Red Moscow

After Captain Kester finished speaking, he immediately called the sentinel who had just led the way, and said to him: "I said, go find some people immediately, and make sure to pile up the sandbag fortifications in the shortest possible time."

Sokov smiled and nodded at Kester's aggressive style of doing things, and then walked into the building with Anisimov.

When walking through the corridor towards Kester's office, Sokov suddenly heard someone shouting in a nearby office: "Be honest, how many times have you done it besides this time?"

Sokov stopped and looked into the room. I saw two policemen in uniform sitting behind a long wooden table, and in front of them stood a middle-aged man in his forties with his head bowed.

"What's going on?" Sokov turned his head and asked Kester, who was standing aside, "What did he do?"

"It's a thief who stole the rationing system." Looking at the man standing in the room, Kester said through gritted teeth, "He stole an old lady's rationing card. Our police are interrogating him to see if he has done similar things before." Nothing."

If it is in peacetime, such petty theft is usually caught and locked up for a few days. But during the war, the nature of the theft of ration certificates is very serious. Without a ration card, they cannot receive their daily food needs, and the family will starve to death. In a sense, such a thief is tantamount to a murderer.

Sokov stepped into the room, and the two policemen sitting behind the table saw a colonel walking in with his chief, and quickly stood up to salute.

"What did he recruit?" Kester asked coldly.

"Report to Comrade Director," an older policeman replied, "This prisoner is very stubborn. He insisted that he didn't steal anything. He also doesn't know how the ration certificate that was lost by others appeared in his pocket."

Hearing what the police said, Sokov suddenly had a thought in his mind, could it be that the other party was framed by someone? Thinking of this, he walked up to the man and asked, "What's your name and where do you work?"

The middle-aged man saw clearly that the person who asked him was a young colonel, as if he had grasped a life-saving straw, he hurriedly shouted at Sokov: "Comrade colonel, I was wronged. I didn't steal from others at all. I was queuing for the ration certificate, when suddenly an old man in front of the line shouted that his ration certificate had been stolen. When the nearby police came to ask about it, he insisted that I had touched him before, so it must be me Stolen...”

"Comrade Colonel," although the policeman didn't know the identity of Sokov, but seeing that his chief was respectful to him, he knew that this was a well-known commander, and quickly reported to him: "The policeman who maintained order at that time , did not believe the old man’s words, but for the sake of fairness, he still searched several residents before and after the old man, and found the missing ration card on this person, and then sent him here.”

"What's your name and where do you work?" Sokov repeated his question again.

"My name is Avdeyev, and I am a Ukrainian." The middleman replied, "I am a worker in a soap factory. After our army recaptured the city, I returned here with my comrades in the factory to resume production."

"Captain Kester, call the soap factory." Sokov turned to Kester and said, "Ask them if there is a worker named Avdeyev in the factory."

Kester agreed, turned and walked out of the room.

"Don't worry, everything will be cleared up." After Kester left, Sokov said to Avdeyev: "If it turns out that you didn't steal the ration card, we will let you go."

A few minutes later, Kester hurried in from the outside and reported to Sokov: "Comrade Commander, I have learned that there is indeed a worker named Avdeyev in the soap factory. He is a Ukrainian. After the Germans occupied Ukraine, he was a member of the partisans, fighting behind enemy lines. Not long ago, our army liberated Luhansk, and he returned to the factory."

"What, you used to be a guerrilla?" Sokov couldn't help frowning after listening to Kester's report. As far as he knew, the Ukrainian guerrillas during the Great Patriotic War had the most complicated composition. Some of the Germans fought against the Soviet army, while others fought against both sides. "Which guerrilla team are you in? What's the captain's name?"

"Tanya's guerrilla team, the captain is a woman named Tanya. Before the war, she was a teacher in a nearby school." Avdeyev replied: "We have been operating near Luhansk, disrupting the enemy's traffic and communications. lines, raiding enemy sentries, burning their warehouses..."

"Wait a minute," Sokov interrupted Avdeyev without waiting for him to finish, "Where is your captain Tanniang now?"

