The red-haired criminal

Officer Reed was robust and agile, having even won shooting championships. It was precisely due to these qualities that he was assigned as a patrol officer to Gold Street in this small town, which was indeed quite an honor.

On a sunny morning, Reed was patrolling Gold Street when suddenly a red-haired man appeared in his sight. As their gazes met, the red-haired man swiftly turned and ran. Reed was puzzled but quickly gave chase. Despite the man's lack of physical prowess, Reed caught up to him after a short distance. Taking a moment to catch his breath, Reed said, "Sir, it looks like you'll be having lunch at the police station." The red-haired man shrugged, expressing a sense of resignation, which convinced Reed he had the right person.

The police station was located at the end of Gold Street, the sole entrance and exit to the street. After questioning, the red-haired man introduced himself as Jimmy, a psychology master's student interning in the small town. Reed asked, "Jimmy, why did you start running when you saw me?" Jimmy appeared annoyed and responded, "Officer, is there a law in this country that forbids citizens from running on the streets?" "But you only started running when you saw me." "Your phrasing might be a bit off. I started running when I saw you, but what's the problem with that?" Jimmy burst into laughter. Reed felt like he had swallowed a fly listening to Jimmy's mocking laughter but had no choice but to release him from the police station.

The following day, Reed continued his patrol on Gold Street, haunted by the memory of Jimmy's disdainful expression from the day before. Reed was certain that he was being taunted. Suddenly, Reed spotted a red-haired man, and as soon as the man saw Reed, he turned and ran. After a moment's hesitation, Reed decided to chase after him again. Jimmy was apprehended once more and brought back to the police station, where the questioning yielded the same result as the day before. Gritting his teeth, Reed released Jimmy. He believed Jimmy to be either crazy or some sort of fitness enthusiast.

For the next few days, Reed kept seeing Jimmy on the street, and Jimmy continued his "running" routine, only doing so after spotting Reed. That tuft of red hair had become incredibly irritating to Reed, to the point where he wished for Jimmy to be hit by a speeding car while running on the road.

Yet another sunny morning arrived, and Reed now found it abnormal not to see Jimmy. Just as expected, Jimmy appeared within Reed's line of sight, and as before, he started running when he saw Reed. Muttering to himself, Reed said, "This red-haired guy should really visit a mental hospital or a therapy clinic!" Just then, someone shouted, "Robbery!" A young woman came running up to Reed, breathless, and said, "A red-haired guy... robbed..."

Reed sensed something was amiss and quickly gave chase. This time, it took considerable effort for Reed to apprehend Jimmy. The woman caught up and said, "It's him! This red-haired rascal!" Reed finally understood Jimmy's scheme. All the claims of being a "master's student" and "internship" were lies. He brought both Jimmy and the woman to the police station.

After taking a sip of strong coffee, Reed sternly asked, "Jimmy, my master of psychology, do you have another explanation this time?" Jimmy replied, "Officer, don't you know she's a notorious lunatic?" Reed turned to the woman and asked, "Miss, what did he steal from you?" "Emotions!"

"What?" This response left Reed greatly astonished. At this moment, the woman spoke again, "My name is Ruth. I'm Jimmy's girlfriend. He abandoned our three-year relationship and left me alone to come here. Do you think he hasn't taken away my emotions?" As she spoke, Ruth began to sob softly. Reed was finding it difficult to restrain his anger at this point. He felt that he had been manipulated by Jimmy and his so-called girlfriend. He sternly retorted, "Miss, the object of robbery you're talking about should be things like gold watches and purses!"

Ruth wiped her eyes and said, "Officer, you're limiting the concept of robbery. Can't emotions be stolen?" Finishing her words, she looked at Jimmy and started crying again. In the meantime, Jimmy shrugged casually and said, "Officer, I told you, right?" Reed had no way to deal with such absurdity and could only ask them to leave the police station.

To his surprise, the farce replayed the next day, but this time the leading lady was replaced by a woman named Mary. Every detail was exactly the same, like a poorly staged comedy, even the lines were identical. As they were leaving, Mary added, "Officer, you should know that this red-haired guy has stolen the emotions of many women!" Suppressing his fury, Reed told her, "I don't want there to be a next time, or else you'll regret it!"

On the morning of the third day, while patrolling on Golden Street, Reed's mind was in a mess due to the recent incidents involving Jimmy and those women whose emotions were supposedly stolen. He swore that if such "emotional robbery" happened again, he would stay far away and ignore it. Just then, Reed heard someone shouting "robbery" again. Following the call, he once again saw that clump of red hair resembling a pile of cow dung. Reed was driven to madness by anger. His patience had exceeded its limits. He decided to uphold his promise, so without hesitation, he walked into a nearby coffee shop and leisurely began to drink coffee, never patrolling the street again.

A few days later, a new police officer took over Golden Street, and Reed received a heavy punishment. Nobody knew where he had been reassigned. It turned out that not long ago on that morning, the largest jewelry store on Golden Street was robbed, and the ringleader of the criminals was a red-haired guy...