Police officer Chen Shu

Chapter 292 New Year's Eve Duty
On Lunar New Year's Eve, every household is lit up with lights.

Inside the Zhongshan Police Station, all the lights were on, and the residential buildings outside were also brightly lit. Somewhere, people had already defied the ban and started setting off firecrackers, the crackling sounds mingling with the CCTV-1 Spring Festival Gala program, drifting into thousands of households.

The institute's canteen was also bustling with activity.

The large round table was laden with dishes, including hearty dishes such as wine-braised blue crab, charcoal-grilled snow crab, and braised pomfret, as well as seasoned dishes such as Peking duck, steamed river shrimp, and crispy spare ribs. As instructed by instructor Zeng Hong, the New Year's Eve dinner was prepared with a budget of 100 yuan per person.

However, the most popular item was the dumpling placed in the very center.

As Zhu Chaoran was eating, he suddenly bit his tooth and spat out a coin.

Xiao Qiang was the first to jump out, slapping Zhu Chaoran on the shoulder: "Cheers! Fatty got a good meal, he'll definitely have good luck next year! Come on, let's have a toast!"

He held up the cup full of Coke, looking as excited as if he were the one who had won the lottery.

Li Chaoyang quickly put a few dumplings into his bowl, as if afraid that the remaining coin would be snatched away.

The dispatchers and auxiliary police officers at the station have lost the initial restraint they had when they first arrived in Zhongshan, and now they've joined in the dumpling-grabbing frenzy, creating a lively atmosphere.

Chen Shu, standing to the side, watched the scene before him with a smile. This group of people were all the comrades from Zhongshan Institute who were lucky enough to win the New Year's Eve duty gift package.

For a moment, I felt that this place really was his second home.

"An alarm has been received, please respond!"

"An alarm has been received, please respond!"

"An alarm has been received, please respond!"

The lively atmosphere in the cafeteria suddenly froze.

Chen Shu put down his chopsticks, waved his hand slightly, and said, "You guys continue eating. I'll go check out the scene and contact you if I need anything."

Li Chaoyang, who was slowly eating dumplings and afraid of biting his teeth, stood up, quickly swallowed the dumpling in his mouth, and hurriedly said, "Senior brother, how could this be your turn?"

Chen Shu raised his hand dismissively: "I had some snacks this afternoon, I'm not hungry, don't be polite with me. Hurry up and eat, the next police officer might come soon, then we won't get to eat any of it."

After saying that, Chen Shu got up and walked out of the cafeteria.

"Giggle."

The footsteps were heavy; without a doubt, Zhu Chaoran had followed.

"Brother Shu, I'll drive you."

Having worked together for so long, Chen Shu didn't stand on ceremony with the fat man. He smiled and nodded, and the two walked out together.

The case was ordinary, just a police report of a fight.

After dinner, the group of friends, having drunk several rounds of wine and eaten several dishes, began to stage a kind of folk martial arts competition. While drinking and chatting happily at the table, they started throwing punches at each other on the way downstairs because they didn't get along.

These kinds of cases involving acquaintances are particularly simple. All you have to do is bring them back to the station, put them in the detention room to sober up for a while, and when the time is up, the two of them will automatically shake hands and make peace inside. Then they can go back to their own homes and find their own mothers.

However, even the simplest case takes a lot of time to handle. By the time things were done and Chen Shu was about to go back to the cafeteria to eat something, the clock had already quietly struck 10:15.

As soon as I stepped into the cafeteria, the urgent electronic voice from the duty hall rushed over from the corridor.

"An alarm has been received, please respond!"

It only rang once this time, so it must have been picked up by the dispatcher.

Chen Shu shook his head, tightened his belt again, and turned to walk outside.

Noodle shop.

The boss, his face flushed, rubbed his hands together, reeking of alcohol, and said somewhat embarrassedly, "Officers, I'm really sorry to have asked you to come so late."

"It's nothing, let's talk." "Hey, I don't know why, but lately the shop has been getting burgled a lot. It's almost Lunar New Year's Eve, why aren't you going home to be with your family? Why are you still thinking about doing these dirty things?"

It was learned that the owner had set up two tables of food and drinks to entertain relatives at his noodle shop today, and opened the front door of the shop to make it easier for relatives and friends to come and go.

In this way, some unsuspecting people might think the shop is open and come in to inquire.

During this process, a brand-new, brand-new Apple mobile phone, worth more than 8,000 yuan, which the boss had prepared as a gift for a younger employee and placed at the front desk, disappeared.

There were no security cameras installed in the store. For this kind of case, it's difficult to find any other way but to hand it over to the police station's video surveillance team to slowly investigate and track down the suspects by retrieving surveillance footage from the street in front of the store.

As Chen Shu finished recording the scene on the form and was about to leave, the proprietress came over and mentioned, "Officer, I seem to remember that among the customers who came in, only one security guard didn't ask us to order noodles. He just went in, walked around, and left. I suspect he was the one who took the phone."

Chen Shu recorded the relevant information on the registration form and then left.

Coincidentally, as Chen Shu was sitting in the police car preparing to go back, he noticed a security guard across the street, who appeared to be watching the commotion, also turn and leave.

Could it be the security guard who came earlier?
Logically speaking, there are indeed precedents of criminal suspects returning to the scene after committing a crime.

Chen Shu directed Zhu Chaoran to park the police car next to the security guard. Chen Shu straightened his police uniform, put on his peaked cap, and got out of the car.

The security guard, who had been stopped by Zhu Chaoran in the driver's seat, looked nervous. As Chen Shu walked around the front of the car toward him, he took two steps back, not daring to look directly into the other man's eyes.

The security guard was not old, but his weathered face was covered with wrinkles, and his deep eyes were filled with unease and vigilance. He was wearing a common security guard uniform, with nothing particularly noteworthy about him.

Chen Shu asked politely, "Master, where are you going? Have you eaten?"

The security guard looked at Chen Shu without saying a word.

Chen Shu took a step closer: "Master, I have something to ask you. Come with me now."

"Where?"

The security guard glanced quickly at the patrol car parked next to him, looking very wary.

"Let's go to that noodle shop you just visited."

Chen Shu casually set a trap.

He didn't know if the security guard in front of him was the same security guard the proprietress had mentioned who had gone to the noodle shop earlier, but since they had met now, it would be a waste not to ask him a few questions.

The security guard was taken aback, then waved his hand and said, "I have to go back to work, I don't have time to go."

"Oh? Judging from this reply, that's it." Chen Shu nodded, smiled slightly, and slowly approached, placing his hand on the other person's shoulder and applying a little force: "Master, please cooperate. If we really run out of time, I'll take you back to your unit."

After saying that, he grabbed the other person's coat and dragged him into the back seat of the police car, then got in himself.

The police car turned around and drove back to the noodle shop. Chen Shu didn't get out of the car. He waved to the noodle shop owner and pointed to the security guard sitting next to her, asking:
"Boss lady, is this the security guard who came to your shop earlier?"

The proprietress covered her mouth in astonishment and said, "Officer, it's him."

The noodle shop owner ran out and saw the security guard sitting in the back. Remembering his wife's earlier suspicions, and now fueled by alcohol, he didn't care that the police were there or whether the other party was really a thief. He squeezed past the owner's wife, leaned out of the car window, and started cursing.

Chen Shu leaned back, observing the reaction of the security guard beside him.

The security guard stammered, "What did you say?!"

"What nonsense are you talking about!"

"I don't know, I didn't see the phone!"

It's just these few sentences over and over again.

(End of this chapter)