Avdeyev lowered his head and said with red eyes: "In November last year, our camp was attacked by the Germans. She died in the battle. I was scattered, and I was in a nearby village. I hid in the village for several months, and I didn’t come back until I heard that our army had recovered Lugansk and the factory had moved back to the city.”

What Avdeyev said seemed quite logical, but to Sokov's ears, it was full of flaws. He frowned and thought for a while, then told Kester: "Comrade Captain, take someone to search his residence and see if you can find anything."

"Comrade Commander," Kester asked in surprise, "do you suspect that there will be more ration certificates in his home?"

"Whether there is a ration certificate, I don't know." Sokov looked at Avdeyev and said with a sneer: "But according to my speculation, if you go to search his residence, you will definitely find something unexpected. "

In this way, Kester took several policemen and escorted Avdeyev to his residence, while Sokov and Anisimov followed behind with their own guards.

When everyone came to the residential area near the soap factory, Sokov saw that half of the buildings here had been blown down, and almost all the workers and their families lived in the houses that hadn't completely collapsed. But there are too many people and few houses. On the nearby ruins, you can see a lot of temporary tents.

Seeing Avdeyev being escorted back by several policemen, a bearded man ran over immediately and asked Kester, the leader of the team: "Comrade Captain, I am the deputy director of the factory. What's the matter?"

"He stole an old man's ration certificate at the place where he was receiving ration supplies. We came here to search." Kester asked the deputy factory manager, "Where does he live?"

The deputy factory director, who was still worried about Avdeyev, immediately showed a disgusted expression when he learned that his workers were arrested by the police for stealing the ration certificate. He quickly said to Kester: "Comrade Captain, I know where he lives, and I'll take you there."

Avdeyev's residence was in ruins. A few pieces of canvas were placed on a broken wall that hadn't completely collapsed, forming a simple room that could be lived in.

Kester turned around and told his subordinates: "Search carefully to see if there are any ration certificates that do not belong to him."

Anisimov, who was standing not far away, looked at the policemen who were searching in the ruins, and asked Sokov curiously: "Comrade commander, since you think it is impossible for him to be the thief who stole the ration certificate, why did you let him go?" The police came to search his residence? What can the police find in his residence?"

"I don't know what it is specifically." Sokov replied, "But I always feel that there is something wrong with this Avdeyev, so I asked Kester to bring people to search, and it may be in his residence." There might be no surprises."

"Comrade Chief," Sokov said, when a policeman shouted from the ruins: "There is a suitcase buried here."

"Dig it out," Kester ordered curtly.

Not long after, Sokov saw Kester running from the ruins with a suitcase in his arms. He came to Sokov, put the suitcase on the ground, and said excitedly: "Comrade Commander, look, what is this?" Then he lifted the lid of the suitcase.

Looking at the radio station, the supporting antenna, and the sending button in the suitcase, Sokov felt nothing, after all, these things had already been expected by him. And Anisimov said in surprise: "My God, it turned out to be a radio station. Comrade Commander, so he was the one who sent the report to the Germans last night?"

"Maybe, maybe not. But we will find out soon." Sokov told Kester: "Comrade Captain, bring him back to the bureau, I think we can get what we need from him." s answer."

Avdeyev, who was escorted by two policemen with their hands behind their backs, was arguing desperately, shouting: "I am wronged, this is not mine, and I don't know where this suitcase came from. here."

The deputy factory manager who stood aside and looked dumbfounded, heard Avdeyev's shout, rushed over immediately, slapped the other side hard, and blocked him from talking back. The deputy factory manager scolded viciously: "I really didn't expect that you are a German spy. I will kill you." After speaking, he waved his fist and greeted Avdeyev.

Kester was afraid that the deputy factory manager would break Avdeyev, so he ordered the police to pull him away. The deputy factory director who was pulled aside shouted at Avdeyev: "You damned German spy, don't let me see you again, or I will beat you to death."

"Comrade Commander," Anisimov said excitedly, watching Avdeyev being taken away by the police, "I really didn't expect that the German spies hiding in the city were found out so easily. Go back and report to Comrade General immediately."

"Comrade political commissar, don't worry." Sokov waved his hand and said, "Let's go to the sub-bureau and see what our police comrades can ask from this person."