“Ma’am, don’t panic.”
Seeing this, Sophia instinctively hurried to help the middle-aged woman. “Don’t worry. If your things are missing, we’ll call the police. They’ll catch the thief.”
She also shouted to the driver, “Close the doors first. Don’t let anyone get on or off.”
The bus driver locked the doors.
At this moment, the scholarly-looking man in the white shirt stepped forward, displaying an air of righteous indignation.
“As long as your money and phone were lost on this bus, they can definitely be found. No matter how despicable the thief is, they cannot run away.”
He then raised his voice to address all the passengers, “Listen, thief, although stealing is your way of survival, not everything can be stolen.”
“This lady’s money is for saving her child’s life. If you take it away, her child might die without money for treatment.”
“No matter how wicked you are, you should have your bottom line.”
The scholarly-looking man righteously continued, “If you have any conscience left, quickly return the money. I can guarantee that we won’t pursue the matter further.”
“If you don’t return it and the police get involved, you’ll be sentenced to prison.”
“I’m giving you a chance now. Everyone will close their eyes for thirty seconds, and you can throw the money onto the aisle.”
Composed and courageous, the man in white immediately gained everyone’s support.
Then, with a wave of his hand, he added, “Everyone, please cooperate, give the thief a chance, and close your eyes.”
After saying this, he closed his eyes and started counting down. “Thirty, twenty-nine, twenty-eight…”
Seeing him like this, the passengers on the bus all closed their eyes, hoping to use this emotional appeal to move the thief, making him realize his mistake and return the wallet and phone.
Sophia also tightly closed her eyes, her adorable appearance making Darnell smile, helpless but somewhat admiring. This woman was still too pure.
Darnell, who hadn’t closed his eyes, didn’t scan for who the thief might be. His gaze was more focused on the plump woman, the crew-cut man, and the scholarly-looking man.
He recalled the information Gisselle had sent him, along with the photos of Three Souleaters of the Axe, and his smile became playful.
“Three, two, one, zero…”
Soon, the scholarly-looking man’s countdown ended, and thirty people or so on the bus opened their eyes, craning their necks to look at the aisle, hoping to see if a wallet and phone had appeared.
Unfortunately, to everyone’s disappointment, there was nothing on the aisle, which instantly ignited their anger.
This thief was truly shameless.
The plump woman wailed again, “You heartless thief! Have you no conscience? Please return my money!”
“Without the money, what will happen to my child? If anything happens to him, I won’t live either.”
As the plump woman cried and shouted, the scholarly-looking man stepped forward again, his face darkening.
“Fine, you refuse to take the easy way out. You had your chance, so don’t blame me for being merciless.”
“Ma’am, what’s your phone number? I’ll call it.”
“Maybe the thief hasn’t had time to get rid of it yet. Calling might help us catch him.”
“Even if he turned it off immediately, don’t worry. We’ll have the driver take us to the police station.”
He said with determination, “We’ll search everyone one by one. The thief definitely won’t escape.”
Sophia nodded. “Yes, as long as the person is still on the bus, we’ll find the items.”
“I just checked, and the windows are tightly closed. I didn’t see anyone throwing anything out, and no one has gotten on or off yet.”
She comforted the plump woman, “Your phone and money definitely are still on the bus, so don’t worry.”
Hearing the scholarly-looking man and Sophia, many people agreed. The plump woman wiped her tears and stood up.
“Thank you all. That’s life-saving money.”
The scholarly-looking man took out his phone and asked again, “Ma’am, what’s your phone number?”
The plump woman thanked him and then gave him her number.
The scholarly-looking man dialed quickly, and soon, a ringtone sounded.
All the passengers were momentarily stunned, then followed the sound, all eyes landing on Sophia’s handbag.
Sophia was stunned, then looked at her handbag in complete surprise as the ringtone came from it. “Why…”
“You stole my phone!”
Before Sophia could explain, the plump woman lunged forward and grabbed Sophia’s hand. “You stole my money, right?”
“The ringtone on my phone is this song set by my son.”
“You’re so young and pretty. Why become a thief?”
The scholarly-looking man also snorted coldly, “Being a thief is already unforgivable, but pretending to be righteous to catch thieves is truly despicable.”
“Quickly hand over the phone and wallet.”
Many passengers joined in, condemning Sophia, and some men revealed their contempt, surprised that someone as beautiful as Sophia would do such a despicable thing.
Sophia hastily tried to explain, “It wasn’t me-”
“Not you? Then what’s this?”
The plump woman snatched Sophia’s handbag and took out a phone and a wallet.
“The wallet has photos of me and my son, my ID card, and thirteen thousand seven hundred dollars in cash.”
As she spoke, she opened the wallet to show everyone the photos inside, which indeed contained pictures of the plump woman and a child.
Sophia anxiously defended herself, “I didn’t steal her phone and wallet.”
The scholarly-looking man clicked his tongue. “We saw it, yet you still deny it? If you didn’t steal them, did this lady put them in your bag herself?”
“How shameless.”
Seeing this, everyone completely believed the middle-aged woman and uniformly cursed Sophia, “Caught red-handed and still won’t admit it. Shame on you!”
“She is absolutely heartless, stealing money meant for medical treatment.”
“She looks so pretty. Selling her body once would be better than stealing ten times. Why doesn’t she go sell herself body?”
“Ma’ma, don’t waste words. Take her to the police station.”
Dozens of people hurled abuse, showing their hatred for thieves.
If Sophia weren’t beautiful enough, and if they weren’t worried she might have accomplices on the bus, these people would have likely surrounded her and beaten her on the spot.
Sitting in the corner, Darnell remained silent, just observing. He watched the three people closely.
Facing the accusations, Sophia felt helpless, but she quickly calmed down and stopped explaining, sensing something was wrong.
Sophia reached for the handbag seized by the plump woman and shouted, “I’m calling the police.”
The middle-aged woman deftly dodged. “I can’t give you the bag. There must be other stolen goods in it.”
She didn’t give Sophia a chance to retrieve her own phone.
The scholarly-looking man shouted, “Everyone, check your belongings to see if anything is missing.”
People hurriedly checked their phones and wallets, only breathing a sigh of relief when they found nothing amiss.
Sophia said to the bus driver, “Please drive to the police station.”