Final Case

Emmer is the head of the theft investigation department at a certain police station. In just a week, he is going to retire with honor. Unexpectedly, during this period, he encountered a series of thefts, with six pharmacies being robbed in three weeks! What's worse, up to now, he is still at a loss about this case.

One day, as they were about to get off work, Emmer and his assistant came to the director's office. The director, with a beer belly, said discontentedly, "This is already the sixth pharmacy theft case. Haven't you found any clues?" Emmer shook his head painfully.

The director waved angrily and said, "You go back. If there's still no progress in the case next week," he paused and glared at Emmer, "I'll relieve you of your duties, and then you won't be retiring with honor!"

Knowing how upset Emmer was, his assistant drove him home and then they opened a stack of thick case files, flipping through page by page, trying to find clues.

After a while, the assistant's nicotine addiction came on, and he said to Emmer, "Boss, do you have any cigarettes at home?" Emmer said there were some in the wine cabinet and told him to help himself. The assistant walked over, opened the wine cabinet, and with a smile, picked up a pack of cigarettes: "Ha, it's Imperial brand—"

Before he could finish, both of them suddenly froze, realizing that at the entrance of the six robbed pharmacies, investigators had found Imperial brand cigarettes. This brand of cigarettes is now very rare on the market.

The assistant knew that his boss didn't have the habit of smoking.

A trace of unease flashed through Emmer's mind. He had two sons. The eldest son was originally a policeman, but unfortunately, he died in the line of duty during a pursuit. The younger son, Werner, might have been influenced by his family, and once expressed a desire to become a policeman, but considering the dangers of the police profession, he always opposed it, leading to a significant conflict between father and son. Especially after Werner's mother died, the two rarely spoke. Werner often went his own way, never saying hello...

The assistant seemed to see the boss's thoughts and tried to comfort him with a joke: "It's just a coincidence."

But Emmer didn't think so. He instructed his assistant to take immediate action, to package up the teacup Werner had used and send it to the police station for fingerprint identification.

He waited quietly at home for the results. Soon, his assistant called and said that the fingerprints on the teacup matched exactly with those on the cigarette butts found at the crime scenes!

Emmer felt as if he had been punched heavily, and he collapsed onto the sofa...

Two sons, one was killed by criminals, and the other turned out to be a criminal... How could this be? After a while, Emmer regained his senses. He wanted to check for new evidence before Werner came home, so he mustered his spirit and went into Werner's room for a thorough search.

As the saying goes, "You never know until you search." Soon, he found a city map with several red circles marked on it, connected by a blue line. He counted, and there were six circles on the blue line, corresponding exactly to the six pharmacies that had been robbed. Seeing this, Emmer's head buzzed: he never thought that his son would be the thief he had been chasing all along!

Emmer's hands trembled as he held the map, overwhelmed by anger and sadness. He gasped heavily, but he knew that at the crime scene, there were no fathers and sons, only police and suspects.

After a moment, Emmer gradually calmed down. He picked up the map and looked at it carefully again. At this time, he noticed that there was a seventh circle marked on the map: Adler Pharmacy, the largest pharmacy in the city, which meant it would be the next target of the criminal. Moreover, Werner had not come home so late... Emmer didn't hesitate to call his assistant and notify him to call the police immediately.

Before setting out, Emmer put on his gun, but he couldn't find the handcuffs. Due to the urgency of the situation, he had to rush to Adler Pharmacy first.

When he arrived at the scene, the police had already set up a trap around the pharmacy, and the arrest was ready.

His assistant came over and whispered to Emmer, "I've checked, the back door of the pharmacy has been pried open, and the door is still half-closed, the guy must still be inside!"

Emmer nodded and said, "Okay, you come with me." With that, they cautiously entered the pharmacy.

Inside the pharmacy, it was pitch black, and Emmer had to move slowly. At that moment, a sudden noise came from the front, Emmer quickly moved in that direction and shouted, "I'm the police! Don't move! Raise your hands! Or I'll shoot!"

At the same time, his assistant turned on the lights in the room.

"Don't shoot, Dad! It's me!" came a young man's shout from inside, it was Emmer's son, Werner!

"You scoundrel, I hit..." Emmer was about to get angry at his son, but he heard his son say triumphantly, "I finally caught him!"

Emmer was stunned and went up to see his son leading a man in handcuffs, saying, "Sorry, Dad, I took your handcuffs!"

An hour later, Emmer was called to the director's office by the director.

The director said joyfully, "Hey, Emmer, you used to say your son was not qualified to be a policeman, but now look, your son has made such a great contribution, it's really a surprise!" He seemed to remember something, "Aren't you retiring with honor next week? Call Werner over, we need such young people!"