red moscow

Chapter 2704

After listening to Victoria, Sokov clapped his hands and said with emotion: "It's a flawless scam, and the scammer's psychological quality is also very good. He took the victim to a company and even pretended to talk to the front desk for a few words, completely dispelling the woman's doubts about him. If it were someone with a poor psychological quality, I'm afraid he wouldn't be able to do this."

"That's right." Victoria agreed with Sokov's statement: "To be honest, I have handled many fraud cases, but this is the first time I have seen such a classic fraud method. To be honest, if I were the victim, even if I had any doubts about the scammer, I would put aside all my doubts when I saw him enter the company and talk to the front desk."

"Do you have any clues now?"

"After we received the case, we immediately rushed to the Evolution Tower and recorded the victim's statement." Victoria said: "Although she told us the scammer's personal information, after checking, the man's identity was fake. Now all we can do is use the photo to make a wanted poster."

“After issuing a wanted warrant, can the scammer be caught?”

Victoria shook her head and said with a wry smile, "With so many wanted warrants issued every year, how many criminals can be caught in the end? We go to the scene to investigate and take notes, but it's just a formality. As for whether we can solve the case in the future, it depends entirely on luck."

Victoria's words reminded Sokov of something his friend had told him, so he said carefully, "A friend of mine told me that about a dozen years ago, his store was robbed and he lost more than 400,000 US dollars worth of goods. After discovering the theft, he immediately reported the theft to the market office and the police station. After receiving the alarm call, the police, accompanied by the market security personnel, came to the scene to conduct an investigation and questioned several nearby shop owners. Everything seemed very formal. After investigating the scene, they left, and then there was no more to this case."

Victoria was obviously very interested in the case Sokov mentioned. She quickly asked, "Oh, it's a case from more than ten years ago. Misha, can you tell me what happened? If the person who investigated the scene was from our bureau, maybe I can check the files."

Seeing that Victoria was interested in the case and Sokov happened to know what happened at the time, he began to tell her: "It happened in 2009. My friend Lao Xu opened two adjacent fur shops on the first floor of the market. Because his goods were of many styles and affordable, his business was quite hot. He worked in that location for two or three years. The business of the neighbors on both sides was not as good as his, so people kept opening shops and people kept closing down and leaving.

Soon after the leather jacket shop next door closed down, a suitcase shop moved in in early August. The owner of the shop was a young man from Azerbaijan in his early twenties, who often came to Lao Xu's shop to chat with him. Lao Xu was very friendly to people, and when he saw his neighbor coming to visit, he would naturally not turn him away.

However, at the end of August, one morning when Lao Xu opened the door of his shop, he found that all the furs in his shop were missing. He was shocked at the time, because when he closed the shop yesterday, the goods in the shop were still full, but just one night later, the goods in the shop were all gone. Lao Xu hurried to the company office and told the boss about it. After the boss learned about it, he immediately called the police.

When the police arrived, they immediately investigated the scene and found a hole in the ground of one of the shops, just big enough for a person to pass through. There was a cardboard box on the hole, so no one noticed it. After discovering the hole, a thin policeman went in to check and found that it was a tunnel. He crawled along the tunnel and found that the exit was in the suitcase shop next door.

After the policeman returned to Lao Xu's shop, he reported his findings to the leading police officer. The police officer asked the market owner to contact the store selling suitcases, but the phone number could not be reached. A security guard patrolling the area came to report that he saw the store selling suitcases taking away all the suitcases in the store early in the morning. He approached and asked, and the other party said that the business here was not good and planned to move to another place. Because it was common for shops in the market to open and close, he did not care and let the suitcase seller take away all the goods.

After hearing this, the market owner immediately ordered someone to find a cutting machine to cut the door lock of the store. When the door was opened and everyone rushed in, they found that the store was indeed empty. There was nothing in it except two tattered suitcases.

After hearing this, Victoria asked curiously, "Where did the lost furs go?"

"After later analysis, it was found that the owner of the suitcase shop had left two people in the shop when he closed the store the previous night. When it was late at night, they quietly entered Lao Xu's shop through the tunnel they had dug in advance and looted all the furs inside. After the furs were loaded into the suitcases, they were quietly taken away early the next morning, thus achieving the goal of not letting anyone know."

"I've been to the market before. I'm afraid it's not an easy task to dig a tunnel on the hard concrete ground."

"I think these thieves probably had their plans ready long ago," said Sokov. "After they moved into the shop next to Lao Xu's, they took advantage of the renovation to dig a hole in the hard concrete floor. Under the concrete is soft soil, so it's easy to dig a tunnel. The excavated soil was then transported out in suitcases so that no one would notice."

Victoria thought for a moment and continued to ask, "There are security guards patrolling the market at night. If they want to break through the concrete floor of Lao Xu's shop, it will probably make quite a noise. Aren't they afraid of alerting the security guards?"

"According to the results of the later investigation, the cement floor in Lao Xu's store was lifted up with a jack." Sokov said with a wry smile: "Using a jack to lift up the cement floor is indeed a good idea. Even in the dead of night, it wouldn't make much noise."

"After the police inspected the scene, there was no movement?"

"No, the police who arrived at the scene seemed quite dedicated. They dug a tunnel and took photos. Unfortunately, after completing all the formalities, there was no follow-up."

"Since the goods were lost in the market, did the market give any response?"

"After Lao Xu's efforts, he was finally exempted from three months' rent. At the same time, someone was sent to reinforce the floor of his store and lay a layer of stainless steel plate on the concrete floor to prevent anyone from using the tunnel to enter his store next time."

After listening to Sokov's words, Victoria couldn't help but raise her eyebrows, and then asked back: "Besides this, is there no other compensation?"

