Reborn Cat Sheriff

Chapter 412 Crisis of Desperation
Juvenile delinquency is often caused by momentary impulses.

Expecting them to meticulously plan, devise measures, and carefully schedule every step? That's wishful thinking. A simple online game completely captivated them and exposed their weaknesses; how could such people possibly consider every step thoroughly?

For example, right now, someone carelessly left the window unlocked, causing the curtains to flutter and exposing a large amount of cash carelessly scattered on the bed.

If anyone were to witness this scene, their plans to enjoy the money after their release from prison would be completely ruined.

With this kind of carelessness, how can one learn to commit crimes?

Lin Ge jumped onto the windowsill, easily slipped through the security bars, and then pushed open the window, entering the room without breaking a sweat.

Seeing the mess in the room, Lin Ge quickly turned on the camera on his collar. He then carefully moved around the house with the camera attached, recording every detail. However, besides a large amount of snacks, drinks, unfinished instant noodles, and countless pieces of trash, there weren't many valuable clues in the house. Furthermore, the three large boxes containing money were carelessly left on the living room floor, their locks all forcibly broken.

To Lin Ge's annoyance, he found several partially burned banknotes in the charred and deformed trash can nearby. In an instant, Lin Ge thought of a scene from the movie "God of Gamblers," where Mark uses money to light a cigarette—a scene that certainly seemed cool to teenagers.

These guys really don't value money!

Lin Ge sighed and found large sums of cash on the beds in both rooms. The amount was impossible to count, and some of the cash was crumpled and showed signs of someone having lain on it and rolled around.

And it's impossible for Lin Ge to take all that money with him by himself.

"So what should I do? If only I were Doraemon, I could just hide anything in my belly."

Lin Ge scratched his neck with his hind leg, feeling a bit itchy, and then found a clean spot by the door to rub against it.

He knew he shouldn't disturb the crime scene, but there was too much evidence in the house belonging to Zhou Zhihai and his four accomplices; there was no need to worry about insufficient evidence. The five of them were currently in the county police station, and the stolen money was right in front of them—caught red-handed, what excuses could they possibly have? Therefore, the most important thing now wasn't those five boys, but how to smuggle so much cash back to Jixi County from the pursuit and interception in Xizhong City. Anyway, Lin Ge, a cat, definitely couldn't do it alone. Even if the money were packed tightly, it would still be larger than him. Just imagine a cat carrying so much money outside—it's like a child carrying gold into a bustling market!
"Contact Zheng Mingxing?"

Lin Ge had a sudden thought and decided to hand this trouble over to Zheng Mingxing. After all, this was his wife's business, so he should be the one to worry about it.

So Lin Ge slowly turned the collar, searching for Zheng Mingxing's phone number recorded on it.

"Officer, this is it! I've seen those hooligans from the photos walking this way for the past few days. They're all so rude and unhygienic. When I told them not to litter their cigarette butts, they yelled at me and even tried to hit me! Oh my old bones, I almost had a heart attack..."

Suddenly, an old man's voice came from outside the window.

His loud, boastful words stunned Lin Ge, his entire body instantly stiffening. Although he had long known that Zhou Zhihai and his group's clumsy cover-up wouldn't fool the Xizhong City police, he hadn't expected them to arrive so quickly.

"You personally witnessed them entering this building?"

A strange man's voice came from outside the window; it was undoubtedly the police who had come looking for the clues.

"That's right! It's this building, I can see it very clearly! But I'm not sure which floor they live on, since they look like hooligans, I don't dare to get too close."

The old man spoke angrily, stomping his feet as if trying to prove his rage. Soon he led four policemen into the building's hallway and stopped at the door of the room where Lin Ge was.

"Holy crap, what do we do now?"

Lin Ge was anxious and panicked in his room. They had come knocking on his door. What could he possibly do to cover it up? Even if the door was tightly shut, once the police had ruled out other suspects, it was only a matter of time before they broke in!
And the same problem arises: Lin Ge has no way of taking the money away on his own! As long as the people outside block the door, he can only watch helplessly as the Xizhong City Public Security Bureau and Finance Bureau snatch the money from him and win the final victory.

All of Fang Yun's plans will fall apart at the last minute.

'Bang bang bang! '

A knock came at the door, and Lin Ge remained quietly crouched in the living room, not daring to make a sound.

"Nobody here? Hmm... Xiao Wang, have you contacted the person in charge of the community office? Ask him to provide a list so we can see who owns these houses."

"Um, Captain Ji, please wait a moment. The person on the phone said the person in charge is away on a business trip and won't be back for a few days. As for the list, the staff on duty is looking for the key to the filing cabinet. They said they'll bring it to us once they find it."

"Hmm, then make a note of this house. Xiao Wang, you guard the door on the first floor. No one is allowed to enter or leave without my order."

"Yes!"

After a brief exchange, the detective captain, surnamed Ji, knocked on the door across the street. However, perhaps coincidentally, no one lived there either. Captain Ji checked the electricity meter and discovered that most of the appliances in that house were without power.

Undeterred, he instructed the young policeman surnamed Wang to guard the door, and then led the other three upstairs.

The old man who had brought the police there was curious and wanted to follow, but Officer Wang persuaded him to stop. Thinking about the five young men's fierce and arrogant demeanor, the old man became somewhat intimidated and simply squatted under a tree outside, peering curiously.

"Ok?"

He knocked on the door of the first room on the first floor, but no one answered. He vaguely saw the curtains move slightly. The old man rubbed his eyes and looked again, but this time he didn't see anything unusual. It seemed he had just imagined it all along. The old man muttered something, took out a cigarette, and crossed his legs again.

"Damn, someone's watching us from this window too?"

Lin Ge watched the old man puffing on his cigarette, speechless. This was the first time he'd felt so annoyed by a guy who'd joined in the fun. Right now, forget about the money; he himself was practically trapped. If the police cornered him in this house and dragged him out, his reputation as a police officer would be ruined. That reputation was the result of hard work from last year to this year; if it was completely ruined in Sichuan Province, how could he ever have the face to act recklessly in the police station again?
Lin Ge paced anxiously around the room, unable to resist peeking out through the curtains again. The old man had lit a second cigarette. He even pulled out his phone and started calling, bragging about helping the police catch people.

If a few more idle old men come along, wouldn't we be even more helpless?
Lin Ge dared not waste any more time; this time, he had to ask Zheng Mingxing for help no matter what.

'Ding ding ding!'

The sound of footsteps came from the doorway; it was Captain Ji, who had returned to the first floor. Facing Officer Wang's curious question, he calmly replied, "There weren't many cigarette ash marks on the stairs. Besides, I already checked outside; there were clothes drying on the balconies of the fourth, fifth, and sixth floors, including women's and children's clothing, which doesn't fit the situation of five single young people living there. Therefore, the only suspected floors are the first, second, third, and seventh floors. On the third floor, both households had people home—one was an elderly person, and the other an adult coming home from a night shift. Although only one door on the seventh floor was knocked on, after questioning, it was confirmed that the person across the hall was someone he knew, so the suspicion level isn't high."

"So you've targeted the four houses on the first and second floors?"

Young Officer Wang was surprised that Captain Ji had narrowed down the targets to only four households so quickly. Moreover, Captain Ji did not let his judgment go to his head and still ordered two colleagues to investigate the situation on the fourth, fifth, and sixth floors.

"Actually, the second floor isn't a strong suspect either."

Captain Ji stroked his chin, pondering as he slowly said, "Although no one opened the door on the second floor, there were signs that the women's slippers on one of the shoe racks had been worn. Judging from the wear and tear, they were the kind that were used every day. On the wooden shelf by the door opposite, there were some magazines, which I saw were free inaugural issues distributed internally by the State Grid. In other words, the person living here is very likely a literary worker within the State Grid."

"Then the two households on the first floor are the most suspicious."

Officer Wang nodded.

