Short Crime Stories.

The Money Thief.

As the head detective on the case, Detective Lanson had been chasing after the elusive "Money Thief" for over a year. The Money Thief was notorious for stealing large sums of money that were earned through illegal activities, such as drug trafficking and money laundering. Despite countless hours of surveillance, forensic analysis and interrogations, Lanson and his team had been unable to discover the real identity of the suspect in this case.

One day, Lanson received an anonymous tip about someone that could be the suspect. The tipster claimed that for quite sometime, he is seeing someone with unusual behaviour, that is matching the Money Thief's description, to visit often a small convenience store on the suburbs of the city. Lanson and his team quickly set up surveillance around the store and waited for the suspect to show up.

After waiting several days, finally a man fitting the Money Thief's description walked into the store, like the tipster said. He wore a hooded sweatshirt and sunglasses and his face was partially obscured by a surgical mask, almost covering the gruesome scar on his right cheek. Lanson and his team watched as the suspect walked around the store, seemingly casing the joint.

Suddenly, the suspect pulled out a gun and demanded from the store clerk to hand over all the money in the register. The clerk complied, handing over a small stack of cash. The suspect then turned and ran out of the store, with Lanson and his team in hot pursuit.

The chase led them through the back alleys and streets of the town, with the suspect running faster and faster as he tried to outrun the police. But eventually, the suspect stumbled and fell, dropping the bag of money as he hit the ground.

Lanson and his team quickly apprehended the suspect and brought him back to the station for questioning. After several hours of interrogation, the suspect finally confessed to being the Money Thief. He revealed that he was working as a low-level enforcer for a local drug lord, but had become disillusioned with the lifestyle and decided to strike out on his own.

With the Money Thief finally behind bars, Lanson and his team were able to close the case and bring some measure of justice to the victims of the Money Thief's crimes. Lanson knew that the case would go down in history as one of the most challenging and complex he had ever worked on, but he also knew that it was worth it to see justice getting served in the end.