"No more." Sokov shook his head and said, "Later, Lao Xu went to the market owner to ask for an explanation, but was turned away. After going there so many times, the market owner gave orders to the security guards to drive Lao Xu away immediately if they saw him nearby."

"Misha, your friend is so unlucky." Victoria said regretfully, "He lost more than 400,000 US dollars and didn't get any compensation."

"Most of the goods that Lao Xu lost were consignment goods from the wholesale area, except for a few that were his own." Sokov continued, "But after the people in the wholesale area learned about this, they all came to Lao Xu and asked him to return the goods or pay compensation. For a whole month, Lao Xu's store was crowded with creditors, making it impossible for him to do business."

"So what happened later?" Victoria asked curiously, "Did Lao Xu return to China?"

"No, he stayed in Moscow," said Sokov. "He wrote IOUs to all the shippers, promising to pay off the debts within a certain number of years. Then he gave up some aggressive shippers and chose new partners. After more than three years of hard work, he finally paid off all the debts."

"He's really amazing." Victoria said with admiration, "If it were someone else, they would have run away long ago after encountering such a big setback. He stayed and faced it bravely. He's really amazing. By the way, where is he now? Is he on the same street as you?"

"No. He left Moscow two years ago and went to develop elsewhere." "Where did he go?"

"I heard that he bought a winery somewhere in the Crimean Peninsula, and the wines he produced were all sold to Europe."

"Oh, so you went to the Crimean Peninsula and became a winery owner. That's amazing." Victoria said with a smile, "You know, the wines produced by wineries in the Crimean Peninsula are very popular in Europe. Even France, which is rich in wine, likes to drink wine from the Crimean Peninsula. By the way, if you contact your friend one day, remember to buy me two bottles of wine from his winery."

"No problem, no problem." Sokov said with a smile, "Let alone two bottles, even twenty bottles will be no problem."

After saying this, he took out his cell phone to check the time, frowned and asked: "Vika, it's already ten o'clock, I wonder if the rescue work at Hovlin Hospital has started?"

"Misha, don't worry, I'll call and ask."

Victoria took out her cell phone, looked through the call logs, found the lieutenant's number, and dialed it.

After the phone rang for a while, it was connected and the lieutenant's slightly hoarse voice came out: "Major, what's the matter?"

"Hello, Lieutenant. I want to ask, has your rescue work started?"

"It has already started," the lieutenant replied. "After careful investigation, the geological experts have located the trapped people and are now drilling."

"What, drilling work?"

"Yes, Major, we are drilling a hole." The lieutenant was probably worried that Victoria didn't understand what was going on, so he explained, "Experts say that the people trapped underground may be suffering from oxygen deprivation, so we must drill a hole as soon as possible and put a pipe in. This way we can supply them with oxygen, as well as send some food and water in."

"You've been very thoughtful." After listening to the lieutenant's story, Victoria praised him and asked, "When can we get there?"

The lieutenant on the other end of the line paused, then replied, "Major, if I were you, I wouldn't be here."

"why?"

"First, we don't know who is trapped underground, and whether the person you are looking for is among them." The lieutenant said, "Second, they must be very weak after being trapped underground for such a long time. After being rescued, they need to be sent to the hospital for treatment immediately. Even if you come, I'm afraid you won't have a chance to talk to them. So it's best not to come. I will call you when I have further news."

"Okay, I understand." Victoria said to the phone, "If you have any news, be sure to inform me as soon as possible."

"Don't worry, Major. I will."

After Victoria ended the call, she said to Sokov, "Misha, the rescue work has just begun, and we don't know when we can rescue the people. I'm sure you just heard that the lieutenant doesn't want us to go to the scene, because so far, it's still unclear who is trapped underground, and whether they are the friends you are looking for. And even if they are rescued, they will be immediately sent to the hospital for treatment and will not stay at the scene for too long. You won't have a chance to communicate with them if you go there."

After saying this, Victoria saw that Sokov remained silent, so she continued, "Misha, I know you are worried about the safety of your friends, but some things cannot be rushed and can only be done step by step. It's getting late, you should go back and rest first. I will notify you when there is news."

After hearing Victoria's conversation, Sokov realized that it was meaningless for him to stay, so he stood up and said, "Okay, I'll go back first. Remember to inform me if there is any news." Before he left, he glanced at the room where Lida was sleeping and asked in a low voice, "Vika, will you let Lida and Kopalova meet?"

Victoria thought about Sokov's question for a long time, and finally shook her head slowly: "Although I want the two of them to meet, you can see my great-grandmother's current situation. Sometimes she is clear-headed and sometimes confused. If she is relatively clear-headed when the two meet, they can still talk about some past events. But if she is confused, I am afraid she won't even recognize who the other person is. What's the point of such a meeting. Don't you think so?"

"Well, you're right." Sokov nodded and said, "This is indeed a troublesome matter, so let it go. If Kopalova calls me or you one day and wants to meet Lida, it won't be too late for us to arrange a meeting between the two of them."

Sokov returned home and just as he entered the door, he heard Anna's voice coming from the bedroom: "Misha, are you back?"

"Yes, I'm back."

He walked to the bedroom door and saw Anna sitting on the bed, so he asked casually, "Are you ready to go to bed so early?"

"Misha, I just came out of the bathroom after taking a shower and I slipped and almost fell to the ground."

Sokov stepped forward and asked with concern: "Are you injured?"

"I sprained my ankle and now my ankle hurts a lot."

Sokov sat by the bed and lifted her injured foot. He found some bruises on her ankle and realized that she was seriously injured. He said to her, "Anna, your ankle is seriously sprained. I'll apply some medicine on you first, otherwise you won't be able to walk tomorrow."

(End of this chapter)