"Or rather, from beginning to end, this is the only household that is most suspicious!" Captain Ji pointed to the door of the house where Lin Ge was without hesitation.

On the other side of the door, Lin Ge, who had been eavesdropping the whole way, was sweating profusely. He never expected that Captain Ji would be a detective with such deductive reasoning skills, and that he could pinpoint the target's location in just a few words through various eliminations.

What should I do? Should I just run away first and think about the consequences? It's obvious that this money can't escape the hands of the Nishichō City police, so I might as well protect myself first.

Lin Ge looked down at the collar around his neck, then stepped back and hid in the dirty, smelly bathroom.

The unpleasant smell made him gag.

"Mimi, I heard what they said over there. If it really doesn't work, just give up for now. After all, forcing it is pointless. I'll talk to Fang Yun. What does she mean by ordering around a cat? If she's so capable, she should handle things herself!"

Even in this situation, Zheng Mingxing remained calm. Even after things had come to this point, he didn't blame Lin Ge; instead, he placed all the blame on the woman he loved most.

"Ouch!"

Lin Ge hung up the phone helplessly. No matter how unwilling he was, what could he do now that things had come to this?

In other matters, he's a police cat, protected and assisted by countless police officers and the national law. But this time, he inexplicably finds himself as a villain in Xizhong City, tasked with stealing a sum of stolen money from the police.

Lin Ge finally realized how difficult it is to be a criminal!
Despite his ability to evade the massive surveillance cameras in Nishichū City and the police's pursuit, he was eventually cornered at the most critical point and had no choice but to surrender or flee.

"It's too hard to be a bad guy! It's not easy to be a bad cat either!"

Lingo, tail drooping dejectedly, came out of the bathroom and glanced out the window again, only to find another old man outside. The two of them pointed and gestured in their direction, taking pictures with their phones.

Got it!
Now, forget about the money; it'll be difficult for him to escape without leaving a trace!
With a sigh, Lin Ge went to check the situation through the back window of the kitchen. There wasn't anyone loitering there, but the kitchen window was greasy, and squeezing out meant you'd inevitably get cat hair on you. If someone did a DNA test on the cat hair and got caught, that would be just as embarrassing.

"How to do it?"

Back in the living room, looking at the cash spread across the beds in both rooms, Lin Ge was reluctant to give it up. Especially after learning that the money was for building schools for the children of Jixi County to receive a good education, Lin Ge couldn't bear to see it being casually spent by Xizhong City.

Just like Lu Dingping mentioned before, Xizhong City spent over 100 million yuan to install a four-dimensional surveillance system to facilitate police investigations. Whether the money was worth it is another matter, but Xizhong City's extravagant spending is worlds apart from that of neighboring Jixi County. Jixi County resorts to all sorts of underhanded tactics for three million yuan, while Xizhong City spends hundreds of millions without batting an eye. The comparison is incredibly unfair! It makes Lin Ge feel extremely resentful!
Therefore... as long as there is even the slightest possibility, Lin Ge does not want this money to return to the Xizhong City Finance Bureau.

Ah!
Even if the money originally belonged to the Xizhong Municipal Finance Bureau, Lin Ge's thoughts and actions had nothing to do with right or wrong; they were only related to the future of Jixi County and the children who deserved more and better education!

Therefore, we must never give up!

Lin Ge took a deep breath and decided to think of a way to move the police outside away.

Or rather, find a way to dispel their suspicions about the house. After all, they had no evidence whatsoever; their identification of the house was solely based on an old man's pointing it out and the fact that no one answered the door—that was all.

'Boom boom! '

Perhaps out of boredom, someone knocked on the front door twice more. But after that, there was no further action; it seemed the person had assumed the occupants of the house had been arrested and taken to the Jixi County Public Security Bureau.

