, making theft easier to carry out.

So, at the train station, Zhou Yi knew that the people inside the station and on the train were divided into two groups.

Pickpockets are different from murderers and robbers; they are closer to organized crime, with a tight organization and circle, and they can't just steal from anyone.

Pickpockets mark out their territories, clearly defining where you can steal and where their territory is.

Once someone crosses the line, it could trigger conflict, and in severe cases, it could even escalate into a large-scale armed conflict.

Moreover, even pickpockets have a division of labor: some are responsible for stealing, some for transferring the stolen goods, some for keeping watch, and there are also people at the back end responsible for selling the stolen goods.

The kid Zhou Yi just caught was the one responsible for stealing, while the accomplice waiting outside was most likely responsible for transferring the stolen goods.

So sometimes even if you discover that something has been stolen and suspect who stole it, you can't find the stolen goods.

Back then, how many people hadn't stumbled at the train station, and in the end, they could only accept their bad luck?

At the train station, there was one group of people inside, and another group of people boarded the train.

Therefore, the main job of railway police is to outwit and outmaneuver these pickpockets. In addition to the train police, there are also several plainclothes railway police officers on each train.

As Zhou Yi walked along, his gaze instinctively swept across the faces of the people around him, making mental notes of those whose eyes and behavior were unusual.

As the train started moving and the seat next to her was still empty, Zhang Xianglan became very nervous and kept looking out the window.

Suddenly, I felt a weight beside me and immediately turned around to find Zhou Yi already sitting in his seat.

Zhang Xianglan finally breathed a sigh of relief.

"Sorry, I had to take care of something," Zhou Yi said, stuffing his luggage under the seat.

He brought some changes of clothes, which were in his backpack.

He always carried his identification, cash, and mobile phone with him, and of course, a gun.

"I thought you had something come up and couldn't go," Zhang Xianglan said, still shaken.

Her hand instinctively touched her pocket, and suddenly her face turned deathly pale.

(End of this chapter)