"Could I sneak next door and make some noise to attract the attention of the people outside? Captain Ji judged that the other side wasn't suspicious because their appliances were off. What if I turned them on? Hmm... that doesn't seem very useful. Or maybe I should turn on the gas to trigger the alarm? Forget it, there are still many people living upstairs. That's too dangerous and too unethical. Ugh! The most troublesome problem now is how to hide or move the cash in this house! Unless there's some kind of magic trick, it's unlikely that I, a cat, can do it. Magic trick... oh wait a minute..."

From unethical methods to criminal means, Lin Ge ruled them out one by one. But then something suddenly occurred to him: cutting off the power to the neighbor across the street—it felt like he'd heard about this before.

Lin Ge instantly recalled a man named Xu Yinghui and how he had bought two adjacent houses and combined them into one. Remembering Zheng Mingxing's earlier comment that this might be Shu Chengcai's safe house, Lin Ge immediately became suspicious.

Without hesitation, he quickly ran to the wall between the two houses and slowly searched along the corner of the wall. He ended up in the master bedroom, where the large bed against the wall caught his attention.

The headboard of the solid wood bed is covered with a layer of technical fabric, which is soundproof, shock-absorbing, and stain-resistant. However, Lin Ge noticed a slight color difference where the headboard was moved, near the wall.

Without hesitation, he crawled under the bed, pressed himself against the wall, and gently tapped it. The echo from the PVC made Lin Ge's eyes light up.

Sure enough! Sure enough! There's a hidden space here!
This wall in the room had been thickened, and it's very likely that the opposite wall was similarly thickened. With both sides thickened and stacked, a camouflage space matching the wall color could be created at the base of the three layers of walls. Lin Ge lightly tapped the wall with his paw to determine that it was a square, secret room about a meter high and half a meter wide, roughly the size of two bedside tables stacked together. It was cleverly hidden behind the headboard of the large bed; it would be impossible to discover unless the bed was moved!

At least for a human, it's impossible for someone of Ringo's size to squeeze under that narrow bed. And unless there's something seriously suspicious about the room, the police wouldn't have overturned the bed and searched every nook and cranny!

This discovery reminded Lingo of a TV series he watched when he was still a human, starring a comedian surnamed Chen. In one episode, he played a carpenter building a hidden place for corrupt officials to hide their ill-gotten gains.

Hehe... This secret room in front of me looks so much like that scene on TV.
In the darkness beneath the bed, Lin Ge could see clearly. To avoid detection, the disguised space didn't have any locks or similar features. It was just a simple spring-loaded latch; pushing it inward would open the door a crack.

Lin Ge laboriously pushed the heavy bed outward a little, panting heavily, but finally managed to create a gap in the secret room large enough for a cat to enter and exit.

Then, in a few quick movements, he lifted the blanket off the bed, rolled up the money in the sheet, and dragged it under the bed while biting the sheet.

At this moment, the tense and anxious voice of the community manager could be heard from outside the door. Lin Ge didn't know when Captain Ji would choose to force his way in. Therefore, he could only hurry up and drag the cash from the other bedroom over wrapped in a bed sheet.

Then, Lingo began frantically running between the bedsheets and the secret room, grabbing and biting stacks of banknotes and stuffing them inside.

To be honest, it was very simple at first; the bank's bundled banknotes were easy to handle. But after these large bundles were thrown in, the remaining loose banknotes took time to pick up bit by bit.

Of course, Lin Ge didn't forget to throw both sheets into the bathroom.

"Call a locksmith!"

Captain Ji made a decision outside the door.

"Damn it! Those five damn brats! Why did they waste money!"

As Lingo picked up money from the ground, he roared angrily.

There was no time to deal with the burnt trash can and the unburned cash inside. I just hope that the Xizhong City police won't launch a large-scale search immediately, and that Captain Ji won't call for an on-site investigation right away, giving Lin Ge a chance to buy some time!
Lin Ge stuffed all the cash he could find into the secret room, then forcefully pushed the bed back against the wall. He quickly cleaned up the marks on the floor, ignoring the dirt and grease, and crawled directly into the exhaust pipe through the range hood.

"Hold!"

Lin Ge let out a desperate roar: Why is it so filthy in here?
(End of this